Review of Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) by Andrey B — 28 Apr 2016

John Sturges's 1955 film "Bad Day at Black Rock" sets Spencer Tracy against a barren desert landscape in this beautifully filmed widescreen Technicolor thriller. The film is based off a 1947 short story by Howard Breslin called "Bad Day at Honda." The film shows how the war created anti-Japanese sentiment among many Japanese-Americans. Made only ten years after the end of the war, one could say it attempts to condemn that era in American history. Tracy and a marvelous supporting cast including Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin and Anne Francis co-star.

In a small desert community named Black Rock in 1945, the train stops for the first time in four years surprising all who live there as people come out of their shops and homes to see who is getting off. The man who gets off the train is John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy), a mysterious man with one arm who is looking for Adobe Flats. The townspeople are incredibly suspicious of Macreedy, his arrival in the town polarizes them. The only person in the town who thinks Macreedy isn't up to no good is a man named Doc, played by the always wonderful character actor Walter Brennan. Macreedy visits the local sheriff Tim Horn (Dean Jagger) and reveals he's looking for a man named Komako. As soon as Horn hears the name Komako, he immediately fumbles his alcohol.

The town seems lawless and Horn only seems to hold the position of sheriff, but Reno Smith (Robert Ryan) runs the town. Smith informs Macreedy that Komako came in 1941 but three months after Pearl Harbor he was taken away to a relocation center. Smith reveals extreme anti-Japanese sentiment calling them "rats" and saying that although there's a law against shooting dogs he wouldn't let a mad dog bite him before he shoots it. Macreedy starts to get suspicious of the townspeople, he believes that something may have happened to Komako after visiting Adobe Flats and sees that it's been burned to the ground. He also notices that the ground is covered in wildflowers leading him to believe there is a grave there. There is a contrast between the armless Macreedy and Smith. Macreedy lost his arm fighting in Italy and Smith was unable to join the Marines after failing a physical.

This is an excellent tense, taunt, short film of only 81 minutes. It's straight forward.