No. 84 Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad day at Black Rock video exhibit

Directed by John Sturges

 1955

John Sturges

                        John Sturges gets little mention when folks talk about great American directors; maybe it was the type of films he made, big in scope, but not flashy, most with a message but not hot over your head, just a craftsman with a job to be do.

His films were beatiuful shoot, framed as a artist would frame a canvas but very little flash for flash sakes. But he never gets mentioned with Ford,  Houston,  or Welles, but his career is just as impressive. "The magincent Seven",  "Never so few", "Halliujah trail", "The Great Escape", and "Bad day at black rock"

Bad Day is at its heart a western, a modern western but with a classic B-movie heart, lone justice trying to right a wrong, but it’s also a tight mystery and as good a social justice film as Hollywood ever made, the excellent cast, is perfect no one is wasted, with Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan at their best, and

And underrated Dean Jagger gives another strong performace as a weak soul.



Ernest Borgnine  and Lee Marvin

                 The plot is like many westerns but with a big twist,  the mechanism that drives the story  isn’t greed or lust, its racism.  It has some of the other trademarks that are seen in most westerns, the scared town folks and the bullies that are scaring them. Another great twist to this classic element, is the head bully  is hiding behind Americanism, which for 1955 was still usual, and it maybe the first Hollywood film to deal with racist violence  against  Japanese Amercans'.

Part of the credit for the look of the film,  must go to William Mellor  as Cinematographer.  

Mellor was  a master with CinemaScope, usually reserved for more “epic type films, its  use and success  in this small film led to its use throughout the next two decades in all types of films, Sturges and Mellor understand the  economy of this film, it is amazing to watch as they use ever frame, every shot is crafted with no waste, you can feel the isolation of the town in the wide open land, and the viewer can see the desperation of its helpless inhabits. CinemaScope was the perfect choice.

But maybe the greatest gift Sturges gives is the way he gets a performance  from an actor, or maybe he  lets the pros do their job and gets out of their way without fanfare, much like he does his job.

When fans and critics talk about Bad Day or The Great Escape  it’s about Tracy, McQueen, or Borgnine, but few talk of Struges.

Bad Day at Black Rock is a solid, tact thriller that should be on everyone's best list, and John Sturges is a damn fine American director.