was filmed in Lone Pine, California, and on location in the San Juan Mountains and Durango in Colorado. According to writer and historian Frederic B. Wildfang, during filming Stewart dedicated a monument in town, marking the area as the "Hollywood of the Rockies". Production started in late May and ended in June 1952. Reception The film premiered in the first day of February 1953. That same year, two other films directed by Mann and starring Stewart were also released. These were Thunder Bay and The Glenn Miller Story. Empire describes the movie as "a masterpiece that’s too easy to take for granted" and "the best of an outstanding run of Westerns". The movie holds a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. According to MGM records the film earned $2,423,000 in the US and Canada and $1,427,000 overseas, resulting in a profit to the studio of $1,081,000. This success ensured three more Stewart-Mann collaborations, including two more Westerns. Screenwriters Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom were nominated for the 1953 Best Screenplay Academy Award. In the years since its release, the film has achieved continued success, gaining more critical acclaim now than upon first release. Leonard Maltin has lauded The Naked Spur as "one of the best westerns ever made". In 1997, The Naked Spur was added to the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2021, The Naked Spur was released on Blu-ray in the North American region by Warner Bros. in their Archive Collection. The disc is supplemented by an audio commentary by Peter Bogdanovich, intercut with selections from an audio interview with Mann. Although much is made of the collaboration between James Stewart and Anthony Mann, Robert Ryan also teamed with Mann in The Naked Spur, Men in War, and God's Little Acre. References External links 1950s English-language films 1953 films 1953 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Anthony Mann Films scored by Bronisław Kaper Films set in 1868 Films set in Colorado Films with screenplays by Harold Jack Bloom Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Revisionist Western (genre) films United States National Film Registry films 1950s American films