Bad Day at Black Rock is an intriguing mix of movie noir and neo-western that includes one of many best ensemble casts I’ve ever seen – led by the nice Spencer Tracy. Throughout his storied Hollywood profession, Tracy shared the display screen with many legendary actors. In his function movie debut, Up the River, he co-starred with Humphrey Bogart. In Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, he co-starred with Sidney Poitier and his real-life partner Katharine Hepburn. In Judgment at Nuremberg, he co-starred with Burt Lancaster, Maximilian Schell, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, William Shatner, and Montgomery Clift.

Tracy appeared within the all-star ensemble of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and he narrated one of the vital star-studded westerns ever made, How the West Was Won. But arguably probably the most stacked forged that Tracy appeared in was the star-studded ensemble of Bad Day at Black Rock. Tracy earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and received the Best Actor Award at Cannes Film Festival for his function in Bad Day at Black Rock. He’s the simple star of the film, however he’s surrounded by iconic supporting gamers.

Bad Day At Black Rock’s Cast Has Multiple Stars & Oscar Winners

Spencer Tracy is joined by an all-star line-up of supporting gamers

Tracy’s Bad Day at Black Rock co-stars included two fellow Oscar winners and two future Oscar winners. Tracy had turn out to be the primary actor to win two Oscars back-to-back along with his roles within the 1937 journey drama Captains Courageous and the 1938 biopic Boys Town. Walter Brennan had received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 3 times – for 1936’s Come and Get It, 1938’s Kentucky, and 1940’s The Westerner – making him one among simply three male actors to win three Oscars. Dean Jagger had received Best Supporting Actor for his flip within the 1949 warfare movie Twelve O’Clock High.

Ernest Borgnine and the badass Lee Marvin received Oscars later; Borgnine received Best Actor for Marty, launched the identical 12 months as Bad Day at Black Rock, and Marvin received Best Actor for his twin roles within the 1965 western comedy Cat Ballou. Robert Ryan was additionally an Oscar nominee, having acquired a Best Supporting Actor nod for his function within the 1947 movie noir Crossfire. The forged additionally options Anne Francis, the famend star of Honey West and Forbidden Planet. Suffice to say, it’s a really spectacular forged – it’s just like the Expendables of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

What Is Bad Day At Black Rock About?

The seek for Komoko is underway

Bad Day at Black Rock takes place in an remoted city within the Californian desert in late 1945. It opens with Tracy’s John J. Macreedy, a jaded veteran who misplaced one among his arms within the warfare, getting off the prepare in Black Rock. The residents are instantly suspicious of Macreedy and deal with him with hostility, as a result of that is the primary time that the prepare has stopped within the city in 4 years. Macreedy is searching for a buddy named Komoko. The telegraph agent refuses to get Macreedy a cab and the hotelier refuses to offer him a room.

At each flip, Macreedy is met with aggression and resentment, however he doesn’t let that cease him. He retains combating again till he will get to the underside of what actually occurred to Komoko. As he continues to seek for his buddy, Macreedy uncovers a darkish secret that has shaken the whole city. The screenplay was tailored from Howard Breslin’s quick story “Bad Time at Honda,” which was printed in The American Magazine in January 1947. The story turned so iconic that it was borrowed by a handful of TV crime dramas on the time.

Why Bad Day At Black Rock Is A Great Western Movie

The thriller storyline retains the viewers guessing

Although it’s against the law drama set in 1945, Bad Day at Black Rock is well known as a western. It’s thought-about to be one of many earliest entries within the revisionist western subgenre, as a result of it tackles the revisionist western themes of racism, patriotism, and misplaced loyalty. It has the story of a traditional movie noir – an intriguing thriller narrative that leads the protagonist right into a sinister conspiracy propped up by a sophisticated net of lies – however it has the setting of a western.

William C. Mellor’s cinematography captures gorgeous photographs of desert landscapes within the movie’s widescreen Cinemascope format. Every exterior shot has a panoramic mountain vary within the background. The widescreen pictures emphasizes the disorienting isolation of this small desert city. Narratively, Bad Day at Black Rock is a movie noir. But visually and thematically, it’s a traditional western.

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 thriller directed by John Sturges, that includes Spencer Tracy as a one-armed stranger who visits a rural city and uncovers a darkish secret. As his presence disrupts the neighborhood, rigidity escalates, revealing underlying prejudices and violence. The movie, co-starring Robert Ryan and Anne Francis, examines themes of justice and morality in a post-World War II context.

Director

John Sturges

Cast

Spencer Tracy , Robert Ryan , Anne Francis , Dean Jagger , Walter Brennan , John Ericson , Ernest Borgnine , Lee Marvin