Warner Bros. Pictures
Not part of a collection.
Storm Warning
Behind this burning cross... Behind the loopholes in the law... Behind their cowardly hoods... They hide a thousand vicious crimes!
A fashion model witnesses the brutal assassination of an investigative journalist by the Ku Klux Klan while traveling to a small town to visit her sister.
- Original title
- Storm Warning
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
John Chard
Nov 13, 2013 · via TMDB
The KKK took my baby away, they took her away, away from me. Storm Warning is directed by Stuart Heisler and written by Richard Brooks and Daniel Fuchs. It stars Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day and Steve Cochran. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie. Stopping over to see her sister in Rockpoint, model Marsha Mitchell (Rogers) witness the Ku Klux Klan committing a murder and sees two of the perpetrators with their hoods off. Upon arriving at her sister's house, she is stunned to find that the beau of Lucy's (day) life is one of the killers! Should she do what is morally right? What District Attorney Burt Rainey (Reagan) wants her to do? Or should she think of her sister and keep Hank Rice (Cochran) out of prison? Lets get the big complaint out the way first. What has been written before is true, the issue of race hatred and the KKK is not dealt with, this really does soft soap that particular issue in favour of a more - less - controversial angle. Film does still portray them as cowardly murderous thugs hiding behind hoods, even portraying them as dimwits following one almighty Grand Wizard (or is it Dragon?) who is more concerned about cash than colour of skin, but trivialisation of a hot topic occurs. We are the law here. The judges and jury! So, accepting it on its own "non social issue message" terms, then it's a thoroughly engrossing piece of film noir styled melodrama. Thematic noir staples are within, with bigotry, fate, family dysfunction and a woman in peril scenario (the fox in the hen house situation is super) all bubbling away under the moral obligation surface. Laid over the top is no short amount of atmospheric style, as Heisler (Among the Living/The Glass Key) and Guthrie (Backfire/Caged) produce dank shadowed streets, misty jails and a big court room segment bathed in slatted shadows befitting the moral discord filtering around the room. Don't give me that Halloween routine. Heisler proves to have a good eye for imagery as well as technical nous, such as snaps of child Klan members or the symbolic falling of a burning cross. He also marshals his cast very well. Don't believe any review that says Rogers is miscast, she simply isn't, she's feisty, sexy and strong, yet vulnerable as well, she's perfect for the role that was originally intended for Bacall who bailed out. And with Day exuding a confused innocence that hits the right notes, Heisler's reputation as a great director of actresses holds weight here. Reagan and Cochran are fine, with Cochran veering away from his normal cool, calculated persona to offer up a characterisation we rarely saw from him. It misses a trick to really strike a dagger in the KKK scheme of things, and yes some of it feels like lower grade Tenessee Williams. However, the makers turn this Southern town into a diseased noir landscape, where the story is paced and performed with skill, and it all builds moodily to a truly great finale. Well worth seeking out. 8/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
HBO Max Amazon Channel
YouTube TV
HBO Max
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Ginger Rogers
Marsha Mitchell
Ronald Reagan
Burt Rainey
Doris Day
Lucy Rice
Steve Cochran
Hank Rice
Hugh Sanders
Charlie Barr
Lloyd Gough
Cliff Rummel
Raymond Greenleaf
Faulkner
Ned Glass
George Athens
Paul E. Burns
Frank Hauser
Walter Baldwin
Coroner Bledsoe
Stuart Randall
Walt Walters
Sean McClory
Shore
Lillian Albertson
Mrs. Rainey (uncredited)
George Lloyd
Townsman (uncredited)
Fred Aldrich
Townsman on Courthouse Steps (uncredited)
Richard Anderson
Interne (uncredited)
Paul Brinegar
Cameraman #1 (uncredited)
Leo Cleary
Barnet (uncredited)
Sayre Dearing
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Don Dillaway
Convert #2 (uncredited)
Jimmy Dime
Townsman (uncredited)
King Donovan
Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
Joe Dougherty
Townsman (uncredited)
Ross Elliott
Glen (uncredited)
Gene Evans
Ku Klux Klansman (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty
Walker (uncredited)
Alex Gerry
Basset (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer
Courtroom Cop (uncredited)
Carl Harbaugh
Townsman (uncredited)
Harry Harvey
Mr. Louden (uncredited)
Edward Hearn
Mr. Rainey (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey
Townsman (uncredited)
Paul Kruger
Townsman at Recreation Center (uncredited)
Mike Lally
Townsman at Inquest (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe
Al (uncredited)
Michael McHale
3rd Convert (uncredited)
David McMahon
Hollis (uncredited)
Frank Mills
Townsman at Recreation Center (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell
Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Mower
Bowling Alley Patron (uncredited)
Sol Murgi
Townsman (uncredited)
Joseph C. Narcisse
Townsman (uncredited)
Paul Panzer
Baggage Room Attendant (uncredited)
Edward Peil Sr.
Townsman (uncredited)
Bob Reeves
Townsman (uncredited)
Grandon Rhodes
Pike (uncredited)
Lee Roberts
Driver (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson
Ku Klux Klansman (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt
Inquest Bailiff (uncredited)
Edmon Ryan
Trailer's Hooded Narrator (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre
Townsman at Recreation Center (uncredited)
Bernard Sell
Townsman (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock
Townsman at Inquest (uncredited)
Cap Somers
Townsman (uncredited)
Ray Spiker
Townsman (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan
Mill Worker (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel
Walter Adams / Townsman at Inquest (uncredited)
Anthony Warde
Jukebox Collector (uncredited)
Charles Watts
Wally (uncredited)
Robert B. Williams
Sheriff Art Jaeger (uncredited)
Stuart Heisler
Director
Jerry Wald
Producer
Richard Brooks
Writer
The Witness
The Lion King
A Time to Kill
Thesis
The Insider
Running Out of Time
Silentium
Identity
Witness
Almost Human
One Deadly Summer
The Hands of Orlac
11:14
The Bounty
The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
The Long Memory
Tristan & Isolde
Belle Époque
The Four Feathers
Conspiracy Theory
The Return
Nowhere to Go
They Made Me a Fugitive
The Bricklayers
Young and Innocent
Funny Games
Devil in a Blue Dress
The Polar Bear
The Mothman Prophecies
American Gigolo
Lady in White
A Free Soul
Burke & Hare
Daybreak
The 6th Day
Dangerous Heart
The Crooked Web
We Are What We Are
Acts of Vengeance
The Ice Harvest
Death to Smoochy
B. Monkey
Michael
A Dangerous Profession
I Was a Communist for the FBI
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane
My Gun Is Quick
Resurrection
Tiger by the Tail
Don't Look Back
Firetrap
The Hand of Now
No Escape
My Stepfather's Secret
Her Private Affair
Before He Wakes
International Prostitution : Brigade criminelle
Amped
Deed Poll
Baby Nymph
Nobody
Mississippi Burning
Dead Man's Shoes
Salvador
Mr. Brooks
The Funeral
The Devil's Double
Cruising
Coffy
Luckiest Girl Alive
Little Odessa
Citizen Vigilante
Imperium
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Polar
War
El Gringo
Rise of the Footsoldier
The Infernal Machine
The Dead Pool
Foxy Brown
Death Wish
God Is a Bullet
True Confessions
Marlowe
Lockdown
Foxfire
Rampage: Capital Punishment
Stone
The Ghoul
Hollow Man
Attack on Darfur
Straw Dogs
Black Caesar
Dec 20, 1950
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jan 17, 1951
Miami Beach, Florida
Feb 10, 1951
