Black Legion (1937)

After being passed over for a promotion in favor of an immigrant (Henry Brandon), an angry factory worker (Humphrey Bogart) joins a secret racist and fascist organization that wear black robes and hoods while terrorizing "foreigners". In the 1930s, Warner Brothers was in the forefront of topical social problem films "ripped from the headlines" as they say. Sadly, this gritty and bleak look at xenophobia made almost 80 years ago still resonates today as the current political scene will attest. Bogart was not yet a star (he would have to wait 4 more years) but this was a rare leading role for him and he does quite well. There really was a Black Legion in 1930s Michigan and the film is loosely based on the kidnapping and murder of a WPA organizer by the same. Directed by Archie Mayo (PETRIFIED FOREST), it's primitive film making but it's that very coarseness that makes it so vital. Unsettling and disturbing. With Ann Sheridan, Dick Foran, Erin O'Brien Moore, Joe Sawyer and Addison Richards.