Rating: 
Summary: Tracy makes a spectacular return to films after the war.
Review: Many actors served honorably in the armed forces during WW2, with Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy all rising to high rank. Most, when they returned, tried to slide back quietly into film making. Clark Gable, for instance, made a good but fluffy film with Doris Day. Tracy, however, jumped back with a controversial film about race hatred that has become a classic. It actually affected the English Language (the tired businessman tells his wife "I had a bad day at Black Rock at the office!") Tracy plays a one-armed returning veteran with a medal for the father of a Japanese-American comrade. In Black Rock, he finds a trio of real baddies in Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. The surprising scene in the town diner between Tracy and Borgnine is worth the price of admission. The cast is outstanding, including Walter Brennan, Dean Jagger, and Anne Francis. What a great return to film for Tracy!
Rating:
Summary: Vote for the DVD version!
Review: Please cast your vote to make Bad Day at Black Rock become a DVD!!! It is one of the many neglected movies that don't have DVD versions. As for the film itself, it is a true classic suspense thriller-the guilty town motif became a cliche. And as many reviewers have stated, it also firmly stands as an indictment of the type of racism exhibited toward the Japanese during WWII. Take the time (Its only 81 minutes long) to be entertained by this 50's classic.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent movie, Tracy is brilliant
Review: Spencer Tracy delivers yet another outstanding performance in this under-rated sleeper. He is mesmerizing as the one-armed MacReady, ably supported by the devious Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine, in a role rivaling his vicious "Fatso" characterization in From Here to Eternity.However, the original cinemascope format does not translate well in this version and a wide-screen format is necessary to do justice to the film. In many scenes, one or more of the actors are cut out entirely from the frame which is irritating and distracting. In several moments, we hear Tracy's voice but he is nowhere to be seen on screen because of the limitations of a TV screen format. It's good to see this film finally getting the recognition it deserves for an excellent script (years ahead of its time) and a stellar performance by the inimitable Spencer Tracy.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST
Review: The best film ever, Tracy is superb (as usual), and was there ever a better cast of baddies, wathced it numerous times and it gets better.
Rating: 
Summary: Big-time suspense in small-scale gem!
Review: The first American film to strike out at anti-Japanese racism, this excellent drama makes all of it's points stick; by--like "High Noon"--using the conventions of a thriller to punctuate issues of social conscience. Never stooping to preach, "Bad Day at Black Rock" succeeds due to the high degree of integrity in every department. What could have been absurd pretentious morass is spared, largely due to the professionalism of John Sturges, displaying all the directorial virtues of craftsmanship, economy, and self-effacement. To Millard Kaufmann's terse script also belongs much credit; providing character-driven suspense, strongly drawn personalities, pithy dialogue, and knowing social comment. Not a mere, simple who-dunnit, the airtight scenario develops handsomely, with many new problems, issues, and angles. [In fact, the "guilty town" motif, cliche of so many later westerns, traces its origins to "Bad Day at Black Rock!"] Sinew is put on this skeleton by the superb cast: Spencer Tracy at his usual brilliant standard; the much underrated Robert Ryan providing an equally forceful prescence; Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Walter Brennan, and Dean Jagger all chipping in with solid support. The final brushstrokes are provided by William C. Mellor's striking color cinematography. A highly recommended, intelligent classic of suspense!
Rating:
Summary: Big-time suspense in small-scale gem!
Review: The first American film to strike out at anti-Japanese racism, this excellent drama makes all of it's points stick; by--like "High Noon"--using the conventions of a thriller to punctuate issues of social conscience. Never stooping to preach, "Bad Day at Black Rock" succeeds due to the high degree of integrity in every department. What could have been absurd pretentious morass is spared, largely due to the professionalism of John Sturges, displaying all the directorial virtues of craftsmanship, economy, and self-effacement. To Millard Kaufmann's terse script also belongs much credit; providing character-driven suspense, strongly drawn personalities, pithy dialogue, and knowing social comment. Not a mere, simple who-dunnit, the airtight scenario develops handsomely, with many new problems, issues, and angles. [In fact, the "guilty town" motif, cliche of so many later westerns, traces its origins to "Bad Day at Black Rock!"] Sinew is put on this skeleton by the superb cast: Spencer Tracy at his usual brilliant standard; the much underrated Robert Ryan providing an equally forceful prescence; Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Walter Brennan, and Dean Jagger all chipping in with solid support. The final brushstrokes are provided by William C. Mellor's striking color cinematography. A highly recommended, intelligent classic of suspense!
Rating:
Summary: Sublime work
Review: The intolerance has not political color , identity card and it has not related with a specific nation.
Bad day... is a dark and bitter story in a small town about a murderer . The victim is a japanese citizen , killed by a leader who hated all men who came from the Eastern World .
Far beyond the horrors lived in WW2 , the hate still remains in the heart the soul and the memories of this little community who decides "to clean" the town from this japanese disease.
Spencer Tracy will be sent to investigate the sudden dissapearance of this japanese citizen.
Knock out performance of Spencer Tracy and unforgettable punch from Robert Ryan. Lee Marvin plays a little role.
Rating:
Summary: Small towns are like icebergs...
Review: There is a lot more to this movie than most people give it credit for. First and foremost, we have the opening sequence of a train stopping at a very small town [we see no more than a dozen buildings]. Throughout the movie the main character John MacReedy played by Spencer Tracy, is trying to navigate the cold-shouldered xenophobia of an isolated desert town. If you've ever read 'Winesburg, Ohio' by Sherwood Anderson, you'll know that things are different in small towns, they're much more like families. So you have this social psychological factor of the members of the small town avoiding their darker past, along with a deeper mob mentality when dealing with MacReedy. To use a cliché, small towns are icebergs, you see less than there is. Now that there is some basic foundation to the broader issues touched on in the movie's structure, we can move on to the storyline. It is expertly played out in the movie, we are given the small town, MacReedy, and his search for a Japanese man. We see but don't understand the threatening behavior of the town folk; slowly it dawns on us and we are left with one man against a town and its secret. I have never encountered a movie quite like this in both execution and style. It moves quickly, but without the glitz and glam of modern explosion-thons. There is some action, but it is used expertly, and with purpose. The acting is superb, with everyone playing their characters believably. My favorite scene is when MacReedy gets into a fight with a local townsperson played by Ernest Borgnine. Noting that Tracy's character only has one arm, watching him beat the blazes out of Borgnine is entertaining and pleasing. Borgnine played so many idiotic characters in so many movies, all I could think of as Tracy hit him repeatedly was 'That was for being the idiot in 'Blackhole!'' 'That was for playing the arrogant fool in 'The Poseidon Adventure''. All in all, I'd recommend this movie to all except teenagers that wouldn't understand it.
Rating:
Summary: Sublime thriller
Review: There's nothing quite like this movie. Part contemporary Western, part political indictment, all thriller. It features the most airtight screenplay I've ever seen (nothing on paper compares to it except Hemingway), and the cast of bad guys is a movie lover's dream. The only problem is that, even though I've never seen it in its original widescreen format, it's obvious that this is the one movie that must be seen that way to be fully appreciated. The pan and scan technique is very busy here, and it's constantly obvious that the wide open spaces aren't as wide open as they should be, and that the other half of most of the conversations is supposed to be visible. The day this comes out in a letterboxed format, I'm there.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Western
Review: This film is easily my favourite western. The cast works beautifully together, the cinematography is great - very stark... the whole film burnt on my memory. Film fans really should see it
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