his horse, in a rage, vowing that he will take him back. Lina says she will go with him, no matter his choice, marry him, and live with him. Weeping, he declares one last time that he is taking him back. The "Beautiful Dreamer" theme soars. Calming, Kemp asks her if she still wants to try California. He begins to dig the grave, and she makes coffee. Cast James Stewart as Howard Kemp Janet Leigh as Lina Patch Robert Ryan as Ben Vandergroat Ralph Meeker as Roy Anderson Millard Mitchell as Jesse Tate Stunt performers Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes, Frank McGrath, Chuck Roberson, Jack Williams, Jack N. Young. Historical inaccuracies The 6th Cavalry Regiment was stationed in Texas in 1868. Fort Ellis was actually under the command of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. The actors carry Colt Model of 1873 Peacemaker revolvers, which did not exist in 1868. The rifles are also anachronistic, the Winchester having an iron/steel receiver which was not a available until 1873 (earlier models were brass) and the Marlin having side ejection which was not available until 1889. Production The Naked Spur was the third of five Western collaborations between James Stewart and Anthony Mann and the third of eight overall collaborations. Two previous Westerns included Winchester '73 (1950) and Bend of the River (1952). Stewart was given the lead role of Howard Kemp, an embittered rancher turned bounty hunter. The film is notable for having only five speaking parts. There were a number of parts of a band of Native Americans that were ambushed by Anderson. Robert Ryan, known for his roles as ruthless villains and hard-boiled cops, was cast as Ben Vandergroat, a wild killer with a $5,000 "dead or alive" bounty on his head for the murder of a Kansas marshal. Ryan would work with Mann again in Men in War (1957) and God's Little Acre (1958). Janet Leigh was cast as Lina Patch, Vandergroat's companion who eventually falls in love with Kemp. Leigh starred alongside Ryan in the film noir Act of Violence (1948), which was directed by Fred Zinnemann. Ralph Meeker was cast as Roy Anderson, a disgraced Army officer. Millard Mitchell, who played Jesse Tate, a grizzled old prospector, died at fifty years of age from lung cancer shortly after this picture. This was his next-to-last movie, followed by Here Come the Girls (released October 1953), starring Bob Hope. The film