The Intruder (Shame)

 (1962)
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Charles Beaumont
Starring William Shatner, Frank Maxwell, Jeanne Cooper, Robert Emhardt, Leo Gordon
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Roger Corman is recognized as one of the kings of schlock horror of the 50s and 60s. But he occasionally got away from directing it to try something a bit more serious. The Intruder (also known as Shame) was a surprisingly strong dramatic film about a serious issue.

Adam Cramer (William Shatner) arrives in the southern town of Caxton, clearly with something on his mind more than visiting. Desegregation is now the law of the land, and most of the residents aren't happy about it, but are willing to go along with the war. Cramer is charming, and starts to go about changing everyone's mind. People start to get violent against the Blacks in the community and with people like Tom McDaniel, the local newspaper editor, who tried to help out. Vern Shipman (Robert Emhardt), one of the town's wealthiest men, support Cramer, even as the hatred becomes more violent. Cramer seduces the wife of a neighbor, Sam Griffin (Leo Gordon); he confronts Cramer and threatens him with Cramer's own gun, showing the man to be all talk but cowardly underneath. Still, things get even more tense when a high school girl, under Cramer's urging, falsely charges a Black student with attempted rape.

The movie is uncomfortable to watch, since it doesn't shy away from using racist terms and ugly mob scenes and violence. But it is a strong condemnation of racism in the darkest terms.

Shatner is excellent. He hadn't developed the mannerisms that are now his trademark and his Cramer is charming on the surface but ruthless in trying to achieve his goal of spreading hate. Robert Emhardt also does a good job and showing his character's racism, but in such a way that once he learns the truth, he is willing to admit he took it too far.

In the cast were several writers. Charles Beaumont, who wrote the script and the novel it was based on, has a small role. He, George Clayton Johnson, and William F. Nolan* were writers for The Twilight Zone; these are their only screen appearances.

This was clearly meant to be a strong stand against racism, but wasn't a big hit a

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* Nolan was a friend of Ray Bradbury and co-author (with Johnson) of Logan's Run. One of my favorite short story collections was one of his, with the charming "One Love Have I," one of the most romantic SF stories every written.