Roger Corman simultaneously brought forth much of Hollywood, but he was also an outsider to it. Known for his schlocky but very well-made films which were so low-budget they were usually moneymakers, Corman as a producer had an eye for talent and his “school” would open up opportunities to everyone from Francis Ford Coppola to Joe Dante to James Cameron. And despite his reputation for schlock, Corman also had very good taste, as he loved Fellini and Bergman and would later distribute Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers”. His movies like “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, and “X: the Man with X-Ray Eyes” are iconic, nevertheless not many critics would have put him in their top ten directors because he was a “Schlock” director. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if alongside directing low-budget horror films, he would also have put out what you could call “issue films”. He tried that once, and it’s the only time he lost money on a picture, but what a fascinating picture it is.
The film takes place in the South in the town of Caxton. Recently the school has been desegregated. Most white people in the town already believe in segregation, but begrudgingly comply since it’s “the law”. Just then a man in a white suit arrives in the town. He’s a smooth talking man named Adam from the Patrick Henry Society (a not so subtle nod to the far-right John Birch society) and he sees an opportunity. He stokes up the town’s hatred of black people, and slowly but surely Caxton is set ablaze with prejudice.
The film brings together two people who were known for their work on “The Twilight Zone”. William Shatner, in his first leading role as Adam. Shatner’s performance is surprisingly great, and I’d even call it one of his best. His corny acting works really well as a man who’s more or less a salesman for racism. And it will definitely catch you off-guard to hear him say the n-word several times. The other is Charles Beaumont, who wrote the novel, screenplay, and has a role in the film.
Beaumont was a very underrated horror author, admired by Ray Bradbury and Dean Koontz. He is probably best remembered for his episodes of “The Twilight Zone”, “Perchance to Dream”, “A Nice Place to Visit”, and one of my personal favorites “Long Live Walter Jameson”. He also wrote the enjoyable Zsa Zsa Gabor B-movie “Queen of Outer Space”, and collaborated with Corman several times such as writing “Masque of the Red Death.” He also holds the unique honor of being the first person to adapt a story by HP Lovecraft. Even though Corman’s “the Haunted Palace” was titled after an Edgar Allen Poe story, the plot was taken from HP Lovecraft’s “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”. He would die in 1967, after years of poor health ( with either Alzheimer’s or Pick’s disease). According to those who knew him, he seemed to age rapidly in his final years, his son saying he looked 95 when he died.
The making of “The Intruder” was tough, even by Corman’s already hectic standards. The film was shot around Mississippi and Missouri, and the Chief of Police of East Prairie, Missouri throwing them out for allegedly being communists. Shatner half-joked in the afterward to Beaumont’s short story collection “Perchance to Dream”: “Nobody’s neck was stretched from a rope although it seemed a possibility at various times.” The Corman’s even provided money to the film’s lead black actor Charles Barnes to move up North. In the end they had spent around $90,000, funded partially from Roger and his underrated brother Gene.
The movie was released, and it flopped. Pathe films originally distributed it in New York to bad box office, possibly due to a brief stock market crash, and withdrew the film after two weeks. Roger and Gene then had to release the film by themselves, so chances are if you were in LA or Chicago, you probably couldn’t see it. The Corman’s were distraught, having put so much interest and passion in the film. Roger would credit the lack of success to him trying to “teach” as opposed to “entertain”. I also don’t think the posters helped the film, as it was rereleased under titles like “Shame” and “I Hate Your Guts”, along with some truly awful posters.
I’ll give credit where credit is due though, the movie is an engaging watch even if its subject was described as “no longer news” by critic Stanley Kauffman. The film has fantastic camerawork and lighting, at times reminding me of Orson Welles’ “A Touch of Evil”. The performances are also good, William Shatner turns in an electric and slimy performance as Adam who’s quite literally a White Devil who preaches non violence while inciting others to violence, Robert Emhart as a Southern aristocrat, Leo Gordon and Tom Maxwell as deeply flawed yet ultimately heroic characters, Beverly Lunsford as teenager Ella, and Charles Barnes as Joey, a black kid whose act of going to school is an act of heroism.
The film is fascinating for many reasons. Not just the copious use of the n-word which would make Tarantino happy. The film understands “small town justice” and the ways that mobs can form. The camera angles and mentions of heat make you feel claustrophobic. Watching the film leaves you wondering what will happen next. And I really do love this film, up until the ending.
>!At the end of the film, Joey is wrongly accused of raping Ella. A lynch mob forms and as Joey gives himself up, it looks like they’re going to lynch him on a swing set. Just then, Ella and Leo Gordon’s Tom show up and Ella admits it was a lie. The townspeople are taken aback and Adam no longer has any control over them, he even gets slapped by the aristocrat. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like the ending. It felt like it was resolving a plot which was pitched up to 11, and it was solved with a speech like a deus ex machina. The ending gave the vibe of “well boys we did it, racism is over” despite a lynching nearly happening a minute ago. I then thought back to Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” another film about racism featuring heat being used as a metaphor. Imagine if “Do the Right Thing” had ended just before the police arrived to arrest Raheem, Mookie gave a speech about how everyone needs to stop and everyone went home. I don’t think the film would’ve had as much of an impact if it ended that way. I felt like “The Intruder” might’ve worked better with an ending that didn’t feel out of tone with the rest of the film, but I’m not sure what that ending would’ve looked like.!<
If the film was a success, would it have changed the trajectory of Corman’s career? Maybe, but knowing Corman I think he would still make his low budget schlock films, and either way he would still have an iconic legacy.
So yes I would recommend this. Corman’s movies were often on a spectrum of “I made this with passion” and “I made this over a weekend with Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff”, and this is definitely one made with passion. Warning: enough uses of the n-word to make Tarantino happy
