Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
BDRip 1080p | MKV | 1920 x 752 | x264 @ 13,8 Mbps | 81 min | 8,75 Gb
Audio: English DTS 2.0 @ 1509 Kbps | Subs: English, English SDH
Genre: Western, Thriller
BDRip 1080p | MKV | 1920 x 752 | x264 @ 13,8 Mbps | 81 min | 8,75 Gb
Audio: English DTS 2.0 @ 1509 Kbps | Subs: English, English SDH
Genre: Western, Thriller
Director: John Sturges
Writers: Millard Kaufman (screen play), Don McGuire (adaptation)
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
From the time John J. Macreedy steps off the train in Black Rock, he feels a chill from the local residents. The town is only a speck on the map and few if any strangers ever come to the place. Macreedy himself is tight-lipped about the purpose of his trip and he finds that the hotel refuses him a room, the local garage refuses to rent him a car and the sheriff is a useless drunkard. It's apparent that the locals have something to hide but when he finally tells them that he is there to speak to a Japanese-American farmer named Kamoko, he touches a nerve so sensitive that he will spend the next 24 hours fighting for his life.
IMDB - 4 wins + Nominated for 3 Oscars
John Sturges directed this quintessentially tight-constructed masterpiece. This is how it was done in the good old days: nothing falls by the wayside. Tight, clear characterizations, with minimalist dialog, costume, manner, and facial expression all reflecting the inner lives of people in their self-constructed hell. Check out how Hector (Lee Marvin) uses the word "boy" to suggest racial overtones well in advance of the slowly-revealed background plot; how Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) in his dark suit and no-nonsense manner contrasts with everyone else's casual dress and edginess, perfectly reflecting his role as avenging angel; how Coley (Ernest Borgnine), trying to run Macreedy off the road, resembles (probably unintentionally) Joe McCarthy, especially as caricatured by Walt Kelly; and of course how the arch-villain, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), suggests limitless power with his inimitable smirk and almost languid movements: he controls the town without actually doing anything overt–until Macreedy forces his hand. Nicely turned performances by other major players, too: Dean Jagger (the drunkard Sheriff Tim), Anne Frances (nervous Liz), and Walter Brennan (loquacious, self-justifying Doc). The suggestion that one man can–literally single-handedly–make a moral difference is inspiring (and how that one hand utterly confounds Coley is a nifty, low-key precursor of Bruce Lee-inspired acrobatics). This is a keeper.
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