Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

A one handed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Millard Kaufman (screen play), Don McGuire (adaptation),

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Spencer Tracy	...	John J. Macreedy
Robert Ryan	...	Reno Smith
Anne Francis	...	Liz Wirth
Dean Jagger	...	Tim Horn
Walter Brennan	...	Doc Velie
John Ericson	...	Pete Wirth
Ernest Borgnine	...	Coley Trimble
Lee Marvin	...	Hector David
Russell Collins	...	Mr. Hastings
Walter Sande	...	Sam
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Beaver	...	Cafe Lounger (unconfirmed)
Billy Dix	...	Cafe Lounger (unconfirmed)
Mickey Little	...	Cafe Lounger (unconfirmed)
K.L. Smith	...	Cafe Lounger (unconfirmed)

Storyline

From the time John J. Macreedy steps off the train in Black Rock, he feels a chill from the local residents. The town is only a speck on the map and few if any strangers ever come to the place. Macreedy himself is tight-lipped about the purpose of his trip and he finds that the hotel refuses him a room, the local garage refuses to rent him a car and the sheriff is a useless drunkard. It's apparent that the locals have something to hide but when he finally tells them that he is there to speak to a Japanese-American farmer named Kamoko, he touches a nerve so sensitive that he will spend the next 24 hours fighting for his life.

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Plot Keywords:

train | japanese american | secret | sheriff | stranger | 

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Taglines:

M-G-M's SUSPENSE STORY OF THE YEAR! (original print ad - mostly caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bad Day at Hondo

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Loew's

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) (Western Electric Sound System) 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sign behind the hotel desk is a quote from English evangelist John Wesley: "Do all the good you can, / By all the means you can, / In all the ways you can, / In all the places you can, / At all the times you can, / To all the people you can, / As long as ever you can."

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Goofs

Clouds appear and disappear from shot to shot. For example, during the discussion scene on the railroad tracks about 27 minutes into the film, the clouds above the mountains at the tracks' vanishing point appear in wide shots and disappear in tight shots.

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Quotes

Reno Smith: I believe a man is as big as what he's seeking. I believe you're a big man, Mr. Macreedy.
John J. Macreedy: Flattery will get you nowhere.
Reno Smith: Why would a man like you be looking for a lousy Jap farmer?
John J. Macreedy: Ohhh, dadgum, maybe I'm not so big.
Reno Smith: Oh yes you are. I believe a man is as big as what'll make him mad. Nobody around here seems big enough to get you mad.
John J. Macreedy: What makes you mad, Mr. Smith?
Reno Smith: Me? Nothing, nothing...
John J. Macreedy: Ah, you're a pretty big man yourself, then. Yet the... the Japanese make you mad, don't they?
Reno Smith: Well, that's ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Return to 'The Great Escape' (1993)

User Reviews

A silence conspiracy speaks louder than words.

This film respects the three unities :unity of place ,unity of action and unity of time .

Unity of place:everything takes place in a one-horse town,Black Rock,where an unusually inventive use of the wide screen makes the small town even more isolated,cut off from the world.When you leave Black Rock,you find a desolate landscape where only some flowers (of death?as Tracy points out)grow.

Unity of action:something happened in "Black Rock" ,something that its inhabitants are anxious that it remains in the shadow.Enter Tracy who seems to know too many things he should.Then all the inhabitants all stand together ,and their conspiracy of silence becomes threatening.What's amazing is that John Sturges (it's probably his best film,he uses Tracy in a much better way than he did in "people against o'Hara" some years before)refuses the easy way out:take for instance the only female character played by Anne Francis ;she does not act as the audience expects .Stand-out remains Robert Ryan,always excellent in one of his villains parts:funny how an actor who was known for his liberal views should have played so many racists ,anti-Semitics (this film,but also Dmytryk's "crossfire" and Wise's "against all odds").Other good performances come from Marvin and Borgnine.

Unity of time:everything happens in the space of 24 hours;first sequence :the train arrives in Black Rock,last sequence:it leaves it.

This is a modern western,which takes place just after WW2."Bad Day at Black Rock" is also,in its own special way, a war movie ,and also an anti-war one,because Tracy's life was saved by a...

Thoroughly enjoyable ,it deserves its reputation of classic.