STORM WARNING

New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 631, 3 August 1951, Page 24

STORM WARNING

(Warner Bros.) ‘THE setting of Storm Warning, which makes a second, but rather different, indictment of society, is a small Southern town in America which is under the sinister patronage of the Ku Klux Klan. Ginger Rogers, a New York model, arrives to visit her sister, and accidentally witnesses a brutal murder performed by hooded members of the Klan outside the local gaol. At the inquest on the victim (an over-curious journalist) nobody in the town will testify, although the local membership. of the so-called secret society is generally known. She discovered that one of the killers is her sister’s husband (Steve Cochran), and when she is produced by the district attorney (Ronald Reagan) as the star witness, she has to decide whether justice comes before her sister’s happiness. This dilemma is neatly handled in the film -until towards the end, when an old-fashioned shooting match between police and villains solves the particular problem involved, but side-steps the general moral implications of the Klan’s activities. Despite this limitation, the film presents its problem very skilfully and with considerable authenticity. The opening sequence is first-rate in effectiveness. The uneasy atmosphere of the citizens at the bus depot on her arrival (a few minutes before the murder is timed to take place) is admirably conveyed. Then as the lights in the shops go out and the owners scurry home while she walks innocently down the darkened street, the tension rises rapidly to the shocking violence of the scene which she unexpectedly witnesses. There are at least two other sequences in the film worth watching for. The first is the inquest scene, where the sullen, fearful mood of the crowd outside the courthouse is cleverly shown through the person of a radio announcer wandering amongst them seeking comments. The second occurs at the recreation. centre where the crowd goes after the verdict, and where, amid the stifling heat and noise, the stupid young lout, who is the heroine’s brother-in law, gets involved in a drunken, bullying brawl. | Storm Warning has all the gloss and speed of the best Hollywood thrillers. Its action is presented compactly, but its characterisation, by comparison, lets it down. Steve Cochran gives the best performance in the nastiest role, and Doris Day as his misguided sister also creates a believable person. Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan and Hugh Sanders (as the Klan leader) seem fluent but mechanical by comparison.