I Watch Films: The Intruder (1962)

 

The Intruder

Adam Cramer (William Shatner) arrives in a Southern US town that has had it’s high school desegregated. With his white suit and stirring talk he mobilises the locals to try and stop ten black students from attending.

His talks and gatherings skirt the boundaries of the law, though the sheriff isn’t interested in stopping them. The local newspaper editor asks some questions and Cramer briefly explains that the judge is a member of the Quill and Pen society, and so associated with jews and communists who want to mongrelise the country to destroy it. The newspaper editor makes up his mind; segregation is bad! Cramer is bad.

Inevitably, as Cramer advocates for everything the law allows and pushes harder, some people go further, firebombing a black church and killing the preacher. Cramer is also a lecher, seducing the wife of the travelling salesman in the next room, also the high school student daughter of the newspaper editor. As violence and Cramer’s lies spiral out of control he attempts to find a scapegoat, leading to a harrowing final scene where a mob threatens a lynching.

The film was a rare flop for Roger Corman, and he decided against making “issue” films in the future, concentrating on entertainment first and any theme or message second.

Watch This: A powerful look into segregation and racism
Don’t Watch This: It displays explicit racial prejudice and language, and though there are black characters, concentrates on the reaction and attitude of the white people