By W. Powell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) This review is from: Storm Warning (DVD)
All in all not a bad movie to watch given it was made in 1950. The beginning has a great film-noir style setup with dark themes and scenes. But then actor Ronald Reagan enters as a wannabe tough guy in the role of detective/prosecutor and the hitchcock type magic is lost. It was like watching a mediocre magician's act, where you know the outcome of the trick but you watch anyway hoping this time the magician surprises you with a new twist on the outcome.
Good acting by Ginger Rogers probably saved this movie from being a complete flop. Though the movie attempted to expose and belittle the white supremacist ku klux klan organization and its hold on a small town, the main focus was on Rogers as a concerned sister reluctant to indict her sister's husband (a klan member) for a crime she witnessed him commit. Yes, its a crime detective story where you know who did it and why before the detective does.
This movie might've been ahead of its time in dealing with a serious american terrorist issue, but by depicting the root of this klan klavern as a few crazed and corrupt individuals, it gives the dangerously misleading perception of civic and community innocence when it came to klan activity. But give hollywood credit, their history of pulling a rabbit out of a hat and convincing viewers that its real has stood the test of time.
"Storm Warning" would've made a better book. I'm currently reading "Blood Justice" by Howard Smead. Its the true story of the 1959 Lynching of Mack Charles Parker in Mississippi. It doesn't appear there will be any rabbit popping out of a hat in this tell all book. Real mob justice engulfs with rage and fear the entire town it proposes to protect and defend.
