Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.9/10   

Director:

John Sturges

Escritores:

Howard Breslin (story)
Don McGuire (adaptation)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

7 enero 1955 (USA)

Género:

Drama | Suspenso | Del Oeste

Frase comercial:

Suddenly you realize murder is at your elbow! - and there's no way out!

Plot:

A one handed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Secret | Stranger | Japanese American | Murder

Premios:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A bad day, a superb film

Reparto

Spencer Tracy	...	John J. Macreedy
Robert Ryan	...	Reno Smith
Anne Francis	...	Liz Wirth
Dean Jagger	...	Sheriff Tim Horn
Walter Brennan	...	Doc T.R. Velie Jr.
John Ericson	...	Pete Wirth
Ernest Borgnine	...	Coley Trimble
Lee Marvin	...	Hector David
Russell Collins	...	Mr. Hastings, Telegrapher
Walter Sande	...	Sam, Cafe Proprietor

También conocida como:

Bad Day at Hondo (USA) (working title)
Conspiración de silencio (Spain) [es]

Duración:

81 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Relación de Aspecto:

2.55 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) (Western Electric Sound System) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints)

Clasificación:

West Germany:12 (f) | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #17154)

Locaciones de Filmación:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Compañía:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivialidades:

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 10 seconds

Errores:

Continuidad: At the climax of the film, Macreedy is attempting to use his tie as the 'fuse' for a fire-bomb. Though his 'dead' arm remains stuffed in his jacket pocket, he clearly uses its hand when tearing the tie.

Citas:

Reno Smith: I swear, you're beginning to make me mad.
John J. Macreedy: All strangers do, hmm?
Reno Smith: No, they don't. Not all of them. Some do, when they come around snooping...
John J. Macreedy: Snooping for what?
Reno Smith: I don't know, outsiders coming in, looking for something...
John J. Macreedy: Looking for what?
Reno Smith: I don't know! Somebody's always looking for something in this part of the West. To the historian it's the Old West, to the book writer it's the Wild West, to the businessman it's the Undeveloped West -- they say we're all poor and backward, and I guess we are, we don't even have enough water. But to us, this place is *our* West, and I wish they'd leave us alone!
[...]

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in Return to 'The Great Escape' (1993) (V)

A bad day, a superb film

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.