STORM WARNING (1950): Doris Day, Ginger Rogers and Ronald Reagan take on the KKK (!?)

The names Doris Day and Ginger Rogers evoke a certain image. Day was the quintessential girl next door, known for her light musical comedy films like 1948's Romance on the High Seas, Lullaby of Broadway (1951), and On Moonlight Bay (1951). Rogers was known for her dance partnership with Fred Astaire in films such as Top Hat (1935) and Shall We Dance (1937). So, it may come as a surprise to some that the one film they appeared in together is neither musical nor comedy. It was 1951's STORM WARNING, and is about a woman who is visiting a small town to see her sister and witnesses a Ku Klux Klan hit. Definitely not musical comedy material. STORM WARNING also had another notable co star: future US president Ronald Reagan. STORM WARNING opens on Marsha (Rogers), a dress model, who is on a bus trip for business and decides to stop in a small southern town to visit her sister, Lucy (Day). At once, Marsha senses something isn't right in the town as she is met with hostility by a diner attendant and encounters businesses closing early and the whole town being dark and quiet. Suddenly, Marsha hears a commotion and hides in a doorway where she can't be seen. There she witnesses the Ku Klux Klan, white hoods and all, murder a man later revealed to be a reporter who came to town asking questions about the Klan. Stunned, Marsha goes to find her sister Lucy who is working at a bowling alley and reveals herself to be pregnant. Upon arrival at Lucy's home she shares with her husband Hank (Steve Cochran), Marsha recognizes Hank as being involved with what she just saw, because he took his hood off after the murder. Enter Burt Rainey (Reagan) who is the town District Attorney. Rainey has long wanted to expose the Klan but has frequently run into a brick wall because of the Klan being protected by the police. When he learns that Marsha saw what happened, he questions her. Marsha lies to protect her sister, saying she could not recognize any of the men due to their hoods. Asked to testify what she saw at an inquest the next day, Marsha must remain in town. At the inquest, Marsha lies again, still protecting Lucy, who at this point feels torn between the truth and her love for Hank. Because of Marsha's lie, the jury rules that the reporter was killed by unknown assailants. A celebration post inquest reveals a drunk Hank, who is gloating in the purported victory. He tries to come on to Marsha, who shuts him down and returns home to Pack her things and leave town for good. He follows her home, and tries to come on to her again, and becomes violent when she once again turns him down. Lucy comes home to all this and finally resolves to leave Hank for good. Hank beats Lucy and then takes Marsha to a Klan rally to answer for her crimes. Lucy and Rainey soon arrive. Hank is blamed for the murder, and accidently shoots Lucy, and is then shot and killed by a police officer. The film ends with Marsha holding Lucy's body as a burning cross falls down. The film is certainly not as easy watch, but it is filled with great performances. Rogers and Day are convincing in their dramatic roles and Cochran has an uneasy air about him that adds nicely to the tension of the story. At first, as a viewer, I was unsure of his involvement in the murder but later on, he is very unlikeable. The film doesn't touch on any of the Klan's politics at all, maybe choosing to assume that audiences of the time (and now) already knew them. Reagan is serviceable as the DA, with a likeable everyman charm. This film is intense from start to finish. It's an interesting watch for the subject matter and the performances of the two female leads in unlikely dramatic roles. At this point Doris Day was in her early career as a Warner Brothers contract player. This would be the only film where she would appear where her character dies. Rogers has established herself as a more dramatic actress with her Oscar winning role in Kitty Foyle (1940). Her role was originally offered to Lauren Bacall. Day and Bacall appeared together in Young Man With A Horn (1950), opposite Kirk Douglas. Storm Warning marked the end of Reagan's tenure as a contract player at Warners, where he appeared in dramas like Kings Row (1942), Knute Rockne All American (1940), and light comedies such as Brother Rat (1938), Million Dollar Baby (1941) and The Girl From Jones Beach (1949). He would appear with Day again in 1952's The Winning Team, about baseball player Grover Cleveland Alexander. STORM WARNING was not a financial success in its day, but in recent years has garnered attention for its subject matter, and the novelty of seeing Day, Rogers, and Reagan in dramatic roles. The film also reportedly convinced Alfred Hitchcock to cast Day in his 1955 film The Man Who Knew Too Much, where she first sang her signature song Que Sera Sera. It is worth a watch, albeit an unpleasant one, for the performances of its 4 leads.