A town known previously for its peaceful race relations turns upside down when a passer through, Harry Morgan, is held for questioning in The Disappearance of a young black child. The audience knows from the beginning what happened to her, but when it is revealed that she was last seen with him, having brought her flowers, the wagging tongues from both sides get worse and worse until finally riots erupt, and the law has to make a quick decision on how to handle this social unrest. It's shocking, especially the constant use of a racial slur, and especially upsetting because of the lack of Justice and the assumption that someone is guilty. What even becomes worse is when people out of the blue begin changing the story, particularly a young white woman who accuses a black man of making a pass, something that results in more people making up lies just to get attention. Meanwhile, the poor young girl remains unseen at the bottom of a well oh, the audience wondering throughout even if she survived.
It's easy to say these days that situations like this seem unrealistic, but obviously the writer had their sources of unfairness to come up with the idea for the story. Ernest Anderson, as Morgan's nasty uncle, wants him to why from the beginning simply so his reputation in the town is insulted, and he is one of the worst ones involved in creating problems. Morgan (then known as Henry), is one of the few recognizable actors in the film, the other one for me Maidie Norman ("Whatever Happened to Baby Jane") as the girl's mother.
What is truly powerful about this film is that for the most part, none of these people are either good or bad, and the ones who turned that way do so out of the blue, for no good reason other than the fact that they know that they could become victimized by the other side if they don't do something. It's the old emotion of paranoia taking over one sensibilities, and it becomes shocking and dangerous and frightening, to know that things like this can turn a situation that can be easily resolved into something that results and tragedy. Deservedly nominated for its screenplay, it came out in a year of many other powerful films, but it certainly ranks among the top 10. This is a film that regardless of racial background, will leave the viewer shaking because it strikes so many nerves on so many levels, but what it comes down to, it is about a human level that brings everybody together at the end and hopefully with a lot of apologies.
It's easy to say these days that situations like this seem unrealistic, but obviously the writer had their sources of unfairness to come up with the idea for the story. Ernest Anderson, as Morgan's nasty uncle, wants him to why from the beginning simply so his reputation in the town is insulted, and he is one of the worst ones involved in creating problems. Morgan (then known as Henry), is one of the few recognizable actors in the film, the other one for me Maidie Norman ("Whatever Happened to Baby Jane") as the girl's mother.
What is truly powerful about this film is that for the most part, none of these people are either good or bad, and the ones who turned that way do so out of the blue, for no good reason other than the fact that they know that they could become victimized by the other side if they don't do something. It's the old emotion of paranoia taking over one sensibilities, and it becomes shocking and dangerous and frightening, to know that things like this can turn a situation that can be easily resolved into something that results and tragedy. Deservedly nominated for its screenplay, it came out in a year of many other powerful films, but it certainly ranks among the top 10. This is a film that regardless of racial background, will leave the viewer shaking because it strikes so many nerves on so many levels, but what it comes down to, it is about a human level that brings everybody together at the end and hopefully with a lot of apologies.