Line #31 Film/BadDayAtBlackRock


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bad_day_at_black_rock.jpg]]
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3	-> ''"Four years ago, something terrible happened here."''
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5	A classic 1955 thriller (with some FilmNoir and NewOldWest elements) directed by Creator/JohnSturges and starring Creator/SpencerTracy, Creator/RobertRyan, Creator/AnneFrancis, Walter Brennan, Creator/ErnestBorgnine, and Creator/LeeMarvin. It's based on Howard Breslin's short story "Bad Time at Honda".
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7	From the time one-armed veteran John J. Macreedy (Tracy) steps off the train in Black Rock, he feels a chill from the local residents. The town is only a speck on the map and few if any strangers ever come to the place. Macreedy himself is tight-lipped about the purpose of his trip and he finds that the hotel refuses him a room, the local garage refuses to rent him a car and the sheriff is a useless drunkard. It's apparent that the locals have something to hide but when he finally tells them that he is there to speak to a Japanese-American farmer named Komoko, he touches a nerve so sensitive that he will spend the next 24 hours fighting for his life.
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9	Not to be confused with ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "[[Recap/TheATeamS1E6BlackDayAtBadRock Black Day at Bad Rock]]".
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11	----
12	!!''Bad Day at Black Rock'' contains examples of:
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14	* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: For the time it was made, yes.
15	* TheAlcoholic: TheSheriff
16	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "What happened to Komoko?"
17	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: "Komoko" is not an actual Japanese name. And if it was, it would be a female name.[[note]]Though incidentally, it IS the Japanese name for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Como Lake Como]] in Italy.[[/note]]
18	* {{Bookends}}: The movie starts with Macreedy arriving at Black Rock by train and it ends with him leaving the same way.
19	* ChekhovsHobby: It's established that Macreedy knows how to handle a jeep because of his experience in the army. This knowledge comes in handy later when building the MolotovCocktail.
20	* CitySlicker: Macreedy has shades of this, though [[{{Subverted}} he's too smart for them]].
21	* ClosedCircle: Macreedy is trapped in Black Rock. He notes that any attempt to leave would have him shot.
22	* CoolTrain: The Southern Pacific "Black Widow" F7's during the opening sequence.
23	* CutPhoneLines: Reno has the phone lines cut so that Macreedy can't inform the police.
24	* DinerBrawl: Macreedy [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with]] Coley Trimble despite having only one usable arm.
25	* TheDrifter: Macreedy actually has a specific reason for coming to Black Rock, but once he is there, everything plays out typically for this trope.
26	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Bad '''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Day]]''' at Black Rock.
27	* FauxAffablyEvil: Reno is nice to Macreedy in the beginning.
28	* FrontierDoctor: Doc Velie.
29	* GiveMeAReason: Macreedy reasons that Reno and his thugs are only looking for an excuse to kill him, e.g. when Coley tries to provoke him at the diner.
30	* GoldFever: The FrontierDoctor tells a story about the prospectors 'round these parts in the old days.
31	* GunTwirling: Hector gives us a taste of his skills.
32	* HandicappedBadass: John J. Macreedy, who lost an arm in the war.
33	* HeelFaceTurn: Pete Wirth, along with a few others.
34	* ImprovisedWeapon: The fire hose and the MolotovCocktail.
35	* InsigniaRipOffRitual: Reno rips off the sheriff's star and hands it to Hector.
36	* LastSecondWordSwap: When Macreedy mentions Komoko to the sheriff, the sheriff is startled enough he knocks something over on his desk. When Macreedy is able to catch it before it falls over, the sheriff says, "You move pretty fast for a crimp-", until he notices Macreedy's missing arm, and he changes it to "-for a big man."
37	* LeaveNoWitnesses: [[spoiler: Reno eventually decides to silence everyone at Black Rock, starting with Liz. Good thing Macreedy stopped him in time.]]
38	* ManOnFire: A karmic experience for [[spoiler:Reno]], being set on fire at Komoko's place.
39	* MolotovCocktail: Macreedy makes one during the final fight, using his tie as the fuse.
40	* NewOldWest: The film is set in a Western "cowboy" town that, for all its isolation, has by the 1940s managed to acquire such modern technologies as rental cars, telephones and streamlined trains. The pseudo-drifter protagonist served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and the anti-Japanese racism of the era is an important theme.
41	* ObviousStuntDouble: John Sturges admitted Spencer Tracy’s double during the fight looks nothing like him but says that’s not important - "You stage and cut the scene so that you’re always looking at the other fellow". Tracy wouldn’t take part in fight scenes because he would get too carried away and had knocked teeth out before.
42	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Pete the clerk at the hotel tries to tell Macreedy that because of the government compliance and the rooms being held for out-of-town cowboys, he can't rent him a room even though the hotel has plenty of vacancies. Macreedy's having none of that.
43	* PoliceAreUseless: The sheriff is a useless drunkard; mostly as a result of his guilt regarding the dark secret of his town.
44	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Smith is notoriously racist toward Japanese in general, so it is no surprise that [[spoiler:he was the one behind Komoko's murder]].
45	-->'''Smith:''' Loyal Japanese-Americans, that's a laugh. They're all mad dogs. What about Corregidor, the death march?
46	-->'''Macreedy:''' What did Komoko have to do with Corregidor?
47	-->'''Smith:''' He was a Jap, wasn't he?
48	* PosthumousCharacter: Komoko. His fate unravels bit by bit.
49	* RealityIsUnrealistic: When Spencer Tracy saw the rushes, he thought the fight was preposterous. He didn't believe his character could disable his enemy that quickly and easily until John Sturges showed the footage to a Marine instructor who not only confirmed the effectiveness of the karate method but told Tracy the blow as executed would have killed his opponent in real life.
50	* RetiredBadass: Macreedy.
51	* RevengeByProxy: This was part of Smith's motive for [[spoiler:murdering Komoko]], which was motivated by his racism toward Japanese in general. The ''other'' part was [[spoiler:Smith's jealousy toward Komoko for making the farmland he sold the man prosper by digging a sixty-foot well]].
52	* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Liz Wirth]] helps Macreedy escape from town in her jeep, only to drive him straight into an ambush set by Reno Smith. Smith then shoots her in the back as part of his plan to [[HeKnowsTooMuch silence his old accomplices.]]
53	* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The entire conflict of the movie could have been avoided if not for the town residents' paranoia. [[spoiler: Macreedy had nothing to do with anything, he simply wanted to give his friend's father his medal. All Reno and his crew had to do was be polite and tell Macreedy that Komoko passed away several years ago, and his house burnt down in a brushfire some time later, and no one really goes to Adobe Flats which is why his grave marker never got replaced, or say that Komoko moved and didn't keep in touch about where he was going. Macreedy would have been disappointed but none the wiser and taken the next train to LA. By acting like crazy people for no obvious reason and attempting to drive him off, they clued Macreedy in that something was wrong.]]
54	* TheSheriff: Who has become a drunkard because of the dark secret he's involved in.
55	* SmallTownTyrant: Remo Smith is the leader of the town's bullies and rules it with an iron fist. Considering that [[spoiler:he has demonstrated he is okay with murder]], it's no wonder the sheriff prefers [[DrowningMySorrows to keep himself safe in the bottom of a liquor bottle]].
56	* StealthInsult: When he gets to the hotel, one of the cowboys says "You look like you need a [[{{Pun}} hand]]." It's not lost on Macreedy.
57	* StupidEvil: [[spoiler:The villains would have literally gotten away with murder if they had just been a whole lot less confrontational to Macreedy.]]
58	* TapOnTheHead: Hector goes out after a smack with the hose nozzle.
59	* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: The {{irony}} of [[spoiler:Reno]] ending up on fire at Komoko's place.
60	* TownWithADarkSecret: The cover-up of Komoko's death. One of the {{Trope Codifier}}s.
61	* {{Undertaker}}: Doc Velie. Since he's one of the few townspeople to side with Macreedy, he's a rare instance of a heroic Western undertaker.
62	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: The scene cuts off before Doc Velie can reveal his plan to help Macreedy escape. Of course things work out as planned ... until Liz Wirth pulls over at Komoko's place.
63	* UntrustingCommunity: The people of Black Rock meet the protagonist with hostility in an attempt to scare him away.
64	* VehicularAssault: Coley gives Macreedy a good scare when bumping into his car from behind.
65	* VehicularSabotage: Hector rips the distributor cap and spark plug wires out of Velie's hearse to stop Macreedy leaving town.
66	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Isolated from the law and civilization, the town of Black Rock can ignore [[spoiler: the manslaughter of Komoko.]] It’s partly why they’re all terrified of Macreedy: many of them can’t admit to ''themselves'' they did something wrong, much less to the authorities. The Doc also notes it’s why Reno’s team choose to kill Macreedy at night. Committing the deed in broad daylight would make it too real for themselves.
67	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Although the exact location of the title town is never mentioned in the film, Millard Kaufman specified in his screenplay that it was in the desert 156 miles from Phoenix and 211 miles from UsefulNotes/LosAngeles.

Context Film / BadDayAtBlackRock