7/10

Shoutout to @classicreviews for the recommendation

My first Corman film. Roger Corman is usually known for making b-horror and b-action films, so a sociopolitical drama like The Intruder is atypical of his style. William Shatner is notorious for his hammy overacting in Star Trek, but thankfully, he gives an amazing performance in this. He's so good at portraying a deceitful scumbag. It's haunting how much Adam Cramer fits the archetype of a modern day right-wing grifter.

I really, really wanted to give this a 8 or 9, but there were some majors flaws with this movie. First, this is a movie about white intolerance towards desegregation, yet the black characters play supporting roles in a story about their oppression. The movie focuses a little bit too much on the white characters. We only get a black perspective in this movie during it's third act. Second, the classical score in this is trash.

Corman's best film, Shatner's best performance, based on an equally fine novel by Charles Beaumont and made during the height of the civil rights movement in Missouri.

What The Intruder has besides authenticism and sudden realistic violence that erupts out of nowhere is a remarkable lack of sappy emotionalism and sentimentality. Beaumont's stark, objective realism stands in vivid contrast to Harper Lee's flowery, self-righteous attempts to seemingly extricate her white guilt.

Absolutely sensational forgotten masterpiece that is superior to To Kill a Mockingbird in every way imaginable.

This needs a restoration immediately.

Trigger warning: Violent Acts Of Racism

This is definitely one of the best and most realistic views of racism of all time. I don't have much to say besides go watch it Here

Watched with Something Someone His review that is 50 times better than mine

Corman ranked

Excellent thriller starring pre-Kirk William Shatner as a diabolical bullshit artist stirring up racial violence in the deep south. It appears things haven't really changed all that much. This is probably Roger Corman's best picture.

Film #25 of What Should I Watch?

Recommended by James

Imagine if American History X came out a couple of weeks after the Rodney King beating. That's how relevant The Intruder's social/racial commentary is for its time. Its a powerful and brutal film about racial integration that star William Shatner as a racial agitator who comes to a small southern town to inspire hatred and cause trouble. Shatner gives a performances unlike any I've seen from him; he's charming, menacing, and despicable all at the same time. This was my first Roger Corman film and I have to say I was very impressed with his directing. I can't wait to see more of his filmography.

Forget James T. Kirk. William Shatner's crowning glory is Adam Cramer, a racist agitator who rides into a Deep South town during the days of racial integration and proceeds to stir up tensions within a white community who, at best, only grudgingly accepts such a concept.

Surprisingly, this uncompromising and hard-hitting issue drama was produced and directed by Roger Corman, the low-budget movie mogul more readily associated with horror and exploitation. His approach to the material has a lot of straightforward impact and it's frankly a shame that he never made another film like it. Shatner is also truly chilling as the charismatic firebrand who maliciously whips up discord and violence.

While the superficial details of American racial politics have metamorphosed since then, the same old prejudices still exist - as we have seen all too clearly of late. In that sense, The Intruder remains upsettingly relevant.

A good word to define Corman would be “timely”, I would’ve never thought “timeless” and yet here we are.

I'm not one for trigger warnings in general, but boy, I did not expect this movie. It's got its flaws (like what was the real motivation for Shatner's character? I get he was there to stir things up, but genuinely seemed surprised when he couldn't control the crowd any more, which confused me), but it's still pretty relevant and interesting. The story behind the making is quite interesting as well.

Fuck, this is cutting a bit close to the bone right now

Watched for a Roger Corman master class. Strong civil rights film wrapped in a pulpy melodrama. Shatner’s a traveling anti-de-segregation instigator who rolls into a small Southern town to work up the townspeople and sexually menace all the women he comes in contact with. Unlikely hero is the local newspaperman, disgusted by the way his neighbors easy turn into a lynch mob with only the slightest push. The cars and the language are dated, everything else is still pretty relevant.

Une fable extraordinaire sur le racisme et la ségrégation. Avec ce personnage profondément stupide mais suffisamment malin pour enrager la foule, Corman construit un film simple mais incroyablement efficace. Les personnages font toute la force du film alors qu'ils sont pour la plupart réduit au plus petit développement mais cela renforce la force évocatrice de ce conte. Le personnage de Shatner n'aurait d'ailleurs pas dépareillé dans un film des Coen, dans son intelligence pour les personnages alors qu'il est un idiot pour les spectateurs.

A good word to define Corman would be “timely”, I would’ve never thought “timeless” and yet here we are.

pretty bleak to watch a film about racism from over half a century ago and realise the only difference between then and now is parler accounts and bad tattoos

Electric.

William Shatner is frighteningly good as a rabble-rouser looking to make a name for himself by traveling to a small southern town immediately prior to their first day of government-mandated racially integrated schooling. He successfully convinces the citizens of this town that - law or not - they don't have to stand for this outrage, advising them to scare the bejesus out of the local blacks so that they will be afraid to step foot inside their schools. Directed by Roger Corman in 1962, a year prior to the March on Washington, THE INTRUDER proved too controversial for American audiences, earning the distinction of being the only film Corman directed that did not make a profit theatrically. Note that this is not exploitative or schlocky Corman with a subtle social message, this is a deadly serious look at the horrific power of racial hatred in the hands of a scheming demagogue.

Been wanting to see this for years, finally got to it tonight as part of a Roger Corman class through my local Portland movie palace, the Hollywood Theater. Very ahead of its time, even as it rings depressingly true today. Watch it, and when Shatner says "Whose law?", tell me your skin doesn't crawl a bit as he evokes a certain someone. This film bombed, and Corman never did anything like it again. Amazing work.

An unflinchingly presented view of the contemporary resistance to civil rights in the south, this film marches forward in the warpath of its slimy protagonist. Shatner coerces with his charm and machinations, but plays his cards so close you follow him to see if he ever has a change of heart. Maxwell gives an excellent performance and the many extras populate a convincing conflicted small town. The film is not without its problems, but is remarkable for the era and well worth watching now.