Roger Corman's favorite Roger Corman movie -- and I thought it was good, too!

Roger Corman's favorite Roger Corman movie -- and I thought it was good, too!

Mesmerizing and genuinely provocative, with ice-cool cinematography and an out-of-the-park performance from Shatner. Squarely in the "so good it's good" camp of Corman films, maybe even neck-and-neck with his Poe work as his masterpieces go.

Roger Corman directs this early 60s film concerning a young man frfom Washington played by Shatner(superbly) coming on a small town and playing his part getting the town rallied up over the new law passed, Black civilians now able to attend the local highschool. here he integrates himself withion the town making friendships and enemies with his ways, this film has a lot to say, and looking at it now in association with Corman it wants you to dig deep in his work, and indeed Pre Star Trek Shatner. we all know how the problem in the south was and turned out, and the hatred that survived, and this early 60s efort certainly is saying something.

Those who sneer at the name of Roger Corman as a purveyor of lowly exploitation thrills would do well to take a look at the film of which he claims to be most proud, and rightly so. The Intruder stars William Shatner as a self-described social reformer who arrives in the American South on the eve of integration to decry the mingling of different races. With striking monochrome photography capturing the burning crosses and ominous hoods of the Ku Klux Klan, it’s a film that portrays in no uncertain terms the lingering bigotry in American society, showing in its comparisons of Shatner’s character to Hitler an unrestrained view of the reality of segregation. A difficult work that builds towards a denouement of staggering truth, The Intruder may well be the single most important film from one of American cinema’s most undervalued social commentators. Unfortunately, it’s also noteworthy as the only one of Corman’s 400+ productions to make a financial loss.

You can see why this Roger Corman movie didn’t make much money, as it’s a rather unsubtle attack on anti-integration groups, but it’s a pretty enthralling film in which Bill Shatner arrives in a southern town to stir up the populace’s racial biases. Though heavy handed, it’s consistently interesting and well-paced, gradually revealing Shatner’s evil nature and setting up his comeuppance.