Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) with Michael Sturges
Friday, 10:00 am, Culbreth
Director: John Sturges
Writers: Howard Breslin, Don McGuire, Millard Kaufman
Cinematographer: William C. Mellor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
Running Time: 81 min
By 1955, John Sturges had already cemented his reputation as a successful director of big-budget action pictures when he made this intimate but powerful drama about an army vet on a personal mission to a small town. Part Western and part film noir, Bad Day at Black Rock was also one of the first Hollywood films to deal forthrightly with racism.
Shortly after the end of World War II, a one-armed veteran named Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) steps off a train at the town of Black Rock. Save for a handful of residents, it could be a ghost town, and he soon learns that even the train had ceased stopping there four years previously. He has come to the desert looking for an old Japanese farmer, but finds only a lone grave where the farm once stood. It soon becomes clear that the town harbors a sinister secret.
The wide-screen cinematography is stunning, with breathtaking shots of a train steaming through the barren desert; the dusty, rundown town framed against clear blue skies; and gorgeous mountain vistas in the distance. Yet the skilled camera work only creates the canvas upon which the compelling drama takes place. In addition to a prodigious performance from the great Spencer Tracy, the film provides exceptional acting by Robert Ryan as the citizen who runs the town, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin as his two goons, Walter Brennan as the town doctor who tries to lend a helping hand, and John Ericson as a conflicted hotel desk clerk, torn between fear of his past and an honest desire to do good. Anne Francis (Honey West) also gives a surprising turn as the seemingly lone woman caught between conflicting alliances.
The movie was nominated for several Academy Awards in1956, including Best Director (Sturges), Best Screenplay (Millard Kaufman), and Best Actor (Spencer Tracy). Following this screening, Michael Sturges, the director’s son and a Charlottesville resident, will talk about his father’s career and the making of this timeless film.
