Storm Center

Alicia Hull runs the library of a small US town in the 1950s with heart and soul. She shares a deep friendship with eleven-year-old Freddie. But when she defies the town council’s order to remove the book *The Communist Dream* from the shelves – not because she valued it, but because she rejects censorship – she loses her job. Shunned by the townspeople, who regard her as a “Red”, Alicia suffers in silence and with dignity, whilst a tragic change befalls Freddie. Screenwriter Daniel Taradash’s sole directorial effort was released towards the end of the McCarthy era, which it mirrors allegorically. The dialogue is brilliant: the hardliner on the town council accuses Alicia of having been a member of left-wing organisations in the past. “You must have believed in some of your ideas!” “No! You believed in some of mine!” retorts Alicia (played by Bette Davis). (S.Z.)