Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1951)

Southern exposure: Doris Day, Steve Cochran, Ginger Rogers in controversial drama about Ku Klux Klan ^ (A) Storm Warning (Warners) SONGSTER Doris Day, who has been making with the light fantastic lately, has her first crack at dramatic acting in this violent melodrama and comes off remarkably well. Doris plays a waitress in a Southern town, married to truck driver Steve Cochran. Ginger Rogers stops off for a surprise visit to sister Doris, witnesses the murder of a newspaper reporter by the Ku Klux Klan, md later recognizes to her horror that her sister’s husband is one of the Klan. Before Ginger gets out of town she is horsewhipped by the Klan, attacked by her brotherin-law, and subpoenaed by District Attorney Ronald Reagan who is trying to bring the Klan to justice. There’s i thrilling climax, complete with burning cross and death. Steve Cochran gives a sock performance. Your Reviewer Says: Meaty melodrama. Program Notes: This film teas shot in the small town of Corona , some sixty miles from Hollywood, during the Christmas holidays of 1949. Why its release was held up so long no one seems to know. When Director Stuart Heisler saw the Yule decorations all over Corona’s main street he promptly incorporated them into the script by setting the time of action as the holiday season. It added a gruesome note . . . Ginger says that this is the most rugged picture she has ever been in. She took a fearful beating and mauling from Steve Cochran (and he has quite a bit to say about Miss Ginger’s fingernails) and then had to be whipped by a cat-o’ -nine-tails. The whip was the real article, but in the hands of an expert who knew how to bring it down on her back and curl it over her shoulders without inflicting actual harm . . . Broadway’s Steve Cochran (he last appeared on the stage with Mae West in “ Diamond Lil ”) has just about become Hollywood’s most despicable heavy. But there’s no doubt but what he’ll be handed his stardom after this performance. Program Notes: Though located in Tahiti, Metro preferred to location its South Sea musical on the exquisite island of Kauai in the Hawaiian group. The green vegetation, glorious beaches and the volcanic topped mountains in the background were just what the cameraman ordered . . . Esther’s husband, Ben Gage, commuted back and forth to see his ivife tvhile she was on location, but never could linger long as he had to supervise “The Trails,” their restaurant, and mastermind the house they ivere building in Mandeville Canyon. Esther insisted upon a house that’s completely baby-proof. Non-skid rugs, screened fireplaces, covered wall sockets etc. . . . Howard Keel is happily married to an ex-ballet dancer and has a young daughter. His ambition is to play straight dramatic roles. Wouldn’t you know, and ivith a voice like that! . . . Charles Manuu is a real-life Tahitian prince . . . Rita Moreno is a former Puerto Rican dancer who recently made her debut in “The Toast of New Orleans.” Two on an island: Howard Keel and Esther Williams in a Technicolor idyl — with music — under tropical skies ^ (F) Pagan Love Song (M-G-M) I^STHER WILLIAMS and Howard Keel make a handLi some romantic twosome in this Technicolor musical. Howard sings divinely; Esther swims divinely; they make love divinely. But the story’s on the tired side. Howard plays an Ohio schoolteacher who comes to Tahiti to take over the coconut plantation of his late uncle. He sees Esther dunking herself prettily and figures her as one of the native girls, a gag she strings along with. There’s the usual lovers’ misunderstanding. But a couple of their Tahitian friends, Rita Moreno and Charles Manuu, bring them together for the clinch fade-out. The dance numbers are striking, the water ballet excitingly beautiful, and the songs ’way above par — including such potential hits as “The House of Singing Bamboo,” “Sea of the Moon,” “Singing in the Sun,” and “I’m a Happy Fool.” Your Reviewer Says: Mighty fine singing and swimming. BY LIZA WILSON is'u'p' outstanding iSv* good fair F — for the whole family A — for adults Best Performances See Page 24. For Brief Reviews of Current Pictures See Page 16. WM p 23