Cinematic classic about racial prejudice, intolerance and hatred in one of the more remote regions of America. Spencer Tracy, as always, is superb (James Cagney once said, and I paraphrase, "Everybody has a Cagney impression, but you've never seen anyone do a Tracy impression, because nobody can do Tracy like Tracy.") as the one-armed veteran. The cast is chock-full of top-shelf talent; Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, etc. The only complaint I have is that the gorgeous Anne Francis isn't given nearly enough screen-time, but that's just me. A must-see for anyone who'd like to see American cinematic greatness at its towering peak.

Sounds like an ominous sagebrush Western where Randolph Scott saves the embattled prairie town, but it's actually one of the best modern-day Westerns ever made. Spencer Tracy shines as John J. Macreedy, a disabled WWII veteran who's the first person in four years to step off the train that passes through Black Rock, a ramshackle speck of a town nestled on the desert floor below mountainous borders. It's 1945, and everyone's tense.....a little TOO tense, over a terrible local incident that happened right after the Pearl Harbor bombing, and Tracy's questioning presence puts many of Black Rock's inhabitants ill at ease. Led by Robert Ryan's bigshot rancher Reno Smith (and heavy speed bags Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine), they conspire to run Tracy out of town, but the mysterious stranger won't take "no" for an answer, waging a one-man war of wills in pursuit of the truth. This is landmark cinema (back when casting made sense), with ancillary help from Walter Brennan, Dean Jagger, and the edible-in-anything Anne Francis. Taut direction (you'd expect nothing less from Sturges), this Oscar winner also is credited with being one of the first films to acknowledge poor treatment of Japanese Americans after Pearl (pretty brave, I'd say). One of Spencer's best performances (his final film for MGM Studios), calling it merely "great" almost does it a disservice; an archival giant many serious moviegoers inadvertenly miss.