Forget everything you’ve ever known about William Shatner. Forget Star Trek. Forget the Has Been and Rocket Man albums. Forget self-deprecation. Forget Miss Congeniality (which I did years ago and have never looked back!). You have to forget about all of this, because The Intruder comes from a time well before William Shatner boldly went anywhere, and he’s awesome in it. But he’s not awesome in the usual William Shatner way. He’s awesome because he gets the chance to do some great acting in an excellent role.
Despite having a title that suggests a low-budget 50’s (or, for that matter 80’s) sci-fi flick, and a director that could make you a film in 10-days with $26 and a cheese sandwich, The Intruder isn’t that type of film at all. It doesn’t have man-eating plants and it wasn't based off the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. No, The Intruder is about one of the most important issues our country has ever faced, and it was made exactly when and where the problem was most prevalent. It’s about the results of the civil rights movement, and the uneasy early days of integration.
William Shatner plays Adam Cramer, a suave and charismatic white-supremist who waltzes into the Southern town of Caxton, shortly following the legalization of high-school integration, but before the classes have begun. Why he’s chosen this particular town is anyone’s guess, but he comes bearing a message of hate which he plans on spreading throughout an already unsettled bigoted town. It doesn’t take long for his message to resonate with the townsfolk.
 The only two people who seem to recognize that he's a bad seed are Tom McDaniel (Frank Maxwell, The Wild Angels), the Editor of the town’s paper, who seems to be on the fence about integration as a whole, and a traveling pen salesman Sam Griffin (Leo Gordon, The Haunted Palace), who is staying in the same hotel as Adam. Everyone else in the town seems to be made up of gleefully redneck racist assholes, which may seem somewhat over stereotypical, yet it is completely believable in the context of the film.
Adam quickly becomes a hero for the bigoted people, and successfully plants the seeds of greater hate. However, despite the heavily racist approach to his speeches, it soon becomes obvious that the thing he wants most of all is to be a strong and popular leader. But in only a short time he learns the hard way that no one can successfully lead an angry mob, as people start getting seriously injured and further laws are being broken.
 The Intruder was a great surprise for me in many ways. I have spent quite a bit of time with Roger Corman’s films, and usually they are what they are: genre films that are quickly and cheaply put together. Some work, some don’t. I’m an admirer of Corman for what he represents, and the kind of person that he is, but I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of his catalogue. Here though, every single thing works. William Shatner is perfect in the lead as the conniving sonuvabitch Adam Cramer. He brings to the performance a perfect balance of politeness and deviousness that make him interesting to watch from the very first frame he appears in. Watching him address the crowd while standing on the steps of City Hall isn’t just a highlight of The Intruder, but one of Shatner’s entire career! The rest of the speaking cast is made up primarily of Corman regulars. They also deliver strong performances, particularly Frank Maxwell as the newspaper’s Editor. His growing understanding of the reasons for integration are gradual but convincing, and how he relates to his otherwise pro-segregation family makes for some enjoyable altercations.
 What makes The Intruder all the more impressive is taking into account the the era in which it was created. The film was shot in the South in 1961, where integration had just occurred. While only in a few key scenes, the character of Joey Green, a black student who's accused of attempted rape of a white girl, is played with extreme authenticity by Charles Barnes, an actual student of the local integrated high school. The finest actors in the world couldn’t have played the role better. With the heightened racism of the early 1960’s and the abrasiveness of the script (racial slurs are in frequent use), it was a pretty goddamned ballsy move to film this right where the heart of the problem was. This authenticity is felt in every frame of the picture, and with such realistic character types; the ongoing feeling that something bad is going to happen to someone seems almost vividly real. This movie is emotionally exhausting to watch.
I know that it’s hard to separate William Shatner from Star Trek, but maybe you don’t have to. After twenty minutes with The Intruder, it’s bound to do the job for you. This could very well be Shatner’s best film, and Corman’s too.
 The DVD Presentation
What crap... and I mean that wholeheartedly. The Intruder is shown here in the 1.33:1 ratio, which I assume is Full Frame instead of Pan & Scan because nothing appears to be missing or off-frame, but there is still some head space. Getting over this is difficult, but not impossible. Getting over the fact that the transfer is riddled with more scratches than a lotto ticket discarded in a 7-Eleven parking lot, and an all-too-frequent shift in video quality, is much harder to ignore. It seems as if no one really gave two shits about the transfer, and that’s very sad for such a fine film. The audio, thankfully, is passable. The Mono track sounds consistently clear and there are English subtitles for those that require them.
Oh well, at least this is a Special Edition with tons of extra features, right?
And the Extras Are?
Remembering The Intruder – (9:43)
The sole feature on this DVD is this short featurette. For what it is, it’s actually quite good. New interviews with director Roger Corman and William Shatner shed a light on how they feel about the film today. More interesting is the lengths that the thrifty director went to make this film as real as possible, going so far as using real townspeople during the town meetings, and giving them watered-down scripts to deter protesting.
That’s it. Hardly the “Special Edition” that the cover claims it is. No commentary (unsurprising since Corman could complete six films in the time it would take to record one), no trailer, nothing else. Although, there is a chapter card insert. Don’t see many of those anymore. I can’t say I'm not somewhat disappointed.
 The Bottom Line
Roger Corman’s The Intruder is a great film, and when placed in the context of the time and place it was made, it's an undeniable masterpiece. If not for the frequent use of racial slurs, and the surprisingly heavy-handed sexuality, I would recommend that this film be shown in classrooms during Civil Rights Week, and the more progressive schools should do it. Still, the film should be required watching for anyone even slightly interested, but also people who can’t separate the Shat from the Kirk. This is easily William Shatner in his best form. It’s just too bad this DVD doesn’t give The Intruder the presentation it deserves.
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