Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Storm Warning Blu-ray Movie Review

The town that dreaded sundown.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 12, 2023

Stuart Heisler's Storm Warning is a rare studio film that dared to address the Ku Klux Klan in a time when "foreign dangers" were all the rage, yet its portrayal of the kowardly lot forgets to add any racism. We mostly see things from the perspective of model Marsha Mitchell (Ginger Rogers), who's on a business trip and stops in a neighboring town to see her younger sister Lucy (Doris Day). Immediately upon her nighttime arrival, Marsha is mostly ignored by the locals and finds that most of the nearby shops have closed early. On her way to Lucy's house, Marsha hears cries for help by the local police station; from a safe distance, she sees a group of mostly white-hooded men shoot and kill a man they'd just broken out of jail. Finally in the safety of Lucy's house, distraught Marsha is consoled by her sister... until Lucy's husband Hank (Steve Cochran), who looks an awful lot like one of the murderous mob, comes home.

Though it hits a few speed bumps along the way, Storm Warning does plenty of things right. It's a compelling, story-driven effort that's decorated by good performances: Rogers and Day -- neither of whom sing or dance during the film, obviously -- make a very convincing pair, and well-established Ronald Reagan turns in great work as district attorney Burt Rainey, who leads the investigation and urges Marsha to testify in court. Not surprisingly, the two-pronged danger of the Klan as a whole -- whose presence has infected the town for years, with most of its citizens afraid to fight back -- and the more immediate danger of shady husband Hank all but guarantees a high level of suspense. From that angle, Storm Waning at lease feels like a solid character-driven affair once all the pieces are in place.

Unfortunately, the puzzle as a whole doesn't feel quite as well-made. That's certainly not a complaint lodged at its other fundamentals, such as excellent cinematography, editing, music, pacing, and more, but more at its surprisingly wishy-washy portrayal of the Klan itself. Whether due to Hays Code restrictions or big-studio fears (possibly in relation to how it might be commercially received in Southern states), there's little to no insinuation of the Klan's racial motivations or their traditionally religious beliefs, with their inner-workings shows as being more financially-driven than anything else. It's kind of ironic given the film's headstrong choice to make them the main antagonists: Storm Warning might look like a realistic picture, but its key villains certainly aren't painted with fine-tipped brush strokes.

This ends up bleeding into the film's other sore thumb: Steve Cochran as husband Hank who, whether due to iffy writing or his wide-eyed portrayal of the character, feels more than a little exaggerated. Yet the Klan's watery portrayal all but requires a bit of overacting to generate enough of a threat, which can be seen in almost all of his leering looks and even a painful-to-watch attempted rape of Marsha while Lucy's away from the house.

Despite these obvious narrative missteps, Storm Warning is still an entertaining affair that should please fans of the narrow genre even without ranking in its upper tier. Warner Archive nonetheless goes all-out for their Blu-ray edition: it features a terrific A/V restoration and era-specific extras, all of which improve upon WB's 2006 DVD release.

Storm Warning Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, Warner Archive's new 1080p transfer offers a precise presentation of difficult source material. The earliest scenes -- beginning with Marsha's nighttime arrival in Rock Point, where she soon makes her disturbing discovery after the local shops close up early -- are obviously dominated by shadows and deep blacks; these have a higher level of noise than usual which is largely kept under control, but the more pervasive noise occasionally fights for attention with fine detail and textures. Such moments return periodically, especially during the climactic showdown at a Klan rally, but to be fair are handled with more care and attention than previous home video presentations by a fairly wide margin. Elsewhere, well-lit and daytime scenes obviously pose no problem at all: these are almost disarmingly crisp and film-like with plenty of natural grain and excellent depth, all hallmarks of Warner Archive's best-looking Blu-rays. As usual, disc encoding is very good with only very mild signs of posterization but no apparent macro blocking, banding, and other such artifacts. It's an extremely solid effort all around, another purist-minded effort that should appeal to die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

Storm Warning Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly sourced from the same negative, Warner Archive's DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix offers a very pleasing presentation of its dynamic original soundtrack, from the hustle and bustle of the rec center -- which really does look like the place to be -- to the stirring original score by the wonderfully-named Daniele Amfitheatrof, a Russian-American composer whose work can be heard on films as diverse as Letter from an Unknown Woman to Song of the South and Friday the 13th, Part V: A New Beginning. Conversations, background elements, and other sonic details remain largely crisp and clear within reasonable expectations, with almost no hiss or other distractions along the way.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offering during the main feature... not the extras, unfortunately.

Storm Warning Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover art and no inserts. The extras, as usual, are mostly made of era-specific content that may have played before the film during theatrical showings.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:31) - Presented in rough but watchable condition, this appropriately gripping (if not kind of amusingly overblown) promotional piece captures Storm Warning's spirit decently well.

• One Who Came Back (21:05) - A restored short docudrama from 1951 that was nominated for an Academy Award that year, this piece -- which tells the story of a soldier wounded in Korea, rescued behind enemy lines, and transported home -- was presented in part by the Disabled American Veterans organization and made in cooperation with the Department of Defense and the Association of Motion Picture Producers.

• Bunny Hugged (7:14) - A wrestling-themed remake of 1948's "Rabbit Punch", this nicely-restored 1950 Merrie Melodies short, directed by Chuck Jones, stars Bugs Bunny (and "Ravishing Ronald") as they mix it up with "The Crusher". Good times! It's also available on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume Three... the only such WB Blu-ray set that isn't out of print and commanding astronomical prices, so maybe pick that up ASAP.

Storm Warning Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stuart Heisler's Storm Warning is a mostly effective "socially conscious" drama that unfortunately pulls some punches with the subject matter, side-stepping several narrative details while having its most front-and-center villain try and overact his way out of it. This is still compelling stuff and an otherwise solid effort by the stacked cast, with excellent cinematography and music to match. Warner Archive's new Blu-ray serves up another reliably great A/V presentation and a trio of era-specific bonus features, easily surpassing Warner Bros.' DVD released almost two decades ago. It's heartily Recommended to established fans, although newcomers may want to try before they buy.