Bad Day at Black Rock

One of the great paradoxes of American history is the fact that Hollywood in the 1950s – an era usually associated with Cold War hysteria, McCarthy's witch hunts, the demonisation of any nonconformist thought, and Hollywood blacklists – brought forth many great, groundbreaking films that actually challenged the self-righteous view of the USA as the greatest nation in the world. Those films exposed some dark, unflatt…

This post contains spoilers. I assume you've seen the film or don't care about spoilers. You can watch the trailer at the bottom of this post. The Credits Bad Day at Black Rock is directed by John Sturges and stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. The Plot A few years after World War 2, John J. Macreedy (played by Spencer Tracey) arrives by train in a very small town in the W…

A one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary. Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 American thriller film in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope, directed by John Sturges and starring Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan that combines elements of the western genre with that of film noir. The supporting cast includes Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brenna…