Well, I don't call it a Wild or Weird Wednesday for no reason at all, because the reason is movies like tonight's feature! It's called "The Intruder," a title that has been used more than once in the movies!
The alternate title is the charming "I Hate Your Guts!"
The alternate title is the charming "I Hate Your Guts!"
"The Intruder" is a statement about racism in the 1960's!
It was made in 1962 and features William (Captain Kirk) Shatner in the lead role as Adam Cramer, a bigoted rabble-rousing outsider racist hate merchant!
"The Intruder" is totally the work of Roger Corman with the help of his brother Gene! Roger Corman is one of the biggest Dungeon heroes for obvious reasons, and he didn't have to make a movie like this, he must have just wanted to!
If being a bigot isn't bad enough, Adam Cramer also likes underage girls!
These kids just want to go to school! (I find it pretty shocking that I can not find any credits for any of the black actors! Maybe things haven't changed as much as we would like to think!)
This shot and this scene just scream "Mein Kampf!"
This body language reminds me of a prominent politician today!
This reminds me of a Dictator 70 years ago!
These people just really want to be left alone!
To further his character as a scumbag, Adam Cramer puts the make on his neighbor's wife while her husband is out of town! Everybody loves The Shat, and rightfully so, but man, that dude had a way of being vile and diabolically disdainful when the role called for it!
Quite the juxtaposition between the 'Cut Rate' sign and the burning cross!
Adam Cramer finally gets thrown in jail for inciting a riot, but is soon released without charge because of all the local townspeople and their support!
Leo (Attack Of The Giant Leeches) Gordon is Sam Griffin, the guy's wife that Adam Cramer just screwed! Sam's the real hero of the movie! Leo had 194 acting credits from 1952 to 1994! You might have seen him once or twice!
Sam temporarily turns Adam into the little girl that he really is!
Frank Maxwell is another one of those guys who made a career out of being a Sheriff, a Detective, a Colonel, a Sergeant, a Doctor, a General, or a Chief! He was in the "Twilight Zone" episode "A World Of Difference" and in the "Outer Limits" episode "The Man With The Power!"
Frank was the town journalist! He walked the black kids to school so the white folks stomped the crap out of him, and totally destroyed one of his eyes, and the bad part is that it was all done it broad daylight in the middle of town by his neighbors!
"The Intruder" is set in a fictional town in Texas, but was actually shot in the towns of Charleston, East Prairie, and Sikeston Missouri! The film crew had to pack up and get out when the locals didn't like what the movie was about, when they found out the truth!
Racist mobs aren't really much more than zombies! This looks like it could have been a scene right out of "The Walking Dead!"
Not soon enough, Adam Cramer eventually gets his just rewards and eats it! He would later go into rehab, and eventually become the Captain of the Starship Enterprise!
"The Intruder" is a disgusting, disturbing, and difficult movie to watch! The language will grate on your nerves after a while, and the racist protest signs are foul to look at, but Roger Corman was brave to make it, and it should be seen by everyone at least once, and that's easy enough to do, because you can watch or download it for free from the Internet Archive right about HERE!!
Yeah, too bad Leo Gordon didn't go out and take care of those GD locals himself!!
ReplyDeleteDon Siegel, director of the original INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, said that Leo Gordon was the scariest person he had ever met! Leo had quite a background...
By far Roger Corman's best film, and William Shatner's finest acting, IMHO!
ReplyDeleteSo many terrific moments and great performances in this film. The late writer Charles Beaumont not only wrote the novel this was based on and the screenplay for the film as well, he and a couple of his fellow genre writer friends (William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson) played parts in THE INTRUDER! And of course the actors Leo Gordon, Robert Emhardt, and soap star Jeanne Cooper are all terrific!
Anyone who thinks that Roger Corman is just a lowly "schlockmeister" b-movie filmmaker, needs to watch THE INTRUDER!
This may not be a "horror" film, but the character played by Shatner is a more horrible monster than you'll ever find in any creature feature!
Thanks for this excellent and much appreciated blog entry!
Thanx KD! Your humble opinion is spot on! And thanx for filling in the informational bits I was too lazy to do about the writers all being in the movie too! I meant to include that info but was just too overwhelmed by the movie to go any further! And also what you said about Roger Corman is so true too! The man has balls, and "The Intruder" proves it, and as you said, this is a movie about a real monster, and I think it should be mandatory watching in our school system!
ReplyDeleteI lifted this off of IMDB (see below).... I have not seen the film, what do you think was "off" about Shatner's performance that upset Roger Corman so, in your opinion? Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteIMDB Trivia: "Producer/Director 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. Shatner jokingly suggested years later that the re-release title "I Hate Your Guts!" was probably aimed at him."
Shatner has always shown some great skill as an actor, but this one and INCUBUS are really great examples of how he wasn't above playing in unusual and interesting films.
ReplyDeleteLawson, they're both still alive, but I doubt either one wants to talk about it! In my humble opinion, this movie never had a chance at box office success, so for Roger to blame it on The Shat's performance, sounds like a lot of sour grapes to me. William Shatner can be really extra creepy when it gets sweaty! For sure, you should go to the Internet Archive and either watch or download it for yourself, and let me know what your opinion is!
ReplyDeleteLawson:
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say why Corman would feel that way, considering that he and Shatner did an appearance maybe a decade ago, together on stage, after a screening of the film. They reminisced and did a Q & A as I recall. It's on the tail end of one of the better DVDs as an extra, as I recall it's poorly recorded, and it's listed on both the New Horizons and the Buena Vista DVD.
Thanks, gents, time for me to check this out, appreciate the insight and feedback!!
ReplyDelete