
Guest:
Kieran B
Host and Creator of the Best Picture Cast; @bestpicturecast on X, IG, Letterboxd - BPC, Letterboxd - Personal
Previous Episodes: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1957), Lost in Translation (2003), Gran Torino (2008), Stalag 17 (1953), Shane (1953), A Fistful of Dollars (1964), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Revisit, 12 Angry Men (1957) Revisit, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Revisit, Saw (2004), Up in the Air (2009)
Cast:
John Sturges, Director
Millard Kaufman and John McGuire, Writers
Andre Previn, Music
Spencer Tracy as John J. Macreedy
Robert Ryan as Reno Smith
Anne Francis as Liz Wirth
Dean Jagger as Sheriff Tim Horn
Walter Brennan as Doc Velie
John Ericson as Pete Wirth
Ernest Borgnine as Coley Trimble
Lee Marvin as Hector David
Russell Collins as Mr Hastings
*Recognition:
Bad Day at Black Rock was released on January 7, 1955.
Based on a short story called "Bad Time at Honda" by Howard Breslin, published by The American Magazine in January 1947, Bad Day at Black Rock would make roughly $3.8 million on a budget of $1.3 million finishing outside the top 10 films of the year.
Despite its middling box office, the film would be universally praised by critics at the time and would garner 3 Oscar nominations for Director (Sturges), Actor (Tracy), and Screenplay (Kaufman).
In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Bad Day at Black Rock currently holds a 97% among critics on RT, and a 3.9/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: In Bad Day at Black Rock, director John Sturges crafts a taut, sun-scorched thriller that unfolds with the precision of a coiled spring. When John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy), a stoic, one-armed stranger, arrives in a remote desert town, his quiet inquiries about a man named Komoko rattle the fragile veneer of its close-knit community. Suspicion and hostility mount as the town’s residents, led by the menacing Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), close ranks to protect a dark secret buried beneath the dusty, desolate landscape.
Did You Know:
According to one biographer of Spencer Tracy, the script did not originally call for the lead character to be a one-armed man. The producers were keen to get Tracy, but didn't think he'd be interested, so they gave the character this disability with the idea that no actor can resist playing a character with a physical impairment.
Ernest Borgnine did the crash through the door himself, expecting it to swing open as he sailed through it into the street. But without the actor's knowledge, John Sturges nailed the door shut. The momentum ripped it from its hinges, and it ended up hanging on the understandably shocked Borgnine like a picture frame which provided the desired natural reaction from the actor. "Borgnine has never forgiven me for that," Sturges recalled.
The suit that Spencer Tracy wears throughout the film was purchased by him off-the-rack at a second-hand store.
According to Ernest Borgnine, the heat left everyone exhausted, "too damn hot to party", but Spencer Tracy invited everyone to his hotel room for cocktail hour every day, even though he drank only 7-Up.
Ernest Borgnine always referred to Spencer Tracy as "Mr. Tracy," never by his first name. "I was in awe of him," he said. "To me, he was the world's greatest actor, and my God, here I am working with the man." As fate would have it, Spencer Tracy lost the Academy Award for Best Actor for this year to his co-star Ernest Borgnine for his first starring role in Marty (1955).
The projectionist's records have revealed that over the years this has become one of the most frequently shown films in The White House's screening room.
Best Performance: Spencer Tracy (Macreedy)/John Sturges (Director)
Best Secondary Performance: Spencer Tracy (Macreedy)/Robert Ryan (Smith)/John Sturges (Director)
Most Charismatic Award: Lee Marvin (Hector)/Ernest Borgnine (Coley)/Dean Jaggar (Sheriff Tim)
Best Scene:
Renting a Room
Jeep Chase
Gas Station
Diner Fight
Pete's Confession
Final Showdown w/ Smith
Favorite Scene: Diner Fight/Gas Station
Most Indelible Moment: Diner Fight/Renting a Room
In Memorium:
Jeff Baena, 47, American film director and screenwriter (The Little Hours, Horse Girl, Spin Me Round)
Wayne Osmond, 73, American singer (The Osmonds) and songwriter ("Crazy Horses", "Let Me In")
John Capodice, 83, American actor (General Hospital, Ace Ventura, Seinfeld)
Brenton Wood, 83, American singer-songwriter (songs “The Oogum Boogum Song” and “Gimme Little Sign”)
Dale Wilson, 74, Canadian voice actor (Dragon Ball Z, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, X-Men: Evolution)
Emilio Echevarría, 80, Mexican actor (Amores perros, Die Another Day, The Alamo)
Peter Yarrow, 86, American singer (Peter, Paul and Mary, "Leaving on a Jet Plane") and songwriter ("Puff, the Magic Dragon")
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
Sam, Cafe Proprietor: What'll you have?
John J. Macreedy: What've you got?
Sam, Cafe Proprietor: Chili and beans.
John J. Macreedy: Anything else?
Sam, Cafe Proprietor: Chili without beans.
Reno Smith: She must have strained every muscle in her head to get so stupid.
John J. Macreedy: You're not only wrong. You're wrong at the top of your voice.
John J. MacReedy: You killed Komoko, Smith, and sooner or later, you're gonna go up for it. Not because you killed him, because I think in a town like this you can get away with it, but because you didn't have guts enough to do it alone. You put your trust in guys like these and Hector here - not the most dependable of God's creatures. And one of these days, they're gonna catch on that you're playing 'em for a sap. And then what are ya gonna do? Peel 'em off, one by one? And in the meantime, one of 'em's gonna crack. And when they do, you're gonna go down - but HARD. Cause they got something on ya, Smith. Something to use when the going gets tough. And it's getting tougher every minute!
Doc T.R. Velie Jr.: First, I sell 'em a piece of land. Do you think they farm it? They do not. They dig for gold. They rip off the topsoil of ten winding hills, then sprint in here all fog-heaved with excitement, lugging nuggets - big, bright, and shiny. Is it gold? It is not. Do they quit? They do not. Then they decide to farm, farm in a country so dry that you have to prime a man before he can spit. Before you can say "Fat Sam" they're stalled, stranded, and starving. They become weevil-brained and buttsprung. So I bury 'em. But why bore you with my triumphs?
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!
John J. Macreedy: Oh, I'll only be here 24 hours.
First Train Conductor: In a place like this, it could be a lifetime.
John J. Macreedy: You know, I know what your trouble is, son. You'd like me to die quickly, wouldn't you, without wasting too much of your time; or quietly, so I won't embarrass you too much; or even thankfully, so your memory of the occasion won't be too unpleasant.
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 4.33
Impact/Significance: 6.5
Novelty: 6.5
Classic-ness: 7
Rewatchability: 6.67
Audience Score: 7.15 (56% Google, 87% RT)
Total: 38.15
Remaining Questions:
Why did the townspeople act so suspiciously? Couldn't they have all told a plausible story and let him pass through?
Is Spencer Tracy too old for this role?
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