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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Millard Kaufman (screenplay)
Don McGuire (adaptation)
more
Release Date:
7 January 1955 (USA) more
Tagline:
Suddenly you realize murder is at your elbow! - and there's no way out! more
Plot:
A one handed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
Mr. Magoo Co-Creator Dies
(From WENN. 17 March 2009, 5:15 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Classic genre in transition more (90 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Spencer Tracy | ... | John J. Macreedy | |
| Robert Ryan | ... | Reno Smith | |
| Anne Francis | ... | Liz Wirth | |
| Dean Jagger | ... | Tim Horn | |
| Walter Brennan | ... | Doc Velie | |
| John Ericson | ... | Pete Wirth | |
| Ernest Borgnine | ... | Coley Trimble | |
| Lee Marvin | ... | Hector David | |
| Russell Collins | ... | Mr. Hastings | |
| Walter Sande | ... | Sam |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Bad Day at Hondo (USA) (working title)
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
81 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (35 mm optical prints) (Western Electric Sound System) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints)
Certification:
West Germany:12 (f) | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #17154)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The projectionist's records have revealed that over the years this has become one of the most frequently shown films in the screening room of The White House. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: McCreedy rents the U.S. Army quarter-ton truck (jeep) and drives it around with his one arm. That model truck only had a standard transmission. Yet you can hear the gears shift but McCreedy never engages the clutch or works the shifter. more
Quotes:
John J. MacReedy: You killed Komoko, Smith, and sooner or later, you're gonna go up for it. Not because you killed him, but because of thinking in a town like this you could get away with it. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "That Girl: Bad Day at Marvin Gardens (#3.25)" (1969) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (90 total)
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"Bad Day at Black Rock" is one of the more interesting "westerns" ever made. Told in the present(1955), it has all of the elements and feel of the classic western that may have taken place eighty years prior to this. From the first shot of the modern day locomotive traveling along the same path that many a stagecoach may have taken, you realize that this is a story about a way of life that has not been totally brought up to date. Where strangers are suspicious, secrets that take place in a town stay in the town.
John Sturges has done a wonderful job of bringing all of these elements together. One of the things that I found interesting was that there were very few, if any, close-ups. Most of the shots could have been master shots. For me, this made me feel as though I were a by-stander in the room with the characters while they talked. A nice touch.
As expected all of the performances are great. Tracy, Ryan, Brennan, and Jagger are all terrific. As are Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine (two actors at the time who were about to break out, and become top-line stars).
If you like classic westerns, and great acting, "Bad Day at Black Rock" will not disappoint.
8 out of 10