Warner Brothers went out on a limb during the “escapist” Thirties to produce angry dramas about lynching (They Won't Forget) and the Ku Klux Klan (Black Legion). In 1951, Warners revived its crusading spirit--despite the chill under which Hollywood shivered--with this “message film” about Klan intimidation and oppression in a small Southern town. A reporter intent on writing an exposé is murdered by the Klan, and the incident is witnessed by passerby Ginger Rogers, who becomes the chief witness for the prosecution--headed by chief prosecutor Ronald Reagan, whose work is made considerably more difficult by the stubborn resistance of a frightened townspeople. Doris Day is featured as Rogers' blissfully ignorant younger sister. Rogers' good dramatic performance is a stand-out of this film, although historical developments have upstaged her appearance here with the inviting image of Ronald Reagan in an unfamiliar posture.