Bad Day at Black Rock

Plot synopsis:
In late 1945, one-armed John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) gets off a passenger train at the isolated desert hamlet of Black Rock. It is the first time in four years that the train has stopped there. Macreedy is looking for a man named Komoko, but the few residents are inexplicably hostile. The young hotel desk clerk, Pete Wirth (John Ericson), claims he has no vacant rooms. Macreedy is threatened by Hector David (Lee Marvin). Later, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan) informs Macreedy that Komoko, a Japanese-American, was interned during World War II.
Certain that something is wrong, Macreedy sees the local sheriff, Tim Horn (Dean Jagger), but the alcoholic lawman is clearly afraid of Smith and is impotent to help. The veterinarian and undertaker, Doc Velie (Walter Brennan), advises Macreedy to leave town immediately, but also lets slip that Komoko is dead. Pete's sister, Liz (Anne Francis), rents Macreedy a Jeep. He drives to nearby Adobe Flat, where he finds a homestead burned to the ground and wildflowers. On the way back, Coley Trimble (Ernest Borgnine) tries to run him off the road.
When Smith asks, Macreedy reveals he lost his left arm fighting in Italy. Macreedy says the wildflowers at the Komoko place lead him to suspect that a body is buried there. Smith reveals that he is virulently anti-Japanese; he tried to enlist in the Marines the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but failed the physical.
Macreedy tries to telephone the state police, but Pete refuses to put the call through. Doc Velie admits that something terrible happened four years ago and that Smith has everyone too terrified to speak up. Velie offers Macreedy his hearse to leave town. Hector rips out the distributor cap and spark plug wires. Macreedy goes to Hastings' (Russell Collins) telegraph office and writes a telegram addressed to the state police. At the town diner, Trimble picks a fight with Macreedy, but Macreedy uses martial arts to beat him up. Macreedy tells Smith that he knows Smith killed Komoko and that he was too cowardly to do it alone, so he involved Hector, Pete, and Coley; Macreedy also warns that when Smith's hoods eventually realize they're being played by Smith one of them will turn against him.
When Macreedy goes to the hotel lobby, Smith and his henchmen are already there, as are Doc Velie and Sheriff Horn. Hastings arrives and tries to give Smith a piece of paper, but Macreedy snatches it away and discovers that it is his own unsent telegram. Macreedy and Doc Velie demand that Sheriff Horn do something. When Horn tries, Smith just takes away his sheriff's badge and pins it on Hector. Hector tears up the telegram form.
After Smith and Hector leave, Macreedy reveals that the loss of his arm had left him wallowing in self-pity, but Smith's attempt to kill him has reinvigorated him. Macreedy finally reveals why he is there: Komoko's son died in combat while saving Macreedy's life. Macreedy intended to give his posthumous medal to Komoko. In turn, Macreedy learns that the elder Komoko had leased some farmland from Smith, who was sure there was no water there. Komoko had dug a well and found water. After Smith was turned down for enlistment after Pearl Harbor, he and the other men spent the day drinking, then decided to scare Komoko. The old man barricaded himself inside his home, but the men set the place on fire. When Komoko emerged ablaze, Smith shot him.
Later, Macreedy and Doc Velie devise a plan for Macreedy to escape under the cover of darkness. Hector is standing guard outside the hotel; Pete lures him into the hotel office, where Doc Velie knocks him out. Liz drives Macreedy out of town in her Jeep, but stops in a canyon. Macreedy realizes he has been betrayed. When Smith starts shooting at him, Macreedy hides behind the Jeep. Liz rushes to Smith despite Macreedy's warning. Smith tells her that she has to die along with the rest of his accomplices. He shoots her in the back as she runs away. Macreedy finds a bottle and fills it with gasoline, creating a Molotov cocktail. When Smith climbs down for a better shot, Macreedy lights and throws it, setting Smith on fire.
Macreedy drives into town with the injured Smith and Liz's body. The state police are called in. As Macreedy is leaving, Doc Velie requests Komoko's medal to help Black Rock heal. Macreedy gives it to him just before boarding the train.

Tags: cult, murder

Review:
Check out how Hector (Lee Marvin) uses the word "boy" to suggest racial overtones well in advance of the slowly-revealed background plot; how Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) in his dark suit and no-nonsense manner contrasts with everyone else's casual dress and edginess, perfectly reflecting his role as avenging angel; how Coley (Ernest Borgnine), trying to run Macreedy off the road, resembles (probably unintentionally) Joe McCarthy, especially as caricatured by Walt Kelly; and of course how the arch-villain, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), suggests limitless power with his inimitable smirk and almost languid movements: he controls the town without actually doing anything overt--until Macreedy forces his hand.
I'd just like to make a recommendation to those who think that great cinema need sound and action - watch Bad Day at Black Rock, and sink yourself into its opening emptiness and cut-to-the-bone story.9/10.
"Bad Day at Black Rock" has an exceptionally talented supporting cast including Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Anne Francis, John Ericson, Dean Jagger and Walter Brennan who all give accomplished performances - particularly the baddies Ryan, Borgnine and Marvin.Spencer Tracy was deservedly nominated for the Best Actor Award but unfortunately for him 1955 was a very exceptional year with so many fine performances from other actors including Ernest Borgnine in "Marty" (the winner), James Cagney in "Love Me Or Leave Me", James Dean in "East of Eden", and Frank Sinatra in "The Man With the Golden Arm".
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..
Bad Day at Black Rock turned out to be the final film that Spencer Tracy did on his MGM contract.
Produced by Dore Schary out of MGM, Bad Day at Black Rock is directed by John Sturges and stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin.It's adapted by Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman from the story Bad Day at Hondo by Howard Breslin.
Mellor on photography and André Previn scoring the music.A classy production that combines elements of Westerns and film noir, Bad Day at Black Rock deals with racism and all the hate and bully tactics that come with such a vile subject.
As are Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine (two actors at the time who were about to break out, and become top-line stars).If you like classic westerns, and great acting, "Bad Day at Black Rock" will not disappoint.8 out of 10.
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 .
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 .
" It relates the story of John Macreedy, (Spencer Tracy) a U.S. Army veteran who decides to visit the town of Black Rock, the hometown of a Japanese friend killed during the war.
Led by Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), others are intimated not to co-operate with the stranger, The exceptional cast includes Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Anne Francis and Lee Marvin.
Macreedy responds to the antagonism directed towards him, first with an air of indifference, but eventually with a sort of subdued desperation.Whereas the participation of generic "bad guys" might have significantly hampered the film, 'Bad Day at Black Rock' boasts an impressive ensemble of gifted character actors, fronted by Robert Ryan as Reno Smith, the crafty, charismatic villain whose ability to cunningly manipulate his neighbours has made him the foremost authority in the forsaken town, unofficially outranking even the cowardly alcoholic sheriff (Dean Jagger).
Two truly top-notch veterans, with exemplary career acting achievements.The tight script, solid directing (by John Sturges), a powerful score (by Andre Previn) and outstanding Cinemascope photography combine to elevate "Bad Day at Black Rock" to a place among the great films.
Robert Ryan as the town bully, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine as his goons, Dean Jagger as the frightened sheriff, and especially Walter Brennan as the tired old doctor all help bring to life a strange and sinister town.The psychological study of the townspeople focuses on just the very short time when Tracy's character is with them, but it also allows you to see all that has happened in the past to make the town what it has become.
One of the first Cinemascope movies, Bad Day at Black Rock (great title!) is also wondrously filmed so that the empty feel of the desert and loneliness of the isolated town surrounded by stark mountains and a high blue sky will stay with you long after you see the old style "The End" as the film fades to black for the last time.See this for Spencer Tracy, one of Hollywood's greatest, a little past his prime in a long and distinguished career..
Reno (Robert Ryan), Coley (Ernest Borgnine), and Hector (Lee Marvin) are stark in their evil schemes to keep the citizens of Black Rock from revealing a secret concerning an event that occurred a few years before that would send the trio to prison.
Good neo-western with Spencer Tracy excellent as the one-armed war veteran who arrives in a small, suspicious town looking for a missing Japanese farmer.
This is one of the all time classics with a great plot and the certain twists and turns it takes you on wondering if Spencers character is going to get out of town alive or not and where everyone clicks just right having movie greats like Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin and of course Spencer Tracy you can't really say anything bad about this movie other than the fight scene between Ernest Borgnine and Spencer Tracy where he does his judo throw on Ernest is such a terrible job as a double standing in.
Macreedy, a one-handed stranger, steps off the train in a town called Black Rock.He was wounded in the war.He made s promise to a Japanese soldier he'd find his dad, Komoko.The people in the town don't like the stranger too much.He asks too many questions, and some of them want to kill him.John Sturges is the diredctor of Bad Day at Black Rock (1955).Millard Kaufman is behind the screenplay and André Previn made the music.This movie combines elements of a western movie and film-noir.A stranger in little town with a task to do.It's all brilliantly done.Spencer Tracy plays his part very well.And so do the other actors.Robert Ryan plays Reno Smith.Anne Francis is Liz Wirth and John Ericson her brother Pete.Dean Jagger portrays Sheriff Tim Horn.Walter Brennan is Doc Velie.Ernest Borgnine plays Coley.One of my favorite scenes is (sorry Ernest) where Ryan hits Ernest Borgnine's character pretty badly.It hurts to see how the townies treat their sheriff.Smith takes his badge and gives it to Hector making Horn fall into self pity and hating himself.We see a lot of thrilling stuff in the end, including a Molotov cocktail.A movie that is worth seeing..
A superb suspense thriller in the "High Noon" tradition, in which our hero must find a way out of his predicament before night falls and the bad guys come shooting.Our hero in this case is Spencer Tracy, a mysterious one-armed man who shows up in a tiny town (more a collection of buildings than a town, really) looking to pay a call on a Japanese rancher.
A running theme in the film is the uselessness men feel as they get older and find themselves supplanted by a younger generation with a different moral code.Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin appear as two of Ryan's henchmen, and it's worth sitting through the movie just for the scene in which Tracy kicks Borgnine's ass.
He meets with a conspiracy of silence and threats but is not easily put off.As you'd expect, with a cast including Anne Francis, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan and led by Spencer Tracy, the acting is superb.
How can you miss with a cast that includes; Spencer Tracy,Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, and Ernest Borgnine.
Spencer Tracy is an old one-armed man who goes to town in "Bad Day at Black Rock".
Robert Ryan and the citizens of Black Rock work very well indeed with Sturges and Tracy.This is a film I'm looking forward to seeing again.
******** Bad Day at Black Rock (1/7/55) John Sturges ~ Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Ernest Borgnine.
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK is a taut and terrific melodrama of a town silenced by a mean-spirited bully (ROBERT RYAN) and too afraid to be civil to a man who comes to the hot-baked desert town to deliver a posthumous medal to a Japanese farmer.
Despite the fact that my favourite movie of all time (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) is filmed in Technicolor; I generally prefer classic westerns, especially pre-60's ones to be filmed in black and white...it just looks better.
The man gets more than he bargained for, however, when he stumbles upon the fact that this is a town with a secret...and it's one that they will withhold by any means necessary...Director John Sturges is quite a name within the western genre, having directed films such as Joe Kidd and, of course, The Magnificent Seven.
While Tracy, Ryan, and Brennan may have been the better known at that time, I think the lesser knowns and Marvin and Borgnine were the best characters in the movie.
Macreedy and what will happen to him?"Bad Day at Black Rock" is a tense thriller with great screenplay, direction and performances.
"Bad Day at Black Rock", Spencer Tracy's final film at MGM (he would refuse to do "Tribute to a Bad Man", next, and was released), is a fitting climax to 20 years of unforgettable performances.
Count the number of Oscars appearing in each scene...I came up with EIGHT, once!), all held together by Tracy, at the peak of his acting skills.The story is deceptively simple; In the post-war West, a one-armed war vet (Tracy), arrives in a tiny desert town, asking to see a local Japanese farmer...the locals (a collection of aging, careworn townspeople and a ruthless gang of bullies, working for 'boss' Robert Ryan) act strangely, and do everything they can to force Tracy to leave.
Featuring fabulous supporting performances by Walter Brennan (in one of his best roles of the decade), Dean Jagger, Russell Collins, young John Ericson and Anne Francis, and, most especially, frequent co-stars Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin (who were Hollywood's best 'Badmen' of the 50s, yet would each win Oscars playing 'Good Guys'!) Robert Ryan, who never won an Oscar (but SHOULD have), is riveting, oozing total malevolence behind a genial smile; his gas station scene with Tracy is about as great as movie acting ever gets, with both actors burning up the screen!
A stranger John J Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) rides into town on a train that hasn't stopped in Black Rock in four years only to find the people edgy and suspicious of his arrival.
Spencer Tracy, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Dean Jagger, Robert Ryan.
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.
***SPOILERS*** Something was stirring in the hot dry desert air when John J.MacReedy, Spencer Tracy, stepped off the train in the out of the way desert town of Black Rock.
"Bad Day at Black Rock" is one of John Sturges´ best movies, with Spencer Tracy in the leading role.
It has a great supporting cast (as some other Sturges-films) with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan and Walter Brennan!
Set a few months after the end of the Second World War, Black Rock has a secret, and almost from the first moment of the movie, director John Sturges does a superb job of pulling the viewer into that mystery that the townsfolk clearly don't want revealed.
This is one of the Liberal critics' favorites as it deals with racism, this time a Japanese man being the victim of a town's four-year old "secret."The best things this film has going for it are the cast and the photography.
Macreedy leaves by train after giving the farmer the medal.This movie has a good cast:  Macreedy is played by the excellent Spencer Tracy and is joined by Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Earnest Borgnine and Dean Jagger.
In late 1945, a mysterious one-armed stranger (Spencer Tracy) steps off a train in the isolated desert town of Black Rock.
A train pulls into a one-horse town for the first time in four years and man walks off that draws attention from everyone in town.This film has the biggest collection of stars that I have seen in a long time.Spencer Tracy, who received and Academy Award for his role as the stranger, John J.
A train pulls into a one-horse town for the first time in four years and man walks off that draws attention from everyone in town.This film has the biggest collection of stars that I have seen in a long time.Spencer Tracy, who received and Academy Award for his role as the stranger, John J.
And at 81 minutes it is a breeze to sit through.Spencer Tracy plays a disabled WWII veteran (he lost an arm in Italy), who travels to small desert hamlet that is run by a posse of thugs led by Robert Ryan and his disciples, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine.
A fine tale of mystery, intrigue and morality, superbly directed by the great John Sturges.Spencer Tracy plays John McCreedy a one armed stranger who comes to town of Black Rock looking for a place called Adobe Flat and a Japanese man called Komoko.
John Macreedy, is a one armed man who arrives at the town of Black Rock.
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) **** (out of 4)John Macreedy (Spencer Tracy), a elderly one-armed man, arrives in the small town of Black Rock where his appearance shakes up the place.
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK gets a lot of love from the people who have actually seen it but I think the film should be better known to more people.To me the greatest thing about this movie has always been built around the wonderful performances with Tracy leading the way.
The film also benefits from some terrific cinematography that perfectly captures this small dusty town and all the secrets that it hides.BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK is a great little movie that runs just 81 minutes, which is the perfect time.
Spencer Tracy has an excellent performance (nominated for Oscar) as well as the remaining actors in the cast (Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, among others).
Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, and Dean Jagger themselves make this M-G-M modern western something of a classic.
Macreedy (Tracy), a one-armed man in the movie, comes from L A to the deserted town of Black Rock again, in the southwest on a hot day in 1946, only shortly after the end of WWII, and all the people in the town wonder why he has made the trip.
In fact, someone has written that the missing arm was what made the character interesting enough for Spencer Tracy to agree to portray him.All the rest of the supporting cast is pretty standard Western movie talent--Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Lee Marvin, and Ernest Borgnine.
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK is a mysterious thriller that glorifies human courage and perseverance.The hero of this film is a one-armed war veteran who comes into a desert town in the southwest of the United States.