A Bad Day at Black Rock is fascinating movie set in 1946 in the small, isolated California town of Black Rock. The train stops and a man gets off, a stranger to the town. This is notable as this is the first time the train has stopped there in four years.
But Black Rock has a secret, and not one that it wants to share, the stranger’s arrival is notable enough but when he starts asking around the towns people get nervous or hostile. I will not tell any more of the plot as it is a delight to watch unfold in this short (about 80 minutes) movie.
Spenser Tracy is the stranger who disrupts the tense fabric of Black Rock and the -very young- (The very young) Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine play the heavies of the villain of the piece.
Highly recommended.
More information, which may contain some spoilers, after the cut.