User Reviews

Although by modern dramatic standards "The Intruder" might be considered somewhat heavy handed and unrealistic (and the ending wraps things up in a tight little bow that might irritate people who have actually been through similar experiences), I was impressed by how edgy and upsetting this movie was.

Shatner gives a hell of a performance here - kind of an anti-matter version of Burt Lancaster - and the role plays to his strengths. Having seen him in "Incubus" and a couple of Twilite Zone episodes, I knew he could carry a movie with the right part, and he is fascinating to see in action here.

I also admit that the screenplay didn't aways go for the easy out - the hero turns out NOT to be the crusading newspaper man (who is indeed brave, but not especially effective in the end) but the seemingly thoughtless and one-dimensional "good old boy" salesman living in the hotel room right next to "Adam Cramer". And the climatic scene near the end where the young black man is seemingly about to by lynched from a swing set (!) does something else instead that made me whistle in admiration.

Not perfect, but shows what Corman could have become if things had worked out differently.

We usually associate the name of Roger Corman with cheap exploitation movies, or maybe cheap horror movies with an Edgar Allan Poe theme, but this one isn't at all like his others -- except that it's cheap.

William Shatner steps off the bus in a small Southern town whose high school begins its racial integration next Monday. He's handsome, well dressed, charming even. He's smooth, especially when speaking before groups or cozening lonely women or young girls. He even alludes at one point to Socrates, without being pretentious about it. I mean, he's a likable guy.

The problem is that he's an agent of The Patrick Henry Society. Kids, Patrick Henry was a well-known orator (that means "public speaker") during the American Revolution and his most famous quote is, "Give me liberty or give me death." This is a logical fallacy known as a false dilemma, but never mind that.

Anyway, Shatner considers himself an American patriot and arouses the benighted town with speeches in which he argues that blacks (he used the N word) can't go to school with our white girls -- law or no law -- because pretty soon they'll be sleeping with them. This whole business of integration is part of a communist conspiracy led by Jews.

He succeeds is stirring up the town and it almost leads to the lynching of an innocent young black high school student, saved at the last minute by a beefy salesman played by Leo Gordon, who is usually a villain.

It's a cheap movie but it's not entirely a thoughtless one. It was shot in a small town in Missouri and the locations are reasonably convincing. It was written by SF writer Charles Beaumont, who penned a lot of Twilight Zone episodes, and in fact this somewhat resembles The Twilight Zone except for the absence of any supernatural element. It's pretty hard hitting and carries a typical Twilight Zone moral message.

I applaud the ambiguity of the central character, William Shatner. It's only gradually we realize how thoroughly rotten he is, and how gutless. At the same time, this isn't a very sophisticated movie. Corman has gathered together a group of racist townsmen who really LOOK like they're just off the ridges -- toothless, bearded, wizened, rheumy eyed stereotypes. The African-Americans are all good, polite and suffering. Nobody shows any irritation, not even in receptive company.

And the movie completely collapses at the end. Leo Gorden, the traveling salesman, has issues with Shatner. (Shatner seduced his horny wife.) But Gordon has never shown any sign of social engagement. He has no reason to care one way or another about the fate of some anonymous black high schooler he's never heard of. Yet he intervenes at the end, saves the kid, and humiliates Shatner in front of the mob and the town's leaders. Shatner is reduced to the predictable, running around hysterically shouting "Wait! Wait! Listen to me! I can explain!" -- that sort of thing, which you or I could write as well as Beaumont. It's redeemed somewhat because it doesn't end with Shatner's dashing around. It ends on a downbeat, with the not-entirely-unsympathetic Leo Gorden giving the chastened Shatner enough money to leave town quietly.

But -- that disillusioned mob, slouching away from Shatner, ashamed of themselves, leaving him a lone and despairing figure. I think if I see another scene like that, even in "To Kill A Mockingbird" or "A Face In The Crowd", I'll -- well, I'll just hold my breath to death.

This is an amazing film--and what's even more amazing is that it isn't seen as a classic today, as it's one of the best films on race Hollywood has ever made. Unlike many of the more recent films on racism, what I loved about THE INTRUDER is that it is not sanitized in the least--with intense language and horrible mob behavior that make this film terrific.

The film is a lot like combining ELMER GANTRY with a film about racism. William Shatner is the Gantry-like man who comes to town with the express purpose of stirring up the hatred of the White masses towards the Blacks--coinciding with a court order to desegregate the schools. Why he is doing this is never explained, but you know that Shatner is a man with no scruples whatsoever and he seems to enjoy sowing evil and dissension. As for the town, they respond pretty much like you'd expect. A lynch-mob mentality develops and the crowd is looking ugly. At this point, the film comes to an emotional boil--leading to a wonderful climactic finale.

So why did I like the film so much? Well, one reason is that it proved that given a strong and competent director (Roger Corman), Shatner is a good actor and his bigger than life style works well. Mr. Shatner without such strong guidance is a bad thing indeed, as evidenced by films such as IMPULSE (directed by schlock film director William Grefe). Second, Corman really was not afraid to shock the viewer and did not pull any punches. Unlike many other films about race, this one repeatedly used "bad language" (i.e., I must call it this because IMDb does not allow such words on their site--even if it includes mentioning the title of a movie with one of these "bad words" in it). Because of this, it exposed racism for the ugly beast that it is---warts and all. All too often, films take a sanitized view of racism, but in THE INTRUDER it's as ugly and vicious as you can find. I appreciate this because racism is ugly and vicious...duh. Finally, because it is a Corman production from his ultra-low budget era, it was made with minimal expense using exceptional character actors. Because of this, it's like a textbook example of great film making for less money--with a wonderful script, acting and direction.

Sadly, when this movie came out, it was one of the only Corman films that lost money. Well, you can't blame anyone for this--it was simply too far ahead of its time and the country was not yet ready for it. It's a shame, as apparently Mr. Corman blamed Shatner for the failure of the film--it was no one's fault. Because of this, it needs to be seen and appreciated as a great allegorical film that was unjustly ignored.

Also, in an odd observation, I noticed that Roger Corman was listed as 'Rodger Corman' in the credits. This possibly makes this the only film in which the director's name is misspelled. And, if this review piques your curiosity, the film is in the public domain and can be downloaded and watched for free at sites such as archive.org or other public domain sites.

William Shatner's mannered acting style has often been mocked but here it fits perfectly for the role of Adam Cramer, a young white-suited racist who comes to a small southern town with plans to disrupt the legally ordained process of integration.

This film could just as well have been named 'The Rabble Rouser'. The word intruder could be interpreted as implying that the protagonist is someone from the outside who is different than the ones he intrudes upon. However, most of the white population of Caxton seem to need little encouragement when it comes to racism. Indeed, it is the hotel desk lady, not Cramer, who is the first to utter the 'n word' in this film. The tone of the movie is struck already there at check-in.

Cramer wastes no time in getting to work on his brief (is he really sent there by the 'Patrick Henry Society', as he claims, or is he a maverick working on his own agenda, the film never answers that question) by getting the town's most influential man onto his side and from this man's white-pillared porch he is soon delivering a fiery speech to a large gathering who are not slow to cheer and show their support. (I couldn't help but wonder how many of the crowd of local extras did actually share the racist views they were supposedly only pretending to support. Reminding me of Dennis Hopper's memories of shooting the diner scene in Easy Rider where actual local rednecks needed no lines fed to them but were able to deliver their own bigotted remarks about the hippy yankees!)

Getting back to the speech. Well, Shatner delivers. He captures the rhetoric, the physical gesturing and facial expressions, and is not afraid to go with his own voice quivering and breaking, as the voice naturally will if forced to scream over a sustained length of time.

(If someone is to deliver a long speech or lecture it naturally makes more sense to speak more quietly, in a gentler, more moderate tone, with occasional modulations for emphasis or dramatic effect. Demagogues, however, tend to favour the super-intense approach, sensing, no doubt, that a placid delivery might give too much opportunity for listeners to think for themselves and perhaps question the veracity or beneficence of the ideas being propounded.)

Several reviewers have written that the wife of seemingly simple-minded Sam the Salesman is more or less raped by Cramer. I sometimes marvel at the different ways of seeing that viewers can have of the same film; still, people do see differently cut versions of movies, even ones with alternately shot scenes, so it maybe isn't so surprising. Add to this the fact that people sometimes write about things they may have seen a long time ago - the memory is notoriously misleading. Be that as it may, in the scene that I saw, as recently as an hour ago, Vi allows the brazenly predatory Cramer into her room with little reluctance and it is she who runs her fingertips over his chest, puts her arms round his neck and gives herself to him in clearly mutual passion.

As for the social commentary, this is very much a white film. Yes, it does take on some issues, but the black students, though presented as upright and dignified, are not given all that much screen time. There is an early scene in the black neighbourhood, where a family is shown interacting, and we are led to believe that this line will be developed, and run parallel with the white action but this does not happen. Instead, the black people are only presented in relation to the white people around them - walking to school, their paths being intentionally crossed by whites in order to remind them who takes precedence; a family in a car surrounded by an aggressive mob of whites; the instances where they are supported or defended by more decent citizens, again whites.

This of course was the state of things in the south at the time of this film and one has to agree that Cormon was brave to depart from his usual schlock in order to make it. Part of Cramer's speech hinges on his warning that the south, if it didn't fight back, would one day be like the north, with black people in positions of authority. It gives optimism therefore that, despite the many problems still to solve, there are today in the south: black policemen, black judges and lawyers and black doctors and surgeons.

Adam Cramer (William Shatner) is a young man who arrives in the small Southern town of Caxton, wearing a white suit and a big smile. He claims to be a social worker, but is really a member of a very racist organization dubbed The Patrick Henry Society, which has made it its mission to fight the desegregation of schools. As we can see, Adam is a *beep* disturber par excellence, but there are a select few in town who eventually see through him, and realize that he's not capable of controlling a mob.

Shatner does very well in this potent drama from producer / director Roger Corman, Cormans' brother Gene (who executive produced), and author / screenwriter Charles Beaumont. Beaumont was a prominent talent used by both A.I.P. studios and the 'Twilight Zone' TV series, and here he does a fine job of showing the hatred and ignorance of man. "The Intruder" is stark and effectively dramatic, with solid acting all around. Shatner is charismatic and convincing; ultimately we can see how at heart he's really a pathetic coward who will resort to desperate measures if he thinks that he's not getting his way.

The supporting cast is noteworthy for including a couple of screenwriters. Beaumont also appears on screen as Mr. Paton, and George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan (who co- wrote "Logan's Run") and Leo Gordon ("Attack of the Giant Leeches", "The Wasp Woman") play area locals. Particularly good are Robert Emhardt as local bigwig Verne Shipman, Frank Maxwell as newspaperman Tom McDaniel, Charles Barnes as brave teenager Joey Greene, Mr. Gordon as salesman Sam Griffin, and Jeanne Cooper as Sams' wife Vi. Herman Stein composes the music, and Taylor Byars does the excellent cinematography.

This was a rare attempt by Corman to create a Message Movie, and it's also one of the rare instances of one of his movies not being financially successful. It was reissued under other titles in the attempt to turn a profit. It's definitely deserving of another look.

Eight out of 10.

This film that also known under its US reissue titles as 'I Hate Your Guts!', 'Shame', or 'The Stranger' in the UK release; is often, overlooked by main stream critics, due to the film's harsh portrayal of racism and segregation. Directed by fame B-movie Director Roger Corman & based off, Charles Beaumont's 1959 novel with the same name. The movie tells the story of a racist named Adam Cramer (William Shatner), who arrives in the fictitious small southern town of Caxton in order to incite townspeople to racial violence against the town's black minority and court-ordered school integration. Will Cramer have success in this small town or will the town folks rise above hate? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, the story is unusually mature and complex for its time, contrasting with the often patronizing approaches of other films of the 1950s and 1960s to the subject of race. Other films at the time, are just too polite and restrained, as if they were really afraid to anger people. This one is above all bold. The film language is ugly and vicious. It's not afraid to use the N-word, more than once. I like, how it's not frightened, to show, how mean-spirited, people can be. It even mention rape. You don't see, that, in many early 1960s film. There were tons of intense scenes in this film that could have play anyway. It was no way, predictable. The pacing of the film is very straightforward. However, the sub-plots with Adam Cramer & Sam Griffin (Leo Gordon) weren't really needed. Tom McDaniel (Frank Maxwell) could easily, replace him. Don't get me wrong, Sam Griffin is a great character, and Leo Gordon plays him, well. Still, his scenes have little to do with the main plot. Tom McDaniel is a more-well-rounded character that has much to do with the story. Both men play men of deep intelligence and a way with words. They are immensely identifiable in their respective roles. It just that Frank Maxwell did a better performance. I can really see, his views on race, change, throughout the film. Not to have him, confront Adam in the end is somewhat of a disappointment. Still, I like how the film ends. It shows, that the only mature way, to stop mindless violence & hate is through rational thought. If they were somethings, worth nitpicking about; it has to be, the fact that the movie doesn't give us, much characterization, besides the small amount of white people that are not stereotype one-dimensional racists. I would love the movie to show, how blacks could easily be, just as racist as those of the Southern whites. The story reeks of some simplistic clichés. I just glad, there wasn't many of those. Unlike some critics may say, there are truly, characters with shades of gray personalities. While, this movie is shown in black and white, their world is not. I do like the black and white cinematography, regardless. It has that grim German Expressionism and Italian neorealism feel to the film. When Adam Cramer is doing his speech in front of City Hall; it reminds me, so much of Adolf Hitler and his rowdy polemic speeches, from WW2 documentaries. William Shatner did a great job, playing the young white supremacist leader. The way, he moves his hands to make gestures, the over-stressing of certain words, and his use of facial emotions, all makes Shatner's performance so superb. While, it might look a bit over-the-top. This was pretty good for an actor known infamous mostly for his choppy delivery. I don't why, producer Roger Corman allegedly blamed star, William Shatner's performance for the box-office failure of the movie, and the breaking of Corman's perfect track record of successes; because I thought he did, pretty good. Anybody that makes fun of Shatner's acting ability should see this film. It shows that he can do, so much more. The rest of the supporting cast were alright for the most part. They were hardly any mediocre acting in this film. The background music appropriately hints at tension and danger. It really sounds like something really bad is, going to happen, any minute, throughout the film. Well, I guess, something did awful did happen, during filming. The film crew got thrown out, of several towns in Missouri by the chief of police, for allegedly being "leftist communists". This leaded to many reshoots. Regardless, the film was beautiful shot and all the locations used, so well. Overall: This racial segregation film from the Pope of Pop Cinema was jaw breaking thought provoking. Raw, and somewhat hard to watch at times, this movie represents the dark side of America. In my opinion, it must be preserved and viewed for future generations to come, so that we may never forget, that racism is immoral.

****SPOILERS*** With the racial atmosphere of Caxton reaching a fever pitch in it's schools ordered by the Federal Government to be immediately desegregated in pops out of state social worker Adam Cramer, William Straton,claiming to have the best interest in the matter of race relations. But as it turns out the smooth talking and peace loving Cramer is really trying to undermine the process in the most sinister of ways. Cramer quickly starts to work on the whites, who are violently against segregation, in town to organize and start making trouble not only against the black population in Caxton but the town's newspaper's white editor Tom McDaniel, Frank Maxwell, who despite being against segregation goes along with it saying that it's the law and the law is the law.

Cramer for his part rallies the people in a number of fiery speeches as well as a fiery cross burning incident that the once quite little town of Coxton is now about to explode as soon as the first black student, escorted by Tom McDaniel, enters the towns all white high school! Meanwhile besides inciting racial violence Cramer takes time to force himself on his good friend traveling salesman Sam Griffin's , Leo Gordon, wife Vi, Jeanne Cooper, while he's away out of town on business. This reveals what a both racist as well as despicable character that Cramer really is.

It' later when a mob beats and almost kills Tom McDaniell for siding with the blacks in town that Cramer pulls out his ace in the hole by getting McDaniel's teenage daughter Ella, Beverly Lunsford, to go along with his plan. That in Ella claiming that the first black student to desegregate the school Joey Green, Charles Barns, attempted to rape her in the school's storage room while they were alone handling a new shipment of school books.

****SPOILERS*** With the news of Green's attempted rape of Beverly a mob is organized by outraged town bigwig Verne "Slapsly" Shipman, Robert Emhardt, to drag Green out of the town jail and lynch him before he's tried or even indited! With everything about to blow sky high it's Big Sam Griffin who's back in town who defuses the madness by exposing Cramer, who's leading the lynch or necktie party, for the exploitive lowlife that he really is. With the truth now out in Cramer using Ella to lie about being raped by Green and what he in fact did to his wife, by forcing himself on her against her will, Griffin had the entire town including "Slapsly" Shipman see Cramer for what he really is. And as it turned out Cramer couldn't leave the town of Coxton fast enough before he himself ended up getting lynched by the very lynch mob that he organized!