The Burning Cross

"The Burning Cross" is a very, very low budget film from tiny Somerset Pictures. Because of this, I assumed it would be terrible. Imagine my surprise when I saw it and found it was very, very good. In fact, it dealt with the KKK in a manner much more direct and forthright than the few films about the Klan that were made by big studios...big studios that hedged their bets and de-emphasized race. Now it's hard to imagine talking about the Klan and de-emphasizing the racial aspect of it. Thiis is what happened in "The Black Legion" and "Storm Warning"...good films from Warner Brothers that tried to expose the Klan without talking much about their racism!!

After Johnny finishes his hitch with the army during WWII, he's burdened with PTSD (which is only alluded to) and a lack of direction in his life. He's also resentful and bitter...especially after he finds his old girlfriend engaged to someone else. So, he's easy prey for the Klan...and he soon joins. But soon Johnny sees how violent they are...and he witnesses a murder...and he wants out! But they won't let him quit...as once a member, always a member. What's next? See the film.

The acting is surprisingly good and the writing also excellent and exciting....none of which you'd expect with such a cheap production. It's never dull and is pretty brave for its day. I have no complaints about the quality of the film in any way...and recommend you give it a look, as it's an interesting time capsule about a horrible part of history.

This movie was memorable for me for several reasons. I was 8 years old when I saw it, certainly had never before heard of the Klu Klux Klan, and lived in a part of the country with almost no Black population. (In third grade, we tried to convince a new boy from Hawaii, with straight black hair, that he was a Negro, because he had dark skin and we truly didn't know what Negroes looked like.) Beyond the story, which made a vivid impression, I saw this while visiting a cousin in Alabama, in a segregated theater where "Negroes" had a separate entrance and had to sit in the balcony where no whites were allowed. This background made the story very real for me and was as influential in my thinking as "To Kill a Mockingbird" was for a later generation.

I originally wanted to see the film because my father is in it (Jack Shutta). I felt it was well done and dealt with a serious problem very early on. It was surprising to have a film deal with this subject matter in the forties.