|
A Bad
Day at Black Rock (1955),
Director: John Sturgess, rated Approved
A
Super Thriller!
  Starring: Spencer
Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Walter Brennan, Lee Marvin,
Ernest Borgnine, Dean Jagger, John Ericson
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★★☆
- near perfect
"I think somethin' kind of
bad happened here,
somethin' I can't quite seem to find the
handle to." – John J. Macreedy
Why watch this? With
a sparse desert backdrop, this is one tense film, a real nail-bitter.
Plot Summary: A
stranger arrives in the small, hostile desert town of Black
Rock, searching for a Japanese-American farmer. The townspeople
are suspicious and want to keep a secret hidden, creating a
dangerous situation for the stranger. As the stranger
investigates, the hostility escalates into a fight for survival
against the town and its leader.
Dad's Preview:
There is a way that Spencer Tracy handles himself - Quiet.
Purposeful. Cautious. The common everyman. Here he visits a
small arid town, and the residents are not very welcoming. He
does, however, have a reason
for coming to Black Rock, and he must see it through to the
end. This film has tension you can cut with a knife. Special
recognition goes to Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin as two local
thugs. The always dependable Walter Brennan delivers a great
performance, too.
Dore Schary;
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
|
