Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Pretty Good

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A good Western-Thriller by the great director John Sturges, with a courageous message, especially at the time of the film: the silence and conformism of the people, in a skillful and subtle criticism to the times of "McCarthyism" that lived at the time of the film. There are quite a few similarities to "High Noon", made three years earlier. Spencer Tracy has an excellent performance (nominated for Oscar) as well as the remaining actors in the cast (Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, among others). The only weakness is some movie sequences that are quite unlikely. Still, a movie that delivers great entertainment and a beautiful message.

I'm going to do you a huge favour. I'm going to tell you about the best movie that you've probably never seen, with one of the best actors who you probably have not seen enough of to truly appreciate. You can lord it over your friends and come out sounding like the Pauline Kael of your social group. (You're going to have to look that Pauline Kael reference.) The film is Bad Day at Black Rock and the actor is Spencer Tracy. It's a testament to Tracy enormous skill as an actor that even some of the greatest actors of today refer to him as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, film actors of all time. You've no doubt heard of him, and may have even seen him in one the great comedies he made with Katherine Hepburn, the best film couple alongside Bogart and Bacall. But you don't get to really appreciate Tracy's genius, and I don't use that word lightly, until you see him at work in a drama like Bad Day at Black Rock or Inherit the Wind. And Bad Day at Black Rock is probably one of Tracy's greatest performance. John Sturges' film is ahead of it's time (1955) in almost every way possible. Somehow Bad Day at Black Rock manages to be a superb Western disguised as Film Noir. It has the mystery and paranoia of the very best Noir films, but it's storyline is driven by the very Western theme of one man against insurmountable odds. But it's way more than that. Set in 1945, just after World War II, the story of Tracy, the one armed stranger who gets off a train that never stops in that place, searching for a friend in a secretive small town run by a brutal rich man, played by Robert Ryan, is made stunningly poignant by the fact that the missing friend happens to be Japanese. Remember this movie was made in 1955, long before most Americans were willing to acknowledge the racism that their society had been built on, let alone their brutal attitude toward the Japanese. This was only 10 years after the war had ended and most Americans still saw all Asians, but the Japanese most of all, as sub human. The was the age of Joe McCarthy and the fear of the other was even more vivid then than it was during the war. And yet Sturges and Tracy make this incredible film, looking right into the face of racism and xenophobia long before almost anyone else would dare to do that. But don't worry, that's not why you should watch Bad Day at Black Rock. You should watch it because it still stands as a cinematic masterpiece and because it is a great film first and a social commentary so well disguised that you will barely be aware that the social commentary exists. The movie carries you along in the way that a great Western or a great Film Noir might. You even get not one great bad guy actor, but two in Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin, two of the best villains out there, then or now. And if that's not enough you get great veteran Western character actor Walter Brennan, as one of the few people in the town who seem innocent of whatever was done, and Dean Jagger as an alcoholic spineless sheriff, an equally great character actor to round out a pretty much perfect cast. And then there's Tracy. Unlike the great Western heroes of his day, Tracy's character actually shows real and very deep fear. When he realize what he's gotten into, he wants very much to get out, but the bad guys have conspired to keep that from happening. Few actors of that day could have or would have displayed such a deep fear. Tracy, as he always was is flawless. He had a gift for dialogue and rhythm and most of all real and actual listening from moment to moment, a kind of naturalness that makes it look like he's not acting at all, that virtually no other actor of the time and very few today was capable of, and this is among Tracy's best performances. Bad Day at Black Rock moves like a good Western or a great Film Noir. It has depth, and meaning and power that we too rarely see in film today. Quite simply Bad Day at Black Rock is as good as they get. If you haven't seen it, find a way to see it. You won't be sorry. If you have seen it, watch it again. This is my fifth or sixth time. And it is even more impressive today than it was the first time I watched. Bad Day at Black Rock is one of those rare masterpieces that very few people have actually seen. You're welcome. In advance.

This movie is a thrill ride from start to finish, full of suspense and drama. The film feels like a traditional western but its actually set in WW2 Arizona. I think it would be fare to compare this film with High Noon another classic western. However in High Noon where McCreedy (played by Spencer Tracy) faces sociopathic bullies and the locals won't help him, Bad Day at Black Rock deals with racism against Japanese Americans. I must say John Sturges does an excellent job in creating this film and the screen play works in such a way you don't think somebody is preaching at you. Spencer Tracy does a really good job playing the part of a 1 armed inquisitor. Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, and Lee Marvin all play excellent supporting parts. Good colour and really good use of widescreen. Well worth watching. Fantastic.

When the streamliner stops at Black Rock for the first time in four years, the mysterious one-armed stranger John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) disembarks and asks how to reach Adobe Flat to meet the Japanese- American farmer Kamoko. He is not allowed to check-in the hotel and he is not able to rent a car. Soon he notes that the sheriff is a drunkard and the resident Reno Smith (Robert Ryan) rules the place with his henchmen Hector David (Lee Marvin) and Coley Trimble (Ernest Borgnine). Further he feels that the inhabitants are hiding something. When he finally succeeds to rent a jeep from Liz Wirth (Anne Francis), he drives to Adobe Flat and finds the farmhouse burned to the ground. He immediately concludes what might have happened to Kamoko and tries to communicate with the state police, but he discovers that communication is controlled by Smith. Further, the veterinarian Doc Velie (Walter Brennan) tells that his life is in danger and unsuccessfully tries to help him to escape. Who is John J. Macreedy and what will happen to him?"Bad Day at Black Rock" is a tense thriller with great screenplay, direction and performances. The secrets about the behavior of the inhabitants and who Macreedy is holds the attention and makes also the viewer nervous. The trio of villains is perfect with Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Conspiração do Silêncio" ("Conspiracy of the Silence")