Storm Center (1956)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Daniel Taradash

Writers:

Elick Moll (writer)
Daniel Taradash (writer)

Release Date:

31 July 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Who really set the town aflame?...

Plot:

A small-town librarian is branded as a Communist by local politicians when she refuses to withdraw a controversial book from the library's shelves.

Plot Keywords:

Library

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Alicia Hull
Brian Keith	...	Paul Duncan
Kim Hunter	...	Martha Lockridge
Paul Kelly	...	Judge Robert Ellerbe
Joe Mantell	...	George Slater
Kevin Coughlin	...	Freddie Slater
Sally Brophy	...	Laura Slater (as Sallie Brophie)
Howard Wierum	...	Mayor Levering
Curtis Cooksey	...	Stacey Martin
Michael Raffetto	...	Edgar Greenbaum
Joseph Kearns	...	Mr. Morrisey
Edward Platt	...	Rev. Wilson
Kathryn Grant	...	Hazel Levering
Howard Wendell	...	Sen. Bascomb

Also Known As:

The Library (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Santa Rosa, California, USA

Company:

Julian Blaustein Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Mary Pickford was originally slated to make her comeback with this film but later dropped out of the project.

A classic! Need to be in re-release!

This film is a classic; maybe not in the conventional sense of classic film-making, but certainly for librarians, for anyone interested in the topics about intellectual freedom, censorship and/or strongly principled individuals who believe in free speech! This should be available on DVD.If there are any issues involved, such as copyright, someone at Sony should work them out and make this film available for classroom and library discussion groups. The relevance to contemporary issues is significant. This was the height of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union, the era of Senator Joe McCarthy and the "Red scare," and the blacklisting of Hollywood industry folks. Bette Davis is the principled librarian who challenges her City Council's dictate that she remove a book on Communism from the library because there are complaints from patrons. Some of the dialog and characters are stilted but the feel is definitely the '50s. The challenges to libraries have not gone away but the commitment and dignity of the true librarian spirit has not changed. Here we are, almost 50 years later, confronted with the Patriot Act. George Clooney's recently released film "Good Night and Good Luck" about McCarthy and Edward R. Murrow's effort to expose McCarthyism prove that some things, unfortunately, never do go away, they just come around again.