Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

 This was actually a pretty solid film.

Black Rock is a small, one horse town in the middle of the desert Arizona and they do not take kindly to strangers, even before they start asking questions. John J. MaCreedy (Spencer Tracy) arrives and starts asking questions in regards to a missing farmer, Komoko and no one is happy to hear that. This is 1945, after all.

So, it doesn't take the modern viewer long to figure out that the bar owner, Smith (Robert Ryan) is the one who really runs the town and the sheriff, Tim (Dean Jagger) is just there to do his bidding and that Smith and several others in the town, know that Komodo is dead, killed out of spite for his Japanese heritage. And now, given that MaCreedy wants to know the truth, Smith is out for him as well. And so the game of cat and mouse begins. 

The ending is both clever and sad, given that Liz (Anne Francis) double crosses her own brother, but revenge is sweet as Smith suffers severe burns and Komdo's death was not in vain. 

So, while the plot is solid and the ending great, with snappy dialogue with great acting, there are still some issues. First of all, how does John know everyone's name even though he isn't properly introduced to most of them and given that John fought in Italy in world war two, Tracy is far too old for the role even though he is brilliant and fully deserved that Oscar nomination. Still, it is one of the few films I liked that didn't have any sort of romantic aspect to it, just a man wishing to properly honor the man who saved his life. Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Tracy's character has one lame arm, which must have been a challenge but he handles it well.

-The supporting cast is great: Walter Brennan (the only other good guy), Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. 

-It is hard to believe that a train hasn't stopped in that town in four years. 

-The scene where John beats up Coley (Borgnine) is great especially since everyone's been needling him for the entire film.

-You don't truly get why Pete (John Ericson) has a change of heart.

-You only learn why Smith didn't serve in World War Two, it isn't mentioned for any of the others.