Their differing acting styles serves the story quite well. It is also exciting to see Brennan and Robert Ryan play against Spencer Tracy. Doc Velie is a doctor through and through. For some reason this viewer finds if surprising to see Brannan as a good guy in the crime-laden Black Rock. Liz has a history with Reno Smith and is all-in against any stranger who happens upon the town.įinally, Walter Brennan plays Doc Velie with usual perfection. The hotel clerk’s sister, the manager of the gas station and garage, and the only woman in all of Black Rock is Liz Wirth ( Anne Francis). Trimble (Borgnine) harrassess Macreedy (Tracy) until the former in bested in a fight One of the most satisfying scenes in the picture shows Macreedy besting Trimble in a bar fight, a one-armed veteran against a large bully who ends up on his back thanks to Macreedy’s superior karate skills. Ernest Borgnine is believable as bully Coley Trimble, the one who physically lashes out against Macreedy at Smith’s request.
Smith’s gang includes quintessential bad guy Hector David, played to perfection by Lee Marvin whose every word is a threat. Reno Smith and the rest of the inhabitants of Black Rock are determined to get rid of Macreedy with their secrets intact. Dean Jagger does a fine job as the sheriff.Īs our story unfolds Macreedy’s desolation compounds as his life is in increasing peril. Together with his henchmen, Smith is determined to ensure Macreedy does not find out what has happened to Komoko who has disappeared.Īfter noticing something is very wrong in this town, Macreedy goes to see the local sheriff, Tim Horn, who turns out to be a worthless alcoholic who offers no help.
The leader of the group of locals we see is the menacing Reno Smith ( Robert Ryan). Smith and his gang planning to do away with the stranger There are deep dark secrets at Black Rock and the townsfolk do not want them disturbed. It takes John Macreedy no time at all to realize he is not welcome. Hotel desk clerk Pete Wirth ( John Ericson) insists there are no vacancies despite the desolation surrounding the hotel. In the midst of stifling heat, Macreedy runs into the cold, arrogant hostility of the townsfolk who clearly have something to hide.
Macreedy is there to thank a man named Komoko whose son had saved Macreedy’s life in WWII. Wearing a worn, dark summer suit, John Macreedy has one arm, probably a consequence of the War, and his arrival at the desert town has consequences. Macreedy sticks out like a sore thumb in Black Rock. “I’m only gonna be here 24 hours,” Macreedy tells the conductor, “In a place like this that could be a lifetime,” the man replies. Macreedy ( Spencer Tracy) arrives at Black Rock on a Southern Pacific train, a stranger whose mere arrival is a happening as we see in the beautiful opening sequence of Sturges’ picture.
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