Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

• Year: 1955
• Released: 13 Feb 1955
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 4 wins & 8 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047849/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_day_at_black_rock
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Passed
• Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Runtime: 81 min
• Writer: Millard Kaufman, Don McGuire, Howard Breslin
• Director: John Sturges
• Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
• Keywords: murder, 1940s, desert, racism, based on short story,

	7.7/10
	97% – Critics
	88% – Audience

Bad Day at Black Rock Storyline

It’s 1945, a couple of weeks after the official end of the war. For the first time in four years, the streamliner stops in the small American western desert town of Black Rock, and off the train steps John J. Macreedy: a suit-wearing middle-aged man with a lame left arm who has never been to Black Rock. Without even knowing who he is or what his story might be, the townsfolk are suspicious of Macreedy. They learn that he is only in town for 24 hours until the streamliner picks him up the next day to take him to Los Angeles to “restart” his life; he’s in Black Rock to speak to a Japanese-American farmer named Kamoko who supposedly lives in Adobe Flat, but nobody in town is willing to help him locate the man. As Macreedy searches for Kamoko, he realizes that Reno Smith is the town’s leader in whatever they are hiding. Everyone else in town is either in cahoots with Smith or unwilling to help for fear of reprisal from Smith and his associates. Those unwilling to help include such influential people as the town’s sheriff, the switchboard operator, and the telegraph operator. As those in cahoots with Smith try to provoke Macreedy, he also realizes that they are looking for a reason to kill him and without help he’ll be dead before morning as he has no access to a vehicle or means of communication with the outside world. When he finds out the secret the town is keeping, Macreedy does whatever he must to save his life and in the process save the town from the scourge that has hung over it for four years.

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Bad Day at Black Rock Movie Reviews

Fine modern Western in which the events crackle with intrigue and suspense

Southern Pacific train express stops in Black Rock . One-armed John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) alights at Black Rock from train express in order to give a medal to the last known relative, Komoko who died five years ago , of a deceased Japanese-American army officer named Joe. His attempts to do so will confront him against the entire little town including the Sheriff (Dean Jagger) himself , a hotel receptionist (John Ericson) , a doctor (Walter Brennan) , the powerful Smith (Robert Ryan)and two thugs ( Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine) , among them . Macreedy attempts to investigate the killing a Japanese farmer that happened shortly after the attack on the Pearl Harbor, the unconditional surrender of Japan, and the resultant hatred towards Japanese-Americans , including the events from Bataan and Corregidor .John suffers a strong hostility and hatred by the inhabitants and neighbours. McReedy uncovering up a terrible secret and being threatened ; attempts will be made to run him off the road while driving ; he will be chased , and the telephone operator will deny to connect him to the Police Station ; the Railway Station’s employee will not dispatch a telegram ; meantime the local Mortician will warn him that he should aware for his death by nightfall. While, McReedy tries to go Adobe Flat to find the Kamako corpse and finally is helped by some villagers.

This interesting movie contains marvelous performances from all concerned , suspense , thrills , exciting situations and some action . Based on the novel by Howard Breslin and well adapted by Millard Kauffman who takes a fine material , this is a suspenseful film in which Spencer Tracy plays magnificently as an easy Italian war veteran coming to a township called Black Rock that seems to be hiding a guilty secret . However , too much conversation and too little action bogs down this modern Western , although the argument and intrigue is nice . There are excellent acting from some Hollywood’s best players , including prestigious secondaries as Lee Marvin , Ernest Borgnine , Dean Jagger , among others . Thrilling and exciting musical score by Andre Previn who subsequently married Mia Farrow . Colorful cinematography utilizing the new Cinemascope technique by William C Mellor . This ¨Sui Generis¨modern Western is originally directed by John Sturges . He was an expert on Western genre as proved in ¨ Escape from Fort Bravo , The law and Jake Wade , The last train of Gun Hill, The Magnificent seven, Hour of gun , Joe Kidd , The Hallelujah trail ¨ and many others . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .

a surprisingly good movie

Bad Day at Black Rock is an exceptionally well-made movie that somehow hasn’t received all that much attention. When watching biographies or compilations of Spencer Tracy’s work, seldom is there much mention of this little gem. Part of this may be Tracy’s character–who is VERY unlike any other he’d previously played. Tracy is a one-armed man who comes to a small town looking for some answers. All he finds is silence and hostility. It seems the town is run by rich thug and no one seems willing to break the wall of silence. This is when you see Spencer Tracy act very un-Spencer Tracy-ish, as he proceeds to kick butt big time! I sure didn’t see that coming! I thought he’d just talk out the problem like most of his previous characters. Nope–kick butt and demand answers. If it had starred Robert Mitchum, for example, you would have seen all this coming–and it would have been far less interesting.

One other great things about this film is the menacing character played by one of the best unsung actors of this era, Robert Ryan. He could play so many roles well and here he is in his element as a nasty man who controls the town. Now you’d never expect Tracy to be more than a match for the very large and tough Ryan–and the way John Sturges is able to make this ridiculous match-up seem possible is why I really admire this film. Well worth seeing and exciting throughout.

Simmering suspense drama

This is an excellent film with so much to admire. Even after seeing it more than once, it still shocks me, especially the end show-down which is genuinely shocking in mainly the fact that it is inevitable and the build up to it is very suspenseful. The cinematography adds to the deceptive calm Bad Day at Black Rock has, as does the very well-judged direction from John Sturges, while Andre Previn’s score is a great touch.

The script is consistently exemplary, while the story is compelling even with the short length and (slightly) slow start. The acting is brilliant, Spencer Tracy gives a masterclass in acting, while Robert Ryan is also on great form and Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine are marvellous and suitably malevolent.

Overall, a fine film with suspense, great performances and a well-constructed story. 10/10 Bethany Cox