It's a little over an hour into the film before the viewer has a pretty good idea of what's going on, and it wraps up in a total of eighty one minutes! I'm going to have to file this one under best films I'd never heard of, although by the looks of things on this board, maybe it's just me. On first viewing, the story is bound to keep you wondering what the mystery of Black Rock is all about, as protagonist John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) tiptoes his way through all the obstacles Reno Smith (Robert Ryan) and his henchmen throw his way.
The film boasts an unusually strong cast, particularly with Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin in the credits. Interestingly, they along with Ryan would team up more than a dozen years later in "The Great Escape". As heavies in this film, they attempt to intimidate Tracy's character into some semblance of submission, and fail miserably. You knew it was only a matter of time before the one armed Tracy would stand to defend himself, the only question mark would be how and when.
I've seen Walter Brennan recently in some uncharacteristic roles ("My Darling Clementine" for example), but here he plays closer to type as someone who can rise to the occasion with the right push. He doesn't start out that way though, as he admonishes Tracy's character with a warning - "They're gonna kill you with no hard feelins".
If there's any fault to be found with the story it would be the way it concludes once the final confrontation between Macreedy and Reno Smith ends. Coley (Borgnine) and Hector (Marvin) are next seen in jail courtesy of turn good sheriff Tim (Dean Jagger), but their incarceration is dealt with off screen, hardly the way most films would have handled it.
Mostly, the movie keeps the viewer hooked with it's mysterious set up, aided by the inclusion of the name 'Komoko', which is later revealed to be instrumental in the town's deep, dark secret. I enjoyed it, as the Eastman Color format managed to add a modern sensibility to what might otherwise have been an out of place 1950's Western. Rounding out the main cast is the only female presence in Black Rock, provided by Anne Francis. Come to think of it, the biggest mystery of Black Rock might be how it even managed to survive at all until Spencer Tracy got there.
The film boasts an unusually strong cast, particularly with Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin in the credits. Interestingly, they along with Ryan would team up more than a dozen years later in "The Great Escape". As heavies in this film, they attempt to intimidate Tracy's character into some semblance of submission, and fail miserably. You knew it was only a matter of time before the one armed Tracy would stand to defend himself, the only question mark would be how and when.
I've seen Walter Brennan recently in some uncharacteristic roles ("My Darling Clementine" for example), but here he plays closer to type as someone who can rise to the occasion with the right push. He doesn't start out that way though, as he admonishes Tracy's character with a warning - "They're gonna kill you with no hard feelins".
If there's any fault to be found with the story it would be the way it concludes once the final confrontation between Macreedy and Reno Smith ends. Coley (Borgnine) and Hector (Marvin) are next seen in jail courtesy of turn good sheriff Tim (Dean Jagger), but their incarceration is dealt with off screen, hardly the way most films would have handled it.
Mostly, the movie keeps the viewer hooked with it's mysterious set up, aided by the inclusion of the name 'Komoko', which is later revealed to be instrumental in the town's deep, dark secret. I enjoyed it, as the Eastman Color format managed to add a modern sensibility to what might otherwise have been an out of place 1950's Western. Rounding out the main cast is the only female presence in Black Rock, provided by Anne Francis. Come to think of it, the biggest mystery of Black Rock might be how it even managed to survive at all until Spencer Tracy got there.