Storm Warning

Stuart Heisler's 1951 film is one of the few classic Hollywood productions to take on the Ku Klux Klan directly. A fashion model travelling to visit her sister witnesses, on the night she arrives, the killing of a journalist by Klan members; she then realises that one of the faces she saw belongs to her brother-in-law and is caught between speaking and staying silent. What is most notable is that the film presents the Klan not as an organisation of racist violence but as part of the order of the town; at the same time there is no Black character in the story and the Klan's victims are white. That choice reflects the studio caution of the period and seriously limits the film's political nerve. Ginger Rogers and Doris Day appearing in dramatic roles is separately notable, with Ronald Reagan as the prosecutor. Who it's for: viewers interested in classic Hollywood social-problem films. Who it's not for: anyone expecting racism to be placed at the centre, or avoiding scenes of lynching and violence.