In the tradition of "stranger comes to town" movies, Bad Day at Black Rock is the incredibly unimaginative story of Spencer Tracy taking a train into the small town of Black Rock. No one knows why he's come, no one knows why no one's welcoming or friendly, and no one knows why there's only ten people in the entire town. Is this a ghost town? If so, why are there ten people just waiting for the train to stop, which is supposedly a rare occurrence?
Spence eventually reveals he's there to find out what happened to his Japanese buddy. Once he reveals the reason for his visit, it's pretty obvious why everyone keeps trying to drive him out of town, and it's really easy to guess what happened to the mystery friend. There's no reason for the movie to continue after the first twenty minutes, and for the rest of the time, it's so incredibly boring, I thought someone was pulling my leg and going to surprise me by saying, "Just kidding! This isn't the real movie." I can only imagine how tired Robert Ryan got of playing the racist bad guy, and it doesn't look like he, or anyone else for that matter, had a good time making this one.
The other random townspeople include Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Dean Jagger, Lee Marvin, and Anne Francis. It's hard to believe this is a famous movie, or one recognized by the Academy for three Oscar nominations. It's boring, badly acted, predictable, and cheesy. You don't have to see it unless you're really in love with everyone in the cast.
Spence eventually reveals he's there to find out what happened to his Japanese buddy. Once he reveals the reason for his visit, it's pretty obvious why everyone keeps trying to drive him out of town, and it's really easy to guess what happened to the mystery friend. There's no reason for the movie to continue after the first twenty minutes, and for the rest of the time, it's so incredibly boring, I thought someone was pulling my leg and going to surprise me by saying, "Just kidding! This isn't the real movie." I can only imagine how tired Robert Ryan got of playing the racist bad guy, and it doesn't look like he, or anyone else for that matter, had a good time making this one.
The other random townspeople include Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Dean Jagger, Lee Marvin, and Anne Francis. It's hard to believe this is a famous movie, or one recognized by the Academy for three Oscar nominations. It's boring, badly acted, predictable, and cheesy. You don't have to see it unless you're really in love with everyone in the cast.