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Bad Day
at Black Rock (1955)
In John Sturges' masterpiece about racial prejudice:
- the credits sequence with the Streamliner diesel
train racing across the arid desert
- the arrival of well-dressed Macreedy (Spencer Tracy)
as a one-armed unwelcome stranger in a hostile, claustrophobic Western
town
- the sequence of Macreedy's visit to Adobe Flat (the
home of a Japanese farmer/war hero named Komoko)
- thug Coley's (Ernest Borgnine) daredevil pursuit
of Macreedy's Jeep in the desert
- the fight scene in Sam's Bar and Grill, a greasy-spoon
restaurant when a taunted and fed-up Macreedy, who was called
"a yellow-bellied Jap lover" retorted back: ("You're
not only wrong, you're wrong at the top of your voice") and then
subdued Coley with one swift karate-chop across the neck, and further
chops
Sam's Bar and Grill - Karate-Chop for Coley
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- after fighting Coley, Macreedy took the downed man's
knife and confronted ringleader Reno Smith (Robert Ryan): ("You
killed Komoko, Smith, and sooner or later you're gonna go up for
it. Not because you killed him, because I think in a town like
this, you can get away with it. But because you didn't have guts
enough to do it alone. You put your trust in guys like this - and
Hector here - not the most dependable of God's creatures. And one
of these days, they're gonna catch on that you're playin' 'em for
a sap. And then what are ya gonna do? Peel 'em off, one by one?
And in the meantime, one of 'em's gonna crack and when they do,
you're gonna go down - but hard. 'Cause they got somethin' on ya,
Smith. Something to use when the goin' gets tough. (he tossed the
switchblade at Smith) And it's gettin' tougher every minute")
- the night-time deadly struggle between Macreedy and
Reno Smith and Macreedy's inventive making of a Molotov cocktail,
thrown at Reno and setting him on fire
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The Arrival of Streamliner Train
One-Armed Stranger: Macreedy (Spencer Tracy)
Coley's Pursuit of Macreedy in Jeep
Fiery Molotov Cocktail Confrontation With Reno Smith
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