Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) Movie Overview

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) is a thriller film directed by John Sturges that combines elements of Westerns and film noir. It tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a tiny isolated town in a desert of the southwest United States in search of a man. It stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin. The movie was adapted by Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman from the story Bad Day at Hondo by Howard Breslin. In 1945 John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy), a handicapped war veteran, steps off the Southern Pacific train at the desert hamlet of Black Rock. It is the first time the train has stopped there in four years. The little town has very few inhabitants and appears to be dying. Macreedy is looking for a man named Komoko but the residents are inexplicably hostile. At the hotel, the young desk clerk, Pete Wirth (John Ericson), says all the rooms are full. The newcomer is none-too-subtly threatened by local tough Hector David (Lee Marvin). Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), the town’s leading citizen, tells Pete to give Macreedy a room. Smith informs Macreedy that Komoko no longer lives in Black Rock; as a Jap… Source

• Bad Day at Black Rock Movie Details
• Director: John Sturges
• Tagline: Suddenly you realize murder is at your elbow! – and there's no way out!
• Country: USA
• Run Time: 81 min
• Genre: Drama , Thriller , Western

• Cast Overview
• Spencer Tracy as John J. Macreedy
• Robert Ryan as Reno Smith
• Anne Francis as Liz Wirth
• Dean Jagger as Tim Horn
• Walter Brennan as Doc Velie
• John Ericson as Pete Wirth

Bad Day at Black Rock Movie Overview – Yahoo Movies

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955): A mysterious man with a crippled arm arrives in a midwestern town after World War II looking for a Japanese farmer. He is met with hostility by the townsfolk and the town boss who don't take kindly to his snooping around. Soon, a price is put on his head and the stranger must fend for himself, having to face up to… Source

Bad Day at Black Rock Movie Review from New York Times

This powerfully tense, fast-paced suspense drama also yields a grim social message about racial prejudice. Spencer Tracy is John J. MacReedy, a one-armed stranger who comes to the tiny town of Black Rock one hot summer day in 1945, the first time the train has stopped there in years. He looks for both a hotel room and a local Japanese farmer named… Source

Bad Day at Black Rock Movie Details from Imdb

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 an… Source

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) from YouTube