- Storm Center
.
ynopsis
In the first overtly anti-
McCarthyism film to be produced in Hollywood, Alicia Hull is awidow ed small town librarian dedicated to introducing children to the joy of reading. In exchange for fulfilling her request for a children's wing, the city council asks her to withdraw the book "The Communist Dream" from the library's collection. When she refuses to comply with their demand, she is fired and branded as a subversive. Judge Ellerbe feels she has been treated unfairly and calls a town meeting. Ambitiousattorney and aspiring politician Paul Duncan, who is dating assistant librarian Martha Lockeridge, uses the meeting as an opportunity to make a name for himself by denouncing Alicia as a Communist. His forceful rhetoric turns the entire town, with the exception of young Freddie Slater, against her. The boy, increasingly upset by the mistreatment his mentor is suffering and affected by the influence of his narrow-minded father, finally turns on her himself and sets the library on fire. His action causes the residents to have a change of heart, and they ask Alicia to return and supervise the construction of a new building.Production notes
In 1951, it was announced
Mary Pickford would return to the screen after an 18-year absence in "The Library", produced byStanley Kramer and directed byIrving Reis . The following year, she withdrew from the project a month before filming was scheduled to begin, ostensibly due to the fact it wasn't aTechnicolor production. Within days, Kramer signedBarbara Stanwyck to replace her, but scheduling conflicts with his new star repeatedly delayed the start of filming. Kramer eventually dropped out of the project, and it remained in limbo until Taradash decided to direct it himself with the new title [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/title.jsp?stid=91490&atid=52016&category=overview "Storm Center" at Turner Classic Movies] ] .Although set in
New England , theColumbia Pictures release was filmed on location inSanta Rosa, California . It proved to be the only film ever directed by Taradash.Principal cast
*
Bette Davis ..... Alicia Hull
*Brian Keith ..... Paul Duncan
*Kim Hunter ..... Martha Lockridge
*Paul Kelly ..... Judge Robert Ellerbe
*Joe Mantell ..... George Slater
*Edward Platt ..... Rev. Wilson
*Kathryn Grant ..... Hazel
*Kevin Coughlin ..... Freddie SlaterPrincipal production credits
*Producer .....
Julian Blaustein
*Original Music .....George Duning
*Cinematography .....Burnett Guffey
*Art Direction ..... Cary Odell
*Title Design .....Saul Bass Critical reception
In his review in the "
New York Times ",Bosley Crowther felt "the purpose and courage of the men who made this film not only are to be commended but also deserve concrete rewards. They have opened a subject that is touchy and urgent in contemporary life . . . [they] put a stern thought in this film, which is that the fears and suspicions of our age are most likely to corrupt and scar the young . . . However . . . the thesis is much better than the putting forth of it. The visualization of this drama is clumsy and abrupt . . . Mr. Blaustein and Mr. Taradash have tried nobly, but they have failed to develop a film that whips up dramatic excitement or flames with passion in support of its theme." Of Bette Davis, he said, " [She gives] a fearless and forceful performance as the middle-aged widowed librarian who stands by her principles. Miss Davis makes the prim but stalwart lady human and credible." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E07E7D7143BE13BBC4A51DFB667838D649EDE "New York Times" review] ]"Time" said the film "makes reading seem nearly as risky a habit as dope . . . [it] is paved and repaved with good intentions; its heart is insistently in the right place; its leading characters are motivated by the noblest of sentiments. All that Writer-Director Taradash forgot was to provide a believable story." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,891779,00.html?promoid=googlep "Time" review] ]
In the "Saturday Review",
Arthur Knight opined the film "comes to grips with its central problem with a forthright honesty and integrity . . . It may be that in fashioning the story the authors have made their film a bit too pat, a bit too glib, a bit too easy in its articulation of the various points of view expressed. Bette Davis's enlightened liberalism sounds at times as dangerously smug and self-righteous as the benighted politicos and anti-intellectuals who oppose her." [ [http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/storm-center.html "Storm Center" at University of Pennsylvania website] ]The
National Legion of Decency stated the "propaganda film offers a warped, over simplified emotional solution to the complex problems of civil liberties in American life." "Daily Variety" responded to the Legion by suggesting "it's almost impossible to over-dramatize human liberty whether it's a depiction ofPatrick Henry ... or a librarian sacrificing her reputation rather than her democratic principles." [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/title.jsp?stid=91490&atid=52016&category=overview "Storm Center" at Turner Classic Movies] ]"
Time Out London " calls the film a "didactic, laborious piece." [ [http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/75398/storm_center.html "Time Out London" review] ]"
TV Guide " says, "While the film was forthright in its attempt to deal with censorship, the execution was dismal. The sudden alteration in the town's beliefs is just too nonsensical to accept. Davis, however, is quite convincing as the principled librarian, but there just isn't enough of a story to complement her performance." [ [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/storm-center/118966 "TV Guide" review] ]Of it Davis herself said, "I was not overjoyed with the finished film . . . I had far higher hopes for it. The basic lack was the casting of the boy. He was not a warm, loving type of child . . . his relationship with the librarian was totally unemotional and, therefore, robbed the film of its most important factor [since] their relationship . . . was the nucleus of the script." ["Mother Goddam" by Whitney Stine, with a running commentary by Bette Davis, Hawthorn Books, 1974, pg. 264 (ISBN 0-8015-5184-6)]
In 1957 "Storm Center" was awarded the Prix de Chevalier da la Barre at the
Cannes Film Festival , where it was cited as "this year's film which best helps freedom of expression and tolerance." [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE3DF1531F93BA25753C1A964958260 "New York Times", Daniel Taradash Letter to the Editor, October 18, 1992] ]References
External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049800/ "Storm Center" at the Internet Movie Database]
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