Storm Warning is a 1950 American thriller film noir starring Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day, and Steve Cochran. Directed by Stuart Heisler, it follows a fashion model (Rogers), traveling to a small Southern town to visit her sister (Day), who witnesses the brutal murder of an investigative journalist by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The original screenplay was written by Richard Brooks and Daniel Fuchs.
Filmed in Corona, California in late 1949, Storm Warning premiered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1950, before receiving an expanded theatrical release in the United States on February 10, 1951. The film earned $1.25 million in North America, and was a box-office flop.
In the years since its original release, it has been subject to analysis by film scholars as an allegory for the House Un-American Activities Committee investigations, while both contemporary and modern critics have noted that its depiction of the KKK does not address the organization's predominant racist origins. Despite this, the film's performances (particularly Rogers', appearing in a rare dramatic role) and direction have been widely lauded.
Contents
Plot
In December 1949, Marsha Mitchell, a dress model from New York City, travels by bus for a work assignment. During her journey, she stops in the small Southern town of Rock Point to visit her newlywed sister, Lucy Rice. Upon arrival, Marsha senses the townspeople's hostility, exhibited through their evasive and unwelcoming behavior. As she walks along the main street, she hears a disturbance at the nearby police station. Hiding in the shadows, Marsha witnesses an intoxicated, violent KKK mob break a man out of jail and fatally shoot him as he attempts to flee. She observes two of the mob members unmasking themselves and sees their faces.
Deeply shaken, Marsha seeks refuge at the bowling alley where her sister works. She recounts the events to Lucy, who surmises that the victim was Walter Adams, a journalist who had recently arrived in town. Adams had been investigating and exposing the local Klan chapter's activities. Lucy explains that he had been arrested on false charges, and the mob had likely intended to silence him permanently. Marsha is taken to Lucy's home, where she is encouraged to tell her brother-in-law, Hank, what she witnessed. However, when Hank arrives, Marsha immediately recognizes him as one of the unmasked Klansmen. Though Hank initially denies any involvement, he soon admits his presence at the scene, claiming he had been coerced and intoxicated. Hank insists that the mob's intention was not to kill Adams but to prevent him from further damaging the town's reputation. He pleads with Marsha to remain silent to protect his marriage and Lucy, who is pregnant. Reluctantly, Marsha agrees to leave town the next morning and forget what she witnessed.
Meanwhile, District Attorney Burt Rainey begins an investigation into the murder. Skeptical of the police's explanation that they were overpowered by the mob, Rainey suspects collusion between the authorities and the Klan. He questions Charlie Barr, the Imperial Wizard of the local Klan chapter, but receives no useful information. Learning of Marsha's presence in town, Rainey insists on meeting her and questioning her about the incident. Despite pressure from the townspeople to drop the investigation, Rainey remains committed to pursuing justice. When Marsha meets with Rainey, she provides a partial account, stating that she saw the Klansmen but did not recognize their faces due to their hoods. Rainey deems this enough to proceed with an investigation and serves her with a subpoena to testify at the inquest later that day. Under pressure from both Lucy and the Klan, Marsha lies during her testimony, leading the coroner's jury to rule that Adams was killed by unknown assailants.
Analysis
Themes
The film contains themes of bigotry, violence against women, and familial dysfunction. Michael Rogin notes that Rogers's and Day's characters in the film are both punished for their familial loyalty as well as their sexuality, citing Rogers's character's self-assured romantic rejection of a salesman in the film's opening scene, contrasted with Day's character, who remains "in thrall to the Klan thug she marries."
Hollywood Blacklist interpretations
Film scholar Jeff Smith interprets Storm Warning as an allegory for the Hollywood blacklist, citing its production at the height of the Red Scare. Smith also notes the film's oblique references to investigative forces in Washington, D.C. and the northern states, who are subjects of derision from the local klansmen, concluding that the film represents a "paean to HUAC that might easily be read as a defense of the investigations themselves." Smith views Rogers's character as emblematic of witnesses who refused to cooperate with the HUAC investigations, but concludes that the film overall "plays a game of "hide and seek" in appearing to both reveal and conceal the possibility of allegorical readings."
Rogin made similar observations of the film's treatment of the Ku Klux Klan as merely a "racket", adding that it "wants to warn against a violent secret conspiracy without raising the specter of racial injustice," and ultimately interprets Storm Warning as an anti-Communist film.
Depiction of the Ku Klux Klan
Despite its focus on the Ku Klux Klan, an organization that is historically racist, only a small number of African Americans are depicted in the film, appearing during the expansive crowd sequences. Moira Finnie, writing for Turner Classic Movies, notes that, in addition to omitting references to racism, the film also fails to highlight anti-Catholicism or anti-Semitism in its depiction of the Ku Klux Klan.
Production
Development
The film's original screenplay was written by Richard Brooks and Daniel Fuchs. Producer Jerry Wald had originally asked Fred Zinnemann to direct the film, but Zinnemann was unable to due to prior obligations. Instead, Wald hired Stuart Heisler as director.
Casting
Warner Bros. originally intended for Lauren Bacall to star in the film, but she declined the role, and was put on suspension by Warner Bros. for her defiance. Bacall's motive for turning down the role was reported at the time to be a financial decision rather than a political one. Commenting to the press, Bacall stated: "I am neither a puppet nor a chattel of Warner Bros. studio to do with as it sees fit." She was subsequently released from her contract with Warner Bros. for her refusal to take the role, and Ginger Rogers was cast in the part. Ronald Reagan, who was cast as District Attorney Burt Rainey, was sent articles by the film's producer, Jerry Wald, about fascism and the assassination of Huey Long in preparation for the role.
Alfred Hitchcock was impressed by Doris Day's dramatic performance in Storm Warning so much that he cast her in his 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Filming
Principal photography took place on location in Corona, California, in the fall of 1949. After production was completed in January 1950, Rogers stated that the film's tight shooting schedule had exhausted her. The film had a tentative working title of Storm Center, until it was officially changed to Storm Warning in February 1950.
Release
Promotion and box office
Storm Warning had its world premiere in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1950. The premiere was sponsored by The Pittsburgh Press's Old Newsboys organization, who utilized the event to generate fundraising for disabled children. The following month, it screened in Miami Beach, Florida on January 17, 1951, where Rogers made a public appearance promoting the film, with earnings of ticket sales supporting the Variety Children's Hospital of Greater Miami.
The film's theatrical release expanded wide on February 10, 1951. By the end of the year, it had earned $1.25 million in North American rentals, but was generally regarded as a box-office flop.
Critical response
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times, though admiring Warner's "passion for social crusading", was disappointed with the screenplay, observed that "an all-too-familiar conventionality of elements and plot is evident in the screen play which Daniel Fuchs and Richard Brooks have prepared. The forces opposing the prosecutor line up just as you feel they will, his key witness fails him as you figure—at first, that is—and then she falls in line when she sees how horribly and unjustly her silence permits the villains to behave. The consequence is a smoothly flowing, mechanically melodramatic film, superficially forceful but lacking real substance or depth. Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times praised the performances, citing Rogers's dramatic portrayal as a strong point, but summarized: "Compared with some of the powerful exposés sponsored by Warners, this must be classified as a minor effort because it is a case practically of shooting flies with cannon balls at this late date. That doesn't diminish the fact that it is an exciting picture in its way. It simply lacks the vitality that goes with reality plus importance."
Critic Dennis Schwartz wrote in 2008 that the film trivialized the topic of bigotry, writing that it treats "the serious subject of race hatred with an inadequate depiction of the KKK, as it pays more attention to the melodrama than to any message. Stuart Heisler (The Glass Key/Dallas/Tulsa) tries to weave a well-intentioned anti-Klan film by working into the plot various forms of violence and intimidation the KKK exerts on a small Southern town ... It has the look and spark of the usual Warner Bros. crime drama, but delivers the public safety message that Americans won't or shouldn't tolerate in their neck of the woods a thuggish organization like the KKK (sort of like their 'crime doesn't pay' messages they leave with their formulaic bloody gangster pics). Surprisingly the racial hate message of the Klan is never touched upon. These Ku Klux Klan members seem to be only interested in keeping outsiders away from their town."
Film scholar Imogen Sara Smith praised the film in 2014 as "beautifully directed by Stuart Heisler", but criticized it for borrowing plot elements from A Streetcar Named Desire as well as for its failure to address the KKK's racist history, instead focusing on the singular murder of a journalist. Critic Michael F. Keaney similarly notes that the film lacks realism due to its excision of racism in the narrative, as well as that its characters do not speak with a Southern accent, but concludes that, "despite these shortcomings, the tightly woven script and solid acting make this an enjoyable film."
Home media
Warner Home Entertainment released the film on DVD as part of the Ronald Reagan Signature Collection in August 2006. The Warner Archive Collection released the film on Blu-ray for the first time on April 25, 2023.
It has been shown on the Turner Classic Movies programme Noir Alley with Eddie Muller.