Storm Warning (1951)

People are voting emotionally.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A Disappointing Continuation

This film reminds me a little a bit of the Bette Davis film "Storm Center" (about a librarian who fights book censorship), from 1956. At least in tone. And as our younger reviewers watch this, they probably won't get it..."it" being how risky this kind of film was in 1951. This was a rather powerful film for that era, not only in terms of the topic it tackled, but how often before this did you see women publicly whipped? The biggest surprise of this film is probably the way Doris Day appears. It almost seems as if she is without makeup. Very plain looking. This was not her first dramatic role, as has been indicated here; that would have been "Young Man With A Horn" from a year earlier. A fine performance.However, the highest marks go to Ginger Rogers as the woman who comes to a southern town to visit her sister and witnesses a KKK murder. It's only recently that I've begun to notice Rogers in dramatic films; she's really very good here.Ronald Reagan...well, a little difficult to pigeon hole here. In the early scenes of the film...well, about as bad acting as I've seen Reagan do. But once we get to the inquest, he does fairly well. He was not a strong actor, but he had his moments.Steve Cochran as the husband of Day and brother-in-law of Rogers is quite good...does a nice job of showing the kind of jerk who was probably a pretty typical Klan member. Hugh Sanders was decent as the head of the local Klan.This is not a "great" movie, but all things considered, it's pretty decent. It does a pretty good job of showing how the Klan operated in the rural south. Recommended.

Ginger Rogers is cast as a model (a very OLD model) on her way to see her sister (Doris Day) and her new husband (Steve Cochran). After arriving in the town, she wanders upon an ugly scene--a crowd of Klansmen taking a prisoner from the local jail and killing him vigilante-style in the street. In addition, she sees the identities of two of the men! Following the murder, the county prosecutor (Ronald Reagan) investigates but finds nothing but silence. It's obvious the 'nice' townsfolk participated and many know their identities--but no one is willing to talk. When he learns that Rogers saw the killing, he's excited to finally have a witness--but keeping her alive for the trial may not be easy--especially after her brother-in-law learns that she saw HIM at the killing! A lot more follows--and I won't say more because it could spoil the suspense.In many ways, this is a taut and excellent drama. BUT, it also pulls some of its punches. It's VERY strange that there are no black folks as characters in the film--not even as the victim. Now I am NOT saying the KKK didn't sometimes kill whites, but this was the exception to the rule and completely negates the whole racism angle. It's sad, but the film seemed to want to play it safe by playing it that way. However, while Hollywood was very hesitant to address race, 1949 (when the film was made--though they held it for a bit before release) was a good year with wonderful race films like "Pinky" and "Intruder in the Dust" also coming from rival studios, Twentieth-Century Fox and MGM. Fortunately, the film does manage to rise above this due to an exciting script--especially at the end (which is top-notch). Because of this and a few excellent performances (particularly for Reagan), it's well worth your time.

Now, of course, Ronald Reagan as an actor was eclipsed by Ronald Reagan the President. So no one really talks about his films on their own merits other than to point out he was an actor.This is an interesting film, as it takes on the Ku Klux Klan (which is just called "the Klan" in this film). Ginger Rogers plays a model who witnesses a murder by the Klan on her way to visit her sister (played by Doris Day, of all people) only to find out her husband was one of the Klansmen.Reagan plays a crusading district attorney who challenges the Klan and investigates the murder with vigor.Now, my complaint is that the Klan are the villains, but they are sanitized. YOu get no feeling for WHY the Klan was evil. There's no mention of their racism. (In fact, there is not one black person in the entire film.) Their strength comes in their ability to terrorize white people into shutting up. To top it off, almost none of them have southern accents. (By 1951, the KKK had been pushed back into only the south.) They do have the great scene at the end where Reagan saves Ginger from a flogging, denouncing the Klan members and pointing out that he knew who they were even with the robes and hoods, and denounces them for "desecrating the cross". A nice scene at the end where the Klansmen retreat in a panic and the burning cross falls because one good man said "no".

The first 30 minutes of this film are riveting, owing primarily to Ginger Rogers' subtle and restrained performance. She doesn't have much dialog but emotes with body and expression beautifully. The level of tension is palpable. Sadly, that dissipates as the movie rolls on, until the ending where Ginger is in real danger. And, although the many objections that people raise here are not without merit, including the compressed time of the inquest, the lack of continued menace from "the Klan", the odd location setting, I still have to say that this is one of my new favorite movies. There are a lot of subtleties that add to the film.And, it's nice to see Lloyd Gough (who played Mike Axeford on the 1966 Green Hornet TV show) trying to pick up Ginger on the bus.