Modern-minded western about a one-armed stranger who comes to the tiny town of Black Rock in 1945 in search of a man. Immediately he is harassed by the townsfolk. But why are they so hostile? What dark secret lies at the heart of this seemingly nondescript town? The unsurprising answer was perhaps cutting-edge for 1954, but it’s rather overused today. Self important message movie is tense and well acted, however. Oscar nominated for Best Actor, Director and Screenplay.
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Okay, I agree: the story does have some drama and the cast’s pretty darn good; but the whole thing winds up being preachy and completely safe. It could’ve been been a LITTLE better though, with a couple of easy changes. I know the Spencer Tracy character’s got to be PLENTY tough — but at least give the guy two arms (and maybe a pistol or a pet doberman) if he’s going to take on the whole town, including Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine, for gosh sakes! And look, if you want to push a message, try taking on a prejudice that was socially acceptable back then (see “The Stranger” for example, “A Foreign Affair”, “The Big Lift”: all POSTwar films) and flourishes to this day. And all you’d have to do is have the victim be GERMAN instead of Japanese.