The Intruder (1962)

A man in a gleaming white suit comes to a small Southern town on the eve of integration. He calls himself a social reformer. But what he does is stir up trouble--trouble he soon finds he can't control.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Charles Beaumont (screenplay), Charles Beaumont (novel)

Stars:

William Shatner, Frank Maxwell, Beverly Lunsford

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Shatner	...	Adam Cramer
Frank Maxwell	...	Tom McDaniel
Beverly Lunsford	...	Ella McDaniel
Robert Emhardt	...	Verne Shipman
Leo Gordon	...	Sam Griffin
Charles Barnes	...	Joey Greene
Charles Beaumont	...	Mr. Paton
Katherine Smith	...	Ruth McDaniel
George Clayton Johnson	...	Phil West
William F. Nolan	...	Bart Carey (as William Nolan)
Phoebe Rowe	...	Mrs. Lambert
Bo Dodd	...	Sheriff
Walter Kurtz	...	Gramps
Oceo Ritch	...	Jack Allardyce (as O.C. Ritch)
Jeanne Cooper	...	Vi Griffin

Storyline

A man in a gleaming white suit comes to a small Southern town on the eve of integration. His name is Adam Cramer. He calls himself a social reformer. But his aim is to incite the people against letting black children into the town's white school. Soon he has the white citizens of the town worked up. He thinks he's leading them; but a man he befriends and immediately betrays knows better. The people have become a mob. The black leader of a church and a white newspaper editor soon feel its wrath. But after a false accusation against a black student, Adam Cramer may find the people are totally and permanently out of his control.

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Plot Keywords:

church bombing | lynch mob | burning cross | kkk hoodie | racial integration | 

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Taglines:

He Fed Their Fears And Turned Neighbor Against Neighbor!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

After William Shatner performed Cramer's big racist speech on the courthouse steps, a local newspaperman told him that a tree in the courthouse yard had been used for lynchings.

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Goofs

The swing sets in the final scene change in the number and height of the swings. On 29 July 2015 at the Traverse City Film Festival, Roger Corman explained that they'd been run out of two different towns by law enforcement trying to get that scene done, so it was filmed at three different schools.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Adam Cramer: [to the little girl he helps out of the bus] There you go... Ma'am.
Little Girl's Mother: Thank you... What do you say to the nice gentleman?

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Connections

Featured in The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (1999)

User Reviews

Ageless, Yet Cannot Find It's Time !!

William Shatner is very good in this film portraying a charismatic white supremacist who drifts into a small southern town to preach hate at the time the local high school is beginning to be integrated.

Extremely bold and brutally honest portrayal of race relations in the South in the early 60's when the film was made. By viewing it I can see it must have been way too inflammatory for its time. Yet, some parts of this flim made me kind of tense/uncomfortable. Therefore, I don't see it getting wide acceptance in today's politically correct world either.

Despite this, the film's theme and moral messages are ageless. The script is so intelligently written coupled with Shatner's convincing performance, I was not given impression that this is considered a "B" movie. OK, well maybe there are a few scenes that may indicate that but they are outnumbered by the compelling drama throughout the film. The final 5 to 10 minutes are particularly tense which may actually be hard to watch.

A commendable effort, I had no regrets in plucking down a few bucks to buy this flick.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1963 (Norway)

Also Known As:

I Hate Your Guts!

Filming Locations:

Charleston, Missouri, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roger Corman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1