D.C.Stephenson was the stereotypical Alabama redneck who moved to Indiana and with his racist beliefs as his driving force formed the Hoosier chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. He used thugs to force local businessmen to join his "organization" (or he would wreck their businesses, livelihood and reputations). Stephenson purchased a large home in the east Indianapolis neighborhood of Irvington and had it remodeled to look like a southern plantation home, complete with tall columns in front. In an effort to make the KKK look like a "charitable organization" he funded the building of an orphanage, (which still stands as a school very near the then home of the Oberholzer family).
The acting is good in this film and is an effort to tell an important story about a bad chapter in our Nation's history, but IMHO not enough effort was made to show the details of how Klan money had purchased the favors and even membership of local politicians into the Klans' tentacles. Anybody wanting to know things about the Klan should see this film, and understand that in the Twenties, the Klan was in it's zenith and held curb to curb marches even in our Nations' Capitol!
