MovieChat Forums > Storm Warning (1951) Discussion > VERY GOOD FILM (controversial topic for ...

VERY GOOD FILM (controversial topic for 1951) KKK and whipping?


Just saw Storm Warning. I liked it. What a controversial topic for a film made in 1951. Where else can you see Doris Day, Ginger Rogers and Ronald Regan in a film where Doris Day gets shot and killed by an *A-Hole* KKK member.?!
Worth the watch if anyting for the "whipping punishment scene" of Ginger Rogers in a tight sweater and heels. creepy.

It's cute how you think im listening.

reply

The creepiest thing about the whipping scene was that some of the Klansmen had brought their kids along to watch. What kind of parent deliberately exposes their children to torture scenes?

reply

Unfortunately alot of parents did. If you've ever seen pictures of the Klan, they seemed to make certain events family outings.

reply

Unfortunately, you're right. There's a famous--or infamous--picture taken in the 1920s or 1930s of a black man hanging from a tree branch who had just been lynched, and a crowd of probably 100 or more whites are gathered around it, grinning and laughing. Several of them are with their children, pointing to the man's body or grinning into the camera with their hands on their kids' shoulders, as if it's a "Kodak moment" to be treasured. Sick, sick degenerates.




In socialism man exploits man. In capitalism it's exactly the opposite.

reply

There is very little difference between the KKK of the time and those nutcase right wing "Christians" who take their kids to funerals of US soldiers just to claim it was God's will that they should die.

reply

I agree. Very good movie, especially considering the time. Though your thread title does seem to knock the movie and praise it at the same time. Sort of like, "You throw well....for a girl," etc.

I really wasn't expecting the ending. In fact, I half expected Doris to come to life again with a chorus or two of "Que Sera, Sera."

Personally, I think I have too much bloom. Maybe that's the trouble with me.

reply

Re: VERY GOOD FILM (for the 1950's)

Though your thread title does seem to knock the movie and praise it at the same time. Sort of like, "You throw well....for a girl,"

ha.... hmmm very good point!!! im gonna change it. my original post was in 2006 and i probably was rushing or something.

It's Cute, How You Think I'm Listening

reply

"Storm Warning" may have been considered strong stuff in its day, but, as several commenters have pointed out, the makers of this film basically wimped out. From watching this movie, you'd think the Klan (never referred to as the "Ku Klux Klan," just "the Klan") was basically a common criminal enterprise, and a pretty inept one at that. Racist ideology is never mentioned or even implied. Maybe the only way to deliver the message effectively to white audiences was to show that the Klan intimidated, terrorized and murdered white people as well.

"No Way Out" with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark, made at about the same time, pulled far fewer punches in dealing with racial hatred.



All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

reply

The few black people in this movie were nothing more than extras. You're right about the filmmakers wimping out, but in their defense, they actually filmed the movie in a town where the REAL KKK had a lot of power and influence and threatened the studio.


reply

My father grew up in a small town with very few black families but a large blue collar district of Hungarian immigrants. His white, Protestant, German-American grandfather who was a minister had a cross burned on his front lawn. I'm sure his whole family felt as proud as I feel being related to someone who would stand up to those thugs. There were far too many "good men" who did nothing when the KKK came to take over their town. My great grandfather did something. He spoke and acted against the Klan. This movie shows what happens when a town chooses another course.

reply

In many ways, making an early viewing of the Klan as committing crimes against whites instead of blacks, was fairly genius. If you started off a movie like this in the 50's with the Klan lynching a black reporter, I think you'd have drawn less sympathy from the audience, and less hatred toward the Klan. This was before major civil rights movements.

Damion Crowley
All complaints about my post go to Helen Waite.

reply

The Klan was also against Catholics and immigrants.

reply

Good post TequilaMockingbird63. True and funny. I agree.

reply

I think the movie was courageous for it's time. Even if the Klan's racist ideology wasn't referenced it was still clear they weren't wholesome characters. Plus how many movies show Doris Day getting murdered? In all seriousness though it was a good flick.

reply

I just watched this film for the first after finding it on a free internet website. I thought it was an excellent film for the time period as well. And like a previous poster pointed out that showing the klan killing a white man and then proceeding to scare a white witness along with the characters being played by
actors you would not expect helped make it a success. It was light weight by today's standards as others have said but remember in 1950 it was the McCarthy communist witch hunt era for all of America, especially for Hollywood because they had a voice and ability to influence the population at large. Yes, the klan was mainly about racism but many people knew they would try to get revenge on any one who interfered with their agenda. I hope you all have gotten to see the 1988 (set in 1964) movie Mississippi Burning.
_____

Just try to stay alive and see what the next minute brings.

reply