This film reminds me a little a bit of the Bette Davis film "Storm Center" (about a librarian who fights book censorship), from 1956. At least in tone. And as our younger reviewers watch this, they probably won't get it..."it" being how risky this kind of film was in 1951. This was a rather powerful film for that era, not only in terms of the topic it tackled, but how often before this did you see women publicly whipped? The biggest surprise of this film is probably the way Doris Day appears. It almost seems as if she is without makeup. Very plain looking. This was not her first dramatic role, as has been indicated here; that would have been "Young Man With A Horn" from a year earlier. A fine performance.
However, the highest marks go to Ginger Rogers as the woman who comes to a southern town to visit her sister and witnesses a KKK murder. It's only recently that I've begun to notice Rogers in dramatic films; she's really very good here.
Ronald Reagan...well, a little difficult to pigeon hole here. In the early scenes of the film...well, about as bad acting as I've seen Reagan do. But once we get to the inquest, he does fairly well. He was not a strong actor, but he had his moments.
Steve Cochran as the husband of Day and brother-in-law of Rogers is quite good...does a nice job of showing the kind of jerk who was probably a pretty typical Klan member. Hugh Sanders was decent as the head of the local Klan.
This is not a "great" movie, but all things considered, it's pretty decent. It does a pretty good job of showing how the Klan operated in the rural south. Recommended.
However, the highest marks go to Ginger Rogers as the woman who comes to a southern town to visit her sister and witnesses a KKK murder. It's only recently that I've begun to notice Rogers in dramatic films; she's really very good here.
Ronald Reagan...well, a little difficult to pigeon hole here. In the early scenes of the film...well, about as bad acting as I've seen Reagan do. But once we get to the inquest, he does fairly well. He was not a strong actor, but he had his moments.
Steve Cochran as the husband of Day and brother-in-law of Rogers is quite good...does a nice job of showing the kind of jerk who was probably a pretty typical Klan member. Hugh Sanders was decent as the head of the local Klan.
This is not a "great" movie, but all things considered, it's pretty decent. It does a pretty good job of showing how the Klan operated in the rural south. Recommended.