Review of Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) by Danny H — 02 Feb 2009

This is like a play, since it almost all takes place along this little street in this flyspeck of a town. In other words, it's the perfect setup for a story where the vast majority of the characters are stewing in their own paranoid juices.

For his part, Spencer Tracy's one-armed Macgreedy maintains his cool but can't help but become a bit wary himself. Only, he has good reason early on when Ernest Borgnine tries to run him off the road.

Oh that's another thing. The cast is terrific. The story is evenly paced and is the perfect length at 80 minutes. Director John Sturges has a confident hand. He doesn't fill the screen with gunshots and noise.

In fact, I don't think a shot was ever fired. It says a lot about a Western if you don't notice that until after it's over.