Storm Warning (1951) President Reagan In Klan Film With Ginger Rogers And Doris Day!… Saaay Whaaat!

I was intrigued with Storm Warning not only by it’s daunting subject matter but also alarmed to see three actors included that I just couldn’t fathom in a movie based around the Ku Klux Klan. Stamped on the poster are the names of three giant stars. The future President Of The United States, Ronald Reagan and the all singing, all dancing ladies, Ginger Rogers and butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, Doris Day. Seriously WTF?

Tagline – A “friendly” little town is unmasked in a story as startling as the screen has dared to be!

Thankfully, and of course he would be the hero, big Ronald is playing district attorney Burt Rainey. One of only a handful of decent folk in the town of Rock Point. A man of strong morals and honour. A man determined to bring the klan to justice. The Klan was outta of control. Dishing out its own form of justice to anyone standing in the way of their twisted ideology.  With the arrival of a travelling dress model Marsha Mitchell (Ginger Rogers), Burt Rainey may have found a way to bring them down?

Tagline – Behind this burning cross… Behind the loopholes in the law… Behind their cowardly hoods… They hide a thousand vicious crimes!

You see Marsha steps off a bus at Rock Point to visit her sister Lucy Rice (Doris Day). Lucy had recently married Hank Rice (Steve Cochran) and on passing the town decided to pop into say hello. Instantly the town started to act strange. People hurried about, talking funny, whispering, shutting shops and setting off for home early. With no taxis available she walks the quiet dark streets to her sisters house. With the lights of the town police station across the street she begins to feel safe. That is until the screams and shouts of a wild crowd cuts through the dead of night.

It’s then that the terrifying sight of white hooded thugs drag an unseen person from the police station to sounds of cheering and hollering. Confusion and anarchy erupt before the sharp clap of gunshots. The victim is shot dead in the frenzy. Baffled by the sudden death before his lynching, two Klan members remove their hoods! Martha hidden in the shadows sees both faces clearly. She steps back clinging to the wall. Stunned and shocked she arrives at Lucy’s. Just before her new brother-in-law Hank walks through the door. A face she has seen before!

With the brazen and unforgiven Imperial Wizard of the Klan Charlie Barr (Hugh Sanders) strutting around confident nothing and no one can touch him. It’s up to Burt Rainey to try and bring charges against him or any other member of this hateful group. With investigative work leading to Martha’s arrival at the same time of the hoods killing of the journalist. Just maybe he can convince her to help prosecute these evil men. Martha on the other hand has problems of her own. Will justice be served?

Burt Rainey – “Just wearing that hood doesn’t change your voice, Walker. Am I supposed to be afraid of you because your face is covered up? It’ll take more than these sheets you’re wearing to hide the fact that you’re mean, frightened little people, or you wouldn’t be here, desecrating the cross.”

What I noticed during the Storm Warning!

Obviously anything with the Ku Klux Klan attached was gonna be controversial but strangely two other events seem to over shadow those hateful hooded blockheads.

• The thing that really shines out is the fact they steer completely clear of showing the Klan against ethnic minorities. None of the crimes, attacks or otherwise are against people of colour. Even with the addition of black townsfolk shown throughout the background scenes, racism is never really touched on. All the Klan’s hateful prejudices are against reporters and journalists. It’s strange to see.
• Also included is a shockingly tough scene within a film from this era. It’s a scene similar in nature to Stanley Kowalski’s (Marlon Brando) attack on his sister-in-law Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) in A Streetcar Named Desire. Both films incidentally were released in 1951 and where Streetcars brutal scene is left to the imagination, Storm Warning attack is overwhelmingly in your face.

• There’s also a really tense and brilliant played out scene involving a news anchor reporter. As he desperately tries to report on the ensuing court case as the locals of the town start to swarm around him. Stepping on his cables, whispering, intimating and staring. He starts to fear for his safety as he pursues on with his job. It’s a clever and effectively well played out scene and portrays a real paranoia to the setting.

What did I think of film?

It was fascinating to watch Ronald Reagan act. Just watching his mannerisms and listening to that voice that’s was so iconic as the President throughout the 80’s. Would you believe that out of all the films he’s made I’ve only seen him in 1964s The Killers. Doris Day doesn’t have much to do but look shocked most of the time but Steve Cochran eats up every scene. Sometimes a little hammy as he goes through a whole range of face pulling as he’s called stupid most of the time. But he’s truly menacing when it’s needed.

Gingers Rogers is a revelation to me as I’d only just come off the back of her super cute performance in Gold Diggers of 1933. Here in Storm Warning she takes no shit whats so ever. She is one tough gal who stands chin to chin with anyone but she’s also loyal to her sister to a fault. Ginger’s performance is fantastic.

I went in thinking it was going to be a controversial novelty piece. I was wrong, it’s actually really very good. It’s got enough paranoia and small town fear within it’s melodrama. Even at times feeling like you’re watching an episode of The Twilight Zone or similar. It has a brooding menacing darkness to it. The drama is high and every corner throughout the town feels untrustworthy or dangerous. What with those few unnerving scenes I mention above you are in no doubt that this is a drama against good vs evil. I’d really recommend it. Let me know if you’ve seen it, I’d like to hear what you think of it.

Thanks for dropping in to see what’s been on the hairy movie screen. Keeping digging for movies … Mikey Wolf

PS Feel free to recommend any good Ronnie films.