The Intruder (1962)

There's a lot going for this film about prejudice. First of all, it begins with the status quo approach. The director has William Shatner enter a town, presumably as a protagonist, though he quickly changes into an antagonist. This may be copied from "Women of Dolwyn", where Richard Burton enters the same way, except his character was nowhere near as vile as the one Shatner portrays. There is a unique twist of casting. We expect Shatner to be the open minded one and Leo Gordon to be the closed mind of prejudice, but we get the reversal here. And that is the real charm of this film. I'm not sure people will get that charm a hundred years from now. However, I think they will get that feeling, because I think the director purposely chose Shatner and Gordon for their "presences" so to speak, to throw the audience off guard.

As uncomfortable as it is, I think it's a good movie. 'The Intruder' is basically your standard story of how dangerous mob mentality can be, especially when coupled with ready-made white supremacy. It is a bit white saviour-y, though I did like how Charles Barnes' Joey had his own moment in the face of adversity. I enjoyed (from an acting viewpoint, of course) the performances onscreen of Frank Maxwell and Leo Gordon, Robert Emhardt plays a bad guy well too. The most eye-catching member of the cast is obviously William Shatner, in one of his earliest film roles. He puts in a positive showing, the character is certainly, erm, interesting and I'll remember him.