Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

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RATE MOVIE: 3.00 (1 Votes)

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Director: John Sturges
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Anne Francis
Acknowledged as one of the first films after the war to recognize the ill treatment of Japanese Americans, even though you never actually see one in the film. To distance themselves they placed it out in hicks-ville. "You can't blame us for what those crazy hicks get up to out west".

Spencer Tracey plays a one armed WWII veteran who turns up in a very small town called Black Rock. He is looking for a Japanese man named Komoko but is met with hostility from the town folk. Something fishy is going on here and everybody in town is trying to hide it. Robert Ryan plays the town heavy and there are some memorable performances by Walter Brennen, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin.

When the train first stops at Black Rock it's hard to imagine such a small town could exist, it just didn't feel right. What the hell did everybody do all day? They sure didn't work. You have to laugh too when you see the local town mechanic played by Anne Francis - There is no way a babe like her lives in this town, stupid casting her. Aside from that it's an OK film that carries some suspense in finding out what the big secret is. Felt a bit like a a film noir / western crossover movie... ROBDIDO