John J. Macreedy
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A 1955 American film noir neo-Western starring Spencer Tracy as a one-armed stranger who uncovers a dark secret in a small desert town. The film was based on a short story by Howard Breslin and was nominated for three Academy Awards.
A 1955 crime drama starring Spencer Tracy as a one-armed stranger who uncovers a dark secret in a small town. IMDb provides cast and crew information, user and critic reviews, trivia, goofs, quotes, and more.
- (25K)
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- John Sturges
- 1955-02-13
Technical Specs. One hot summer day in 1945, when the Streamliner train stops at the remote desert town of Black Rock, Arizona, for the first time in four years, the townspeople greet the visiting stranger, a one-armed man named John J. Macreedy, with suspicion and hostility.
- John Sturges, Joel Freeman
- Spencer Tracy
Searching for a man named Komoko, Macreedy is met with disdain by virtually every local, including the resident thug, Hector David (Lee Marvin), and the imposing Reno Smith (Robert Ryan). As...
- (34)
- Spencer Tracy
- John Sturges
- Metro Goldwyn Mayer
- Overview
- Production notes and credits
- Cast
Bad Day at Black Rock, American mystery film, released in 1955, that fused elements of the western with those of film noir. It was based on Howard Breslin’s short story “Bad Time at Honda” (1947).
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Spencer Tracy starred as John Macreedy, a one-armed World War II veteran whose life was saved during the war by a Japanese American soldier. He becomes a de facto detective when in 1945 he arrives in a sparsely populated Arizona desert town in search of the soldier’s father, Komoko, in order to present him with a medal posthumously awarded to his son. The town has not had a visitor for four years, and the residents treat Macreedy with suspicion and disdain. Although he is told by the town boss, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), that Komoko was shipped to a relocation camp for Japanese Americans at the start of the war, he decides to visit the plot of land where Komoko had lived. While there Macreedy discovers wildflowers growing in the ground, which he suspects indicates a burial site. Upon his return, some of the townspeople’s behaviour becomes increasingly intimidating, and he soon realizes that his life is in danger. Fortunately, he finds allies in Doc Velie (Walter Brennan), the town’s resident physician, and the young Pete Wirth (John Ericson), who confesses that he, Smith, and three others had murdered Komoko in retaliation for Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. A plan is arranged for Pete’s sister, Liz (Anne Francis), to secretly transport Macreedy away from town at night, but during the drive she stops in the desert, where Smith is waiting with a rifle. After Smith unexpectedly shoots Liz, Macreedy manages to maim him with a Molotov cocktail. Back in town, Komoko’s killers are put in jail, and before departing via train, Macreedy hands over the medal to Doc, who believes it will help restore the town’s spirits.
Although Tracy had been reluctant to accept the role, he proved successful as a determined tough guy who cracks heads and witticisms with equal aptitude. (Macreedy’s fight in a café with a local thug, played by Ernest Borgnine, is a particularly memorable scene.) The wide-screen colour cinematography contributes to the sense of desolation in the town, while André Previn’s musical score complements and accentuates the film’s drama and pathos. Additionally, the film explores myriad themes popular in Hollywood cinema of the 1950s, including individual integrity, civic responsibility, and group paranoia and conformity. Bad Day at Black Rock was one of the earliest attempts in film to deal with the Japanese American experience during World War II and anti-Japanese prejudice in the postwar years.
•Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
•Director: John Sturges
•Producer: Dore Schary
•Writers: Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman
•Music: André Previn
•Running time: 81 minutes
•Spencer Tracy (John J. Macreedy)
•Robert Ryan (Reno Smith)
•Anne Francis (Liz Wirth)
•Dean Jagger (Tim Horn)
•Walter Brennan (Doc Velie)
•John Ericson (Pete Wirth)
- Lee Pfeiffer
One-armed war veteran John J. Macreedy steps off a train at the sleepy little town of Black Rock. Once there, he begins to unravel a web of lies, secrecy, and murder.
Find out who starred in and worked on the classic western film Bad Day at Black Rock, directed by John Sturges and written by Millard Kaufman. See the full list of actors, producers, composers, cinematographers and more on IMDb.
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