Bad Day at Black Rock (1955, John Sturges)
A train stops at Black Rock, startling the town residents. John Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) gets off the train and is quickly approached by Hastings (Russell Collins), the telegraph agent, who is upset why he was not told the train was going to be stopping. Macreedy replies that it must not be important. But Hastings replies the train has not stopped in town for four years. Macreedy mentions he has to go to a place named Adobe Flat and inquires about a car but Hastings says there are no cars. Macreedy then goes towards the hotel. The town residents are fixated on Macreedy as makes his way from the train station to the hotel. He asks for a room but is told there is no vacancy. He ignores the words and pulls the register towards him and writes his name and goes up to a room. Hector (Lee Marvin), who has been keeping a close eye on Macreedy ever since he got off the train, goes upstairs to intimidate Macreedy.
At this point, the movie looks to be a western setup where a fight will break out between the stranger to the town and Hector with his band of tough men aching to take Macreedy out. But no such fight breaks out because Bad Day at Black Rock is not a traditional Western. In fact, no horses are seen anywhere as the town has embraced automobiles, a vehicle which boosts the power of several hundred horses. However, the dozen buildings in Black Rock show signs of a traditional Western town consisting of a hotel, jail, bar and a grocery store. Such buildings are similar to what one would find in a traditional Western film town but Bad Day at Black Rock is set a few months after 1945, after the end of the war. Therefore, the time period in the film is well past the end of the traditional Western film era. However, the town of Black Rock is holding onto the last fragments of the Old West before modernity washes over. With the exception of the car, many old mentalities of the Old West remain, including distrust of the stranger. In trying to justify why the town is wary about Macreedy, the unofficial town leader Smith (Robert Ryan) mentions that it must be an old remanent of the Old West. To which Macreedy relies that he thought the Old West was about hospitality. The Old West was indeed about hospitality but not towards strangers, as illustrated by countless Western films where the stranger was distrusted and looked upon suspiciously. Later on, Smith even likens the presence of Macreedy to a virus:
“This guy's like a carrier of small pox. Since he's arrived, this town has a fever, an infection, and it's spreading.”
This statement ignores the fact that everyone in town is on feverish edge because they are guilty of a crime. Their guilt quickly becomes apparent when the residents freeze up or never give a straight answer anytime Macreedy asks about Adobe Flats or Komoko. He wants to go Adobe Flats to look for a man named Komoko but it is clear the town is hiding a secret regarding Komoko.
Bad Day at Black Rock plays out like a thriller with the unraveling of the mystery around Komoko keeping the tension on a knife’s edge. The soundtrack also brilliantly heightens the tension. If there was a femme fatale in the film, the movie would have inched towards noir territory. But there is only female character who is a quiet bystander. However, the film has an essential role in cinema because it builds a bridge between the Western and crime genre. Bad Day at Black Rock is a rare film that depicts how the Western genre landscape slowly transformed to the noir film genre which became common place starting the 1940s. Even though both western and noir genres are united by their love of guns and intense rivalry between opposing camps, very few films have depicted how a straight line can be drawn between the two genres. This is where the essential quality of Bad Day at Black Rock shines through as it is a perfect transitional film that connects two of cinema’s loved genres.
Note: This film was ranked #20 in my Western Countdown ballot.
A train stops at Black Rock, startling the town residents. John Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) gets off the train and is quickly approached by Hastings (Russell Collins), the telegraph agent, who is upset why he was not told the train was going to be stopping. Macreedy replies that it must not be important. But Hastings replies the train has not stopped in town for four years. Macreedy mentions he has to go to a place named Adobe Flat and inquires about a car but Hastings says there are no cars. Macreedy then goes towards the hotel. The town residents are fixated on Macreedy as makes his way from the train station to the hotel. He asks for a room but is told there is no vacancy. He ignores the words and pulls the register towards him and writes his name and goes up to a room. Hector (Lee Marvin), who has been keeping a close eye on Macreedy ever since he got off the train, goes upstairs to intimidate Macreedy.
At this point, the movie looks to be a western setup where a fight will break out between the stranger to the town and Hector with his band of tough men aching to take Macreedy out. But no such fight breaks out because Bad Day at Black Rock is not a traditional Western. In fact, no horses are seen anywhere as the town has embraced automobiles, a vehicle which boosts the power of several hundred horses. However, the dozen buildings in Black Rock show signs of a traditional Western town consisting of a hotel, jail, bar and a grocery store. Such buildings are similar to what one would find in a traditional Western film town but Bad Day at Black Rock is set a few months after 1945, after the end of the war. Therefore, the time period in the film is well past the end of the traditional Western film era. However, the town of Black Rock is holding onto the last fragments of the Old West before modernity washes over. With the exception of the car, many old mentalities of the Old West remain, including distrust of the stranger. In trying to justify why the town is wary about Macreedy, the unofficial town leader Smith (Robert Ryan) mentions that it must be an old remanent of the Old West. To which Macreedy relies that he thought the Old West was about hospitality. The Old West was indeed about hospitality but not towards strangers, as illustrated by countless Western films where the stranger was distrusted and looked upon suspiciously. Later on, Smith even likens the presence of Macreedy to a virus:
“This guy's like a carrier of small pox. Since he's arrived, this town has a fever, an infection, and it's spreading.”
This statement ignores the fact that everyone in town is on feverish edge because they are guilty of a crime. Their guilt quickly becomes apparent when the residents freeze up or never give a straight answer anytime Macreedy asks about Adobe Flats or Komoko. He wants to go Adobe Flats to look for a man named Komoko but it is clear the town is hiding a secret regarding Komoko.
Bad Day at Black Rock plays out like a thriller with the unraveling of the mystery around Komoko keeping the tension on a knife’s edge. The soundtrack also brilliantly heightens the tension. If there was a femme fatale in the film, the movie would have inched towards noir territory. But there is only female character who is a quiet bystander. However, the film has an essential role in cinema because it builds a bridge between the Western and crime genre. Bad Day at Black Rock is a rare film that depicts how the Western genre landscape slowly transformed to the noir film genre which became common place starting the 1940s. Even though both western and noir genres are united by their love of guns and intense rivalry between opposing camps, very few films have depicted how a straight line can be drawn between the two genres. This is where the essential quality of Bad Day at Black Rock shines through as it is a perfect transitional film that connects two of cinema’s loved genres.
Note: This film was ranked #20 in my Western Countdown ballot.
3 comments:
"Bad Day at Black Rock plays out like a thriller with the unraveling of the mystery around Komoko keeping the tension on a knife’s edge. The soundtrack also brilliantly heightens the tension. If there was a femme fatale in the film, the movie would have inched towards noir territory."
Sachin, I must say I completely agree with you on all three points! This has always been a particular favorite of mine. Some think it's dated, but they are missing the point. The film is as much about the hysteria that existed at the time as it is about Tracy's mission. Without question one of John Sturges' best films. Subsequent films like MISSISSIPPI BURNING brought to bear the same kind of focus, but can't match the economy and craftsmanship of Sturges' film. Great use of Cinemascope too.
Superlative review!!!
Thanks Sam. It is still relevant today and can't date really as there will be always small towns with the characters shown in the family.
Meant film not family :)
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