Barnes & Noble

One of the truly outstanding motion pictures of the 1950s, this taut, suspenseful drama is both a plea for tolerance and a warning against citizen complacency. Heading an excellent cast, Spencer Tracy plays a World War II veteran who arrives in the small, dusty desert town of Black Rock, looking for a local farmer of Japanese ancestry. The farmer’s son died in a battle that left Tracy’s character with one arm, and he intends to deliver the medal that was posthumously awarded to his fellow soldier. But the crippled veteran is met with suspicion and hostility by virtually the entire population of Black Rock, which, it soon becomes apparent, is keeping a terrible secret. Director John Sturges paces the movie superbly, building suspense steadily without resorting to cheap melodramatic hokum and creating an oppressive atmosphere of menace. Tracy underplays his role for maximum effectiveness, and the supporting players -- including Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Anne Francis, and Dean Jagger -- are not only perfectly cast but also shrewdly delineated by screenwriter Millard Kaufman. Looking for more authenticity than he’d have gotten on the studio back lot, Sturges persuaded producer Dore Schary to build the entire town of Black Rock in the Sierra desert region near the tiny hamlet of Lone Pine, a mecca for filmmakers since the silent-movie days. Black Rock -- an inhospitable collection of ramshackle buildings that supply hiding places for furtive schemers and apathetic townspeople -- practically becomes one of the characters. Bad Day at Black Rock is an undeniably effective “message” movie, but it also makes the grade as first-rate cinematic entertainment and richly deserves the “classic” designation bestowed upon it many years ago. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

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 Komoko, but his inquiries are greeted at first with open hostility, then with blunt threats and harassment, and finally with escalating violence. MacReedy soon realizes that he will not be allowed to leave Black Rock; town boss Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), who had Komoko killed because of his hatred of the Japanese, has also marked MacReedy for death. MacReedy must battle town thugs, a treacherous local woman (Anne Francis), and finally Smith himself to stay alive. The entire cast is flawless, especially Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin as the mean-spirited town bullies, and the relentlessly paced action never eclipses the film's sobering themes. Don Kaye

Product Details

• UPC: 012569690226
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Language: Français
• Time: 1:21:00
• Sales Rank: 4,226

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Controversial Classics

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