6. Storm Warning (1951)
Marsha (Ginger Rogers) arrives in a small Southern town to visit her sister. As she walks through the town, she witnesses the brutal murder of a man by a couple of Ku Klux Klansmen. She gets a good look at them as they remove their hoods. Horrified she tells her sister Lucy (Doris Day) who surmises the dead man must be Walter Adams, an undercover journalist investigating the klan. Lucy takes Marsha home to relate the story to hubby Hank. Marsha immediately recognises Hank as one of the hooded killers. Hank sheepishly denies this. But pretty soon he is a blubbering wreck, saying he was coerced into it and his wife is pregnant so can't Marsha just keep her trap shut? Marsha is disgusted but agrees to leave town. In steps District Attorney Burt Rainey (Ronald Reagan) who suspects shenanigans are afoot in the town. The townsfolk beg him not to investigate as the whole town will look really bad. Rainey questions Marsha about the affair. She admits to seeing two men in hoods shooting Walter Adams and the DA is happy with this. A jubilant KKK and sympathetic townsfolk celebrate at the bowling alley. They berate those who were against them. Hank chides Marsha and tries to rape her. Lucy walks in on this and finally turns against Hank. The sisters say that they are going to turn him in to Rainey. For this, Hank kidnaps them and brings them to the KKK rally. All hell breaks loose when the police and Rainey have a stand off against the KKK. Some guilty people are taken down as well as the innocent. I refer to the organisation in the film as the Ku Klux Klan - KKK - but this may be a bit of a misnomer as they are only ever referred to as 'The Klan' in the movie. The film takes an oblique approach to the Klan. Their ideology is never explored, we know they 'fleece' people but there is no hint of bigotry or racism. Whatever journalist Walter Adams was exploring is never made clear. Furthermore, the film doesn't have the guts to have people in the film speak in a Southern accent or have a black actor deliver a line. Nevertheless, the film is an exciting and entertaining thriller. Ronnie Reagan is particularly good as DA Rainey and Steve Cochran as Lucy's scumbag husband. At the time, the USA was far more worried about the dangers of communism, but maybe they should have been looking in their own backyard. Storm Warning does a good job of showing how corruption is not just for yokels but also spreads up the whole ladder of society.