The opening credits of this film declare in large letters that the characters and institutions portrayed in the film are entirely fictional. It seems even the brothers Warner were afraid of the Ku Klux Klan. And why wouldn't they be in the Thirties when lynchings and other acts of terror were common - are they still? Bogart is fine in an early role as a young worker, dismayed at a Polish worker getting a promotion he was seeking, who joins the Klan (or the Black Legion as they call it here). It's interesting to see him before he was typecast as the tough guy - he is very vulnerable here but not entirely sympathetic.
The film wears its sincerity on its sleeve a bit and is never wholly believable, but it is a brave attempt to confront the racism that was rife in Depression era America, when getting and keeping a job was very tough.
The film wears its sincerity on its sleeve a bit and is never wholly believable, but it is a brave attempt to confront the racism that was rife in Depression era America, when getting and keeping a job was very tough.