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Vote for the DVD version!

Please cast your vote to make Bad Day at Black Rock become a DVD!!! It is one of the many neglected movies that don't have DVD versions. As for the film itself, it is a true classic suspense thriller-the guilty town motif became a cliche. And as many reviewers have stated, it also firmly stands as an indictment of the type of racism exhibited toward the Japanese during WWII. Take the time (Its only 81 minutes long) to be entertained by this 50's classic.

A Good Day At The Fox Fullerton Theater

That's where I first saw this at age 21. Spencer Tracy of course controls the film, but there are several dependable supporting actors behind him. Robert Ryan is of course well known for his B film noirs and in this is a convincing heavy. Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin back him up as the other meanies. Walter Brennan and Dean Jagger are passively on Tracy's side, very passively not wanting to get involved.The story is simple Spencer Tracy gets off the train which hasn't stopped for four years and the town's denizens instantly distrust the stranger. One knows from the beginning that Tracy isn't any kind of lawman or investigator although his reason for coming to the town isn't revealed until the end.This has some rugged scenery in it and I first mistakenly identified it as Arizona, but in truth, it was filmed around Lone Pine in California. Be that as it may this features some great Southwestern scenery.Definitely a movie to see.

McCarthyism microcosm in the Mojave desert

Less is more is a maxim that most directors should eschew and here John Sturges gives an object lesson in just that with this moody, suspenseful tale of seedy smalltown violence and racism, brought to light by avenging angel Spencer Tracy. Sturges cleverly plays the first two thirds of the film in blazing colour-soaked sunshine, as if to say that the appearance of normality often hides an ugly undercurrent, as Tracy's innocent goodwill - trip turns into a one - man mission to either redeem those of the townsfolk with a scrap of conscience left (the Walter Brennan, John Ericson and Dean Jagger characters) or physically rage against and ultimately vanquish the irredeemable elements (Ernst Borgnine and Robert Ryan). The good versus evil battle is outlined with the physically handicapped and hopelessly outnumbered Tracy character seemingly doomed against the sinister, swaggering, physically domineering characters of Ryan (when was he not great in his evocation of downright orneriness), Borgnine (until Spence dispatches him with some aplomb in their justly famous bar-room fight scene) and especially Lee Marvin who really does seem like "the daddy" until he meets literally face on undertaker Brennan's spade in the prelude to Tracy's escape. The cinematography is great, you can just feel the sweat oozing from the characters' pores and the symbolism of the train which both announces and then dissipates the tension was probably not lost on Hitchcock when working out the denouement of "North by Northwest" some years later. But of course it's Tracy who transcends everything with his portrayal of an everyday man confronted by petty evil and who decides not to turn the other cheek when the option to run away seems best. Perhaps there are echoes here of the contrasting responses to a similar victimisation of innocent foreigners then running high in Hollywood as McCarthyism took hold. As the old saying has it, for evil to prosper it only requires good men to do nothing.

Small towns are like icebergs...

There is a lot more to this movie than most people give it credit for. First and foremost, we have the opening sequence of a train stopping at a very small town [we see no more than a dozen buildings]. Throughout the movie the main character John MacReedy played by Spencer Tracy, is trying to navigate the cold-shouldered xenophobia of an isolated desert town. If you�ve ever read �Winesburg, Ohio� by Sherwood Anderson, you�ll know that things are different in small towns, they�re much more like families. So you have this social psychological factor of the members of the small town avoiding their darker past, along with a deeper mob mentality when dealing with MacReedy. To use a cliché, small towns are icebergs, you see less than there is.

Now that there is some basic foundation to the broader issues touched on in the movie�s structure, we can move on to the storyline.

It is expertly played out in the movie, we are given the small town, MacReedy, and his search for a Japanese man. We see but don�t understand the threatening behavior of the town folk; slowly it dawns on us and we are left with one man against a town and its secret. I have never encountered a movie quite like this in both execution and style.

It moves quickly, but without the glitz and glam of modern explosion-thons. There is some action, but it is used expertly, and with purpose. The acting is superb, with everyone playing their characters believably.

My favorite scene is when MacReedy gets into a fight with a local townsperson played by Ernest Borgnine. Noting that Tracy�s character only has one arm, watching him beat the blazes out of Borgnine is entertaining and pleasing. Borgnine played so many idiotic characters in so many movies, all I could think of as Tracy hit him repeatedly was �That was for being the idiot in �Blackhole!�� �That was for playing the arrogant fool in �The Poseidon Adventure��.

All in all, I�d recommend this movie to all except teenagers that wouldn�t understand it.

This is the first time the Streamliner has stopped here in four years.

Well this movie surely was not what I expected. I had in mind cowboys in monochrome with black and white hats. Little did I suspect CinemaScope in the story with depth.

Everybody in town looks up as the streamliner comes to a stop in the town of Blackrock. A stranger John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) steps off the train. Will you be here long asks the porter. Only a day is the reply.

Everybody in town is antagonistic and grills Macreedy. We pretty much seen the formula and immediately realize that the town has something to hide. What is it? Moreover, why are they suspicious of the stranger?

The story is not unique but how it plays out his and we are intrigued in watching the interaction between the men as they try to size each other up. There is a lot of soul-searching in this movie. Will Macreedy uncover the town's secret before they uncover his? And if so will he live to tell?

The only character that is really out of place and I suspect was just placed there because of Hollywood's requirements is Liz Wirth (Anne Francis) that is out of place. This was two years before the movie "Forbidden Planet."

You can see John Sturges' signature in the camera angles and subject matter as it parallels his other movies.

Inherit the Wind

Forbidden Planet (Ultimate Collector's Edition)

Critics' Favorite Features Good Cast

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. I haven't seen it on DVD but I bet it looks good.Here is yet another movie in which Robert Ryan is the villain (a role he got tired of playing, and who could blame him?). He's the ringleader of this tough gang in Black Rock. Ernest Borgnine and Lee Mrvin are his main thugs and are convincingly-real with their portrayals. Dean Jagger plays a do-nothing sheriff.Spencer Tracey plays the good guy trying to deal with this hostile town. Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Anne Francis and Russell Collins all add supporting help.The story is a simple one and, even though the film is short, so simple that it's drawn out a bit much. It gets away with a little repetitiveness because (1) the actors are good and (2) the cinematography wasn't startling but it was interesting, a subtle and nice blend of colors and contrasts. A good movie but not one suited to watch a lot of times.

Magnificent movie, Tracy is brilliant

Spencer Tracy delivers yet another outstanding performance in this under-rated sleeper. He is mesmerizing as the one-armed MacReady, ably supported by the devious Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine, in a role rivaling his vicious "Fatso" characterization in From Here to Eternity.

However, the original cinemascope format does not translate well in this version and a wide-screen format is necessary to do justice to the film. In many scenes, one or more of the actors are cut out entirely from the frame which is irritating and distracting. In several moments, we hear Tracy's voice but he is nowhere to be seen on screen because of the limitations of a TV screen format.

It's good to see this film finally getting the recognition it deserves for an excellent script (years ahead of its time) and a stellar performance by the inimitable Spencer Tracy.

Tracy steps into a sun-baked desert town bristling with secrets and hateful prejudice...

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. SPENCER TRACY is the man on a mission and he doesn't know what he's in for until he steps off that train and has to deal with some mighty cantankerous citizens, full of hatred, fear and prejudice.The intricate suspense and menace of the tale is apparent from the start. You'll never see a more convincing pair of villains than ERNEST BOGNINE and LEE MARVIN, both of whom are determined to chase Tracy out of town. ANNE FRANCIS has little to do as the only female in the cast, but does it well, and JOHN ERICSON is convincing as her boyfriend. DEAN JAGGER adds his own brand of acting to the role of a weak-willed sheriff.The final confrontation between Tracy and Borgnine wraps up the tale in a satisfying conclusion. John Sturges' direction is right on mark, keeping the tale down to a trim 81 minutes, during which time there is no let-up in suspense.Summing up: One of Tracy's best latter day roles in a modern day morality tale.

Short, yet sure and packs a punch!

"Bad Day At Black ROck" may be a short film dealing with what happens in the day of a smalltown America, but still it packs a mighty punch; And it shows that you are only as sick as your secrets; Spencer Tracy comes to the small town(if u wish to call it that)of Black Rock to give a man a medal that his son won posthomously in WW2,and to pay a debt.It seems that the young dead soldier saved his life, and he wanted to personally thank the father for it; Simple enough? NOT! It seems as though, the man to whom Tracy wants to visit is the cause of the townfolks uneasiness; And for half of the movie, Tracy has to fight the mistrust of the townpeople, and the rest of the movie, trying to leave town at the risk of his own life; It seems as though a man of Japanese decent lived in a part of the town that had land, but no prospect of getting any decent farming; Yet I know that when you do dirty, you really dig your own hole, and that's what the Japanese fella did, but God had a ram in the bush and he came up with an abundance of water to help him out in his farming, much to the anger of his landlord, Robert Ryan; so when Pearl Harbor happened, Ryan was the first one to go down and enlist,but he got denied somehow,and he goes back to the little town of Black Rock, drinks up with his buddies, then goes out to the Japanese farmer's home in misguided retaliaion, burn him out then shoots him when he ran out to save himself(talk about killing someone defenseless); And the crime itself went unpunished for the duration of the war until the day when Spencer Tracy shows up on the train(which didn't stop there in that long)with the medal for the deceased Japanese farmer and opens up an ugly can of worms that he himself didn't imagine had happened.At the beginning, you wonder why these folks are so cagey,then once you find out that a secret exists, then the tension builds because now, you want to find out what it is. The mystery of the whole thing keeps you on the edge of your seat; Of course, Spencer Tracy as the stranger gives a great performance; so does Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin,Ernest Borginine(relatively new to the scene),as well as Anne Francis(such a turncoat),Dean Jagger,Walter Brennan and others; Such A great film; I hope the AFI made it one of the best films ever made;

GOOD DAY FOR MOVIE GOERS

Fine, well crafted script from Don McGuire, weaves interesting story of one armed stranger in tiny midwest USA town. Spencer Tracy leads a fine ensemble cast, with some catchy performances, particularly from Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. It eventually boils down to a morality play, of survival for Tracy's character versus the silence of people with blood on their hands. That message of morality, still speaks as relevant today, as it did in 1955. A good film, and well recommended.

good acting, illogical writing.

Literary license is usefull up to a point. Like a rubber band, you stretch it to some indefinite point, but eventually it breaks. Spencer Taaccey is too old to be a combat WWII veteran. No matter how skilled or tough a man is at judo, the fight between Tracy and Borgnine is not believable, unless you believe in that Pro Wrestling is real. Finally, People who live in towns like Black Rock who carry firearms are skilled in using them. The scene where Robert Ryan attempts to kill Tracey is a laughable carricature in a movie that attempts to be a serious statement of communal bigotry and cowardice. When Ann Francis drives the intended victim to within feet of Ryans guns, we are asked to believe that Ryan would not shoot Tracy first. We have to wonder, since Ryan is so stupid as to shoot Francis first, why then, didn't Tracey move away from the headlights. Only a few feet, one way or the other, and he would have been free. Anyone who is vaguely familar with the Jeep, and a combat WWII veteran would have been, knows that the Jeep provides little cover from a rifle at close range. And on the other hand, the Jeep being the first SUV and designed for cross country travel would have tough fuel lines. Yet Tracy was able to break the line, fill a bottle with gasoline While Ryan was inexplicably letting this happen. This scene was just awful. For me it ruined the message of intolerance that the writers undoubtedly were attempting to portray.

Fine faux western with a "film noir" touch

Spencer Tracy rides into town on the Southern Pacific. The engine is diesel. He's carrying a suitcase and wearing a black fedora. The town is smack in the middle of the Mojave Desert, just a handful of wooden buildings, like the back lot at Paramount during the days when they made a lot of cowboy movies.This is, and is not, a cowboy movie. It's the late forties, just after World War II. Tracy has the left sleeve of his suit coat tucked into the pocket. He lost an arm somewhere. He's slow to anger. He has a mission. What it is, is mysterious. In fact part of the effectiveness of this unusual movie is in how mysterious everything is. Why this godforsaken town? Why are the people so uptight about his arrival? Who is he and what does he want? Robert Ryan plays the villain, the leader of the gang, so to speak. Lee Marvin plays a tough gunslinger. Ernest Borgnine plays a bully who gets the tar kicked out of him in a barroom fight--well, the place is like a saloon, only there's a soda fountain/café counter and no swinging doors.There's a one-cell jail in which the alcoholic sheriff can be found sleeping it off. There a telegraph station at the train station where telegrams might or might not be sent. Walter Brennan co-stars as the obligatory town "Doc" a washed-up man ashamed of himself. So much like an old-style western is this slightly "noir" film from 1954 that at some point I actually expected to see Gabby Hayes come running up to gum a line or two. There's a gal (Anne Francis) looking as neat and cute as Dale Evans in her prime, but she doesn't amount to much. This is a guy kind of flick, a faux western in which manhood is tested, in which men find out what they're made of, in which the good guys win and the old movieland code is rigorously upheld.Some of the scenes were probably shot out in Simi Valley where they used to shoot the old Tom Mix and Johnny Mack Brown westerns with large granite boulders adorning dirt trails. You can almost hear the horses gallop and see the chips fly off the boulders as the bullets sing out. Instead of horses however there are Ford coupes and a Jeep. The gunfight scene at night has Robert Ryan rifling down at Tracy using the headlights of his car to see, while Tracy is without firearms, but of course not without resources.The plot concerns a certain Japanese man who had a homestead farm out among the boulders who ended up missing after his farm was burned to the ground. Seems that Robert Ryan's character doesn't like the Nipponese and is still fighting the war in his mind. Somehow even before it is revealed we know how Tracy lost his arm, but we don't exactly know why he's here. I won't reveal that for those who haven't seen this, but you might guess. He served in the infantry in Italy. Robert Ryan for mysterious reasons was not allowed to enlist--he says.Aside from the nicely developed and held tension and the beautiful score by Andre Previn, the effectiveness of this movie lies in the interesting performances by the talented cast. 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.

A talky, morality tale with a twist of mystery

Morality-theme driven films are dependent on writing and dialog delivery, as the plot isn't there for support. In this case a good part of the writing and cast measure up. The best work is done by Tracy and Ryan. Their lines are tight and concise and fun to follow, with the really interesting scenes being between them. Brennan's usually first rate work comes off a bit loopy and soapboxish. Borgnine's lines are over the top.These are minor criticisms. The viewer is easily pulled in as we slowly learn what is going on and how things are going to be resolved. For 1955 this film impressed its audience and garnered three Academy Award nominations. A Tracy performance, with its solid power, is timeless and memorable - and so blesses 'Bad Day at Black Rock' with a kind of immortality.

A low-key but tense Western-mystery.

Screen legend Spencer Tracy plays a veteran named John J. MacReedy, who no longer has the use of his left arm, and arrives in a tiny town named Black Rock months after World War II has ended. His business will take him no longer than 24 hours, but the locals still regard him with unbridled suspicion and hostility. Local character Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), with the help of thugs like Hector (Lee Marvin) and Coley (Ernest Borgnine), seems to be the one running things, and he's no help, although Doc Velie (Walter Brennan) provides at least one reasonable voice to the proceedings.A phenomenal cast delivers the goods in this effective little movie. It's a very well shot (in CinemaScope by William C. Mellor) and polished major studio (in this case MGM) movie done in an efficient B movie style, with an attention-grabbing title and tight and trim running time. It's not exactly hard to figure out the mystery, but director John Sturges still keeps the level of tension high as MacReedy encounters problems every step of the way. The remote setting works in ensuring MacReedy no place to run or hide.Marvin and Borgnine are excellent as the heavies; the almost all-male cast are a fine bunch of rugged, virile men unencumbered by any sort of familial responsibilities. The lovely Anne Francis is the sole female presence, and doesn't play a very big part in the plot.Dazzling opening titles, Andre Previns' music score, and an intelligent script (Howard Breslins' story "Bad Day at Hondo" was adapted by Don McGuire and written by Millard Kaufman) are all assets. It deals with the need to overcome apathy and ultimately do the right thing, and is an effective condemnation of the racism of the times as well.This is a marvelous film worth seeking out.10/10

A new take on the classic Western

"Bad Day at Black Rock" is a film seldom seen these days, and it's a shame because this small 81 minutes movie is packed with a lot of action, none of it coming from special effects, or shoot outs. John Sturges directed with great care, and it shows. Most of the photography was done in Lone Pine, California, where cinematographer William Mellor was able to capture the atmosphere of the dusty town and surrounding area with its majestic beauty. Andre Previn provided the musical score that serves the film well.Basically this is the tale of a man, John Macreedy, who arrives unexpectedly to a place totally dominated by a local bad guy, Reno Smith and his lackeys. Smith rules over this little outpost of the West with a tight fist. The least he wants is Macreedy poking his nose in something he wants to keep a secret.Since Reno Smith practically "owns" the town, he names whoever he wants to be the sheriff, a mere figure. Smith knows immediately about the new arrival in town because it appears everyone works for him. Macreedy wants to visit a Japanese man, whose son has saved his life in the war, but unknown to him, he has been dead for quite some time.Macreedy seems to be a symbol of justice finally arriving to town. The only other man that is sympathetic to what Macreedy is trying to do is the veterinarian/mortician of the town, Doc Velie, who proves, at the end, he is up to task. Macreedy prevails in the end.The film is shot basically in long and medium shots, which in a way, it helps to diffuse most of the expressions of the actors in the movie. Cinemascope, with its elongated technique doesn't make things better, as most situations seem to disappear into the glorious backgrounds one sees. Mr. Sturges doesn't use close-ups in the film to accentuate some situations; they should have helped in getting the viewer more involved in the picture.Spencer Tracy does interesting work in the film. Mr. Tracy was fifty four years old when filming was done, but looks much older. Robert Ryan, an excellent actor is good as the evil Reno Smith. Walter Brennan plays Doc Velie with his usual charm. Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Dean Jagger and John Ericson are all effective under Mr. Sturges' command.

My favourite Spencer Tracy film

Spencer Tracy did not get an academy award for this film but he was compensated with a more important award--the Cannes Film festival award. It is always interesting that Europe recognizes the better Hollywood works than the Academy ("Thin Red Line" got the top award in Berlin, "Scarecrow" in Cannes--two geat American films ignored at the Oscar ceremonies).I read a review of the film on IMDB pointing out the flaws in the script. They are all correct, if we go by rational thinking. But the merits of this film are the superb editing, the beautiful cinemascope photography and the arresting performances. Every time I see this film I am reminded of Spielberg's little known film "Duel" that had similar thrilling tension packed into less than 24 hours of screen time--a film I admire much more as good cinema than the recent box office outputs of Spielberg.Compare this film with Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven." Sturges like King Vidor, seemed to pick up stories to film that looked at the oppressed and tried to present a world that could be better. "The Magnificent Seven," like this film, had a predominantly male cast. It appealed to most viewers. And some could see a social and even a political layer beneath these films.What I find most appealing is the the ability of Sturges, Vidor, and the early unsung Spielberg's ability to use cinema to combine thrills, human values and craft in say 81 minutes as in this film. Spencer Tracy is not to be admired for the way he delivers his lines, but his body movements which remind you of majestic caged animal that can be deadly if provoked. Sturges brings to the fore evil in different ways--the dead buck strapped on the front of a vehicle, menace on empty roads by big vehicles (used in "Duel" to great effect), evil women when you expect them to be good, laws used in illegal ways (the hotel registration scene), etc. Sergio Leone made similar films in Europe--the famous spaghetti westerns--with laconic dialogues and emphasis on body movements and photographyIn spite of its flaws, it is a film Hollywood can be proud of. I only hope TV reruns show the film in its original cinemascope grandeur, which grabbed me the first time I saw it decades ago.

HIGHLY Overrated

I have been reading about this film for years. It always gets glowing recommendations and praise. I tried to watch it a few years ago and could not get in to it. I finally sat through it last night and was disappointed. I love old films and yet I found this one dull and flat. I never felt that the tension built and the fine cast was squandered on flat characters. The ending was abrupt. I kept thinking there had to be more to it after all the great reviews I had read. I found this film highly overrated.

Bursts

A superbly-crafted thriller, 'Black Rock' is the archetypal 'small town with something to hide' film. A minor classic, it manages to weave a surprisingly daring anti-racism message (for 1955) into the framework of a slow-boiling thriller. As with 'Assault on Precinct 13' and 'The Terminator' it's also a precisely minimalist example of how to make a film - it has a cast of nine, is filmed mostly on location, and takes place, like an expanded 'High Noon', over a single 24-hour period. There are only a couple of 'action' moments, but the build-up is so intense that they seem shattering. The acting is solid - Spencer Tracy is Spencer Tracy, really, and Ernest Borgnine is cast effectively, and unusually, as a bad guy. This should be out on DVD by now.

More bad guys than good guys

The suspense and tension are the real stars of the movie. Many fine performances by many talented actors. Walter Brennan especially had a good role. His character changed the most. Only one women in the cast. And, she is probably the most evil character in a movie full of evil characters.

visually breathtaking

I can certainly understand the frustration of the reviewers below who had access only to a VHS fullscreen version. The DVD is visually astonishing-- shot after shot after shot was extraordinary, and the use made of the widescreen was amazing. With so many strong actors-- Tracy, Ryan, Marvin, Jagger, Brennan, Borgnine-- the widescreen allows complicated multiactor scenes without crowding. I was especially impressed with the distribution of actors on (across) the screen in two scenes-- in the hotel lobby, and on the railroad crossing. Anne Francis is really good, too.