Bad Day at Black Rock: A Review (Review #2218)

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK

What secrets lay buried out in the desert? A lot can happen in one day. Bad Day at Black Rock delves into the underbelly of a small town that will do anything to keep its shameful past hidden. 

The sleepy, small town of Black Rock, California has not had a visitor in four years. Today, though, a stranger comes to town. He is John J. McCready (Spencer Tracy). Who is this one-armed man? Why is he here? No one stops at Black Rock on purpose.

McCready, however, does have a purpose. He is there looking for a man named Komoko. The local men all look on McCready with a mixture of contempt and fear. Local kingpin Reno Smith (Robert Ryan) wants everyone in town to stay silent about Komoko. What secret does Smith want hidden about Komoko? 

Everyone is openly hostile to McCready. Hotel clerk Peter Wirth (John Ericson) attempts to not give McCready a room. Local muscle Hector David (Lee Marvin) tries to intimidate the one-armed man. Weak-willed Sheriff Tim Horn (Dean Jagger) is little help in finding Komoko, let along providing information. Local veterinarian Doc Velie (Walter Brennan) is more sympathetic but has a simple warning for McCready: get out of town. Coley Trimble (Ernest Borgnine) 

McCready, however, is not easily intimidated. He pushes Peter's sister Liz (Anne Francis) to rent out a jeep to visit nearby Adobe Flat. McCready finds a burned-out home and wildflowers, which grow on graves. McCready is a World War II veteran who lost his arm in the Italian campaign. That, curiously, is connected to why he is at Black Rock. The men save for Horn and Velie are determined to keep buried whatever, and whomever, lies out in Adobe Flat. 

As the day goes on, the danger grows. Trimble tries to knock McCready out. Surprisingly, a one-armed man with some karate can knock out thugs. McCready finds himself frustrated in his efforts to reach authorities to come to Black Rock. As the day goes on, we learn McCready's tragic connection to Komoko and Komoko's ultimate fate after December 7, 1941. Not everyone will live to see another Bad Day at Black Rock, but there is still hope for this forsaken town.

Bad Day at Black Rock runs a surprisingly short 81 minutes. In that brief runtime though, the film gives the viewer a full and rich story. The mystery around Black Rock and McCready's appearance (both in town and physically) are slowly revealed. Director John Sturges keeps things flowing smoothly. He also maintains the tension and menace thanks to the isolation. Throughout Bad Day at Black Rock, the film maintains a quiet and sometimes not quiet sense of menace and danger.

We know that the men in town are hiding something. We also know that McCreedy's presence should be cause for alarm among the men. That sense of tension and mystery build up the film. We wonder what will happen. We wonder whether McCready will live out the day. Those elements build up Bad Day at Black Rock as the film delves deeper into the mystery.

The film also has standout performances from the cast. A very good case can be mounted that Spencer Tracy is too old for the part of the grizzled detective/war veteran. Today, I imagine, the fact that a non-disabled man playing a one-armed man would not be met with acclaim but condemnation. This cannot be helped. McCready's lost arm is an important element of the character. It is a credit to Tracy and Sturges that one barely notices how McCready is missing an arm.

Tracy builds up McCready with a mix of confidence and moral righteousness. This is not a self-righteous performance. McCready as played by Tracy is not someone who looks down on Black Rock residents. Instead, Tracy makes McCready into someone motivated by paying a debt and finding impediments every step of the way. There is something rotten in the town of Black Rock, and McCready will get to the bottom of it no matter what.

Robert Ryan has a brilliant performance as Reno Smith. Smith is a rotten man, bigoted, angry and suspicious. He holds power over everyone in town. However, we do not see Reno Smith as a ranting, raving loon. Instead, his power comes from a mostly quiet manner. Smith's menace comes from his control. This is a man not only used to controlling everyone but not used to having anyone question him. Ruthless in controlling his small fiefdom, this Black Rock kingpin will have no one try to usurp his power. Smith's control is such that he can overthrow the weak-willed sheriff with no objection. Ryan plays Smith as efficient and ruthless.

The other actors also do excellent work. Walter Brennan is moving as Doc Velie, the closest thing that Black Rock has to a man of conscience. He and Tracy have a wonderful scene together at Doc's clinic, where he is warned to get out. Dean Jagger also does well as Sheriff Horn, a man who is a paper tiger, but who attempts to make good on his duties. Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin were strong as the muscle bent on using brute force against anyone questioning Reno Smith. Anne Frances' Liz is curiously the only woman in the cast. She did well as someone caught in the middle of this new war.

Bad Day at Black Rock has an excellent Andre Previn score. The film also has strong cinematography, capturing the wide desert which builds up menace. Granted, the rear-screen projections at times do look clunky. However, that is a minor point. I do wonder though if a line in Millard Kaufman's adaptation of Howard Breslin's short story Bad Day at Hondo was meant as a pun. As McGready exited the train, someone said, "You look like you need a hand". Again, whether it was meant as a sincere offer to help or a comment about his lost arm, I am not sure.

Bad Day at Black Rock holds your attention throughout its runtime. Excellent performances and an engaging story elevate it to being a standout film. 

DECISION: A-