Monday, April 22, 2019

Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 John Sturges film starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, and Lee Marvin.

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Slant Magazine has a positive review and says,
Shot in 1955, Bad Day at Black Rock was one of Hollywood’s first productions to directly tackle WWII internment of Japanese-American citizens, an incident of paranoia-fueled prejudice that nicely jibes with the film’s critique of McCarthy-era distrust.
Empire Online concludes,
In terms of taut drama. Black Rock writes the book. Hitchcock, busy with Dial M For Murder at the time, must have smarted when he saw this nerve-shredding masterpiece.
Film Site says,
On the surface, this American film classic is concerned with the themes of individual integrity, group conformity and complacency, and civic responsibility. It can also be seen as a powerful, allegorical indictment of the Hollywood blacklist, created during the climate of suspicion and fear of the 1950s McCarthy era.
TCM has information. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics rating of 97%.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:17 AM

    A really good flick! Like you say, everyone is in it. It can be unsettling, which is not a bad thing.
    --A Pal

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    1. Ernest Borgnine certainly had a varied career!

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  2. Fabulous choice! Hope you enjoyed Easter! Have a great start into the new week!
    Susi

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    1. This weather is gorgeous! Sunny, highs in the upper 70s :)

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  3. I saw this years ago, and you are right. Strong cast, strong story line. All in all a great movie. time to see it again.

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    1. I was surprised to realize I hadn't seen it before. I agree it's well worth watching again.

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