THE INTRUDER is best known today as one of the few Roger Corman films to have lost money. Because of that fact and its subject material, racial hatred in the newly desegregated South, it has rarely been seen. This film was shot in 1961 when there was no Civil Rights Act and the film version of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD was still over a year off. It was bold and uncomprimising then and is still uncomfortable to watch today. It also contains William Shatner’s most remarkable cinematic performance. This is several years before STAR TREK made him nationally known and effectively killed his movie career. Adam Cramer is one of the most despicable characters ever caught on film and Shatner gets to pull out all the stops (in a good way) in order to bring him to life.
Most of the cast are made up of local townspeople playing local townspeople with a verisimilitude that can’t be faked. Corman regulars Frank Maxwell and Leo Gordon bring their own degree of intensity to their roles as local crusader and unfortunate victim. Present day Roger Corman and William Shatner are featured in a short featurette on how THE INTRUDER was made on a typically tight Corman budget and shooting schedule and how they were exposed to real danger once the locals found out what they were really up to. The story, in brief, concerns an out of town racist who comes to a recently desegregated community and stirs up hatred and violence before being exposed for what he really is but not before tragedy strikes.
The most amazing thing to me about this DVD release is not the pristine picture and sound quality for a relatively obscure film nor is it the bonus features like the interviews I mentioned earlier. It’s the fact that this is being issued by Buena Vista, Disney’s long time distribution company. This film is as about as far removed from a Disney product as it can possibly be. There even is a hint of several more Roger Corman films to be released but so far nothing. Well, whatever their reasons, Buena Vista/Disney is to be congratulated for finally making this available for a mass audience to see as it is maverick filmmaking at its best. If you’ve never seen THE INTRUDER then you should. It’s now readily available to rent and because of that fact, it has finally turned a profit 50 years later.
The Capsule Critic 