Intruder in the Dust (1949)
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71% of users liked it
(159 ratings)
Intruder in the Dust is one of the best of Hollywood's postwar "racial tolerance" cycle--a cycle that would come to an abrupt end in the politically paranoid 1950s. Based on a novel by William Faulkner, the film takes place in a small Mississippi town (it was filmed on location in and… More Intruder in the Dust is one of the best of Hollywood's postwar "racial tolerance" cycle--a cycle that would come to an abrupt end in the politically paranoid 1950s. Based on a novel by William Faulkner, the film takes place in a small Mississippi town (it was filmed on location in and around Oxford, MS). Juano Hernandez plays an African-American landowner who is arrested on a murder charge. Resentful of Hernandez' industriousness, the white townsfolk are eager to see him hang. David Brian, the attorney uncle of a young white boy (Claude Jarman Jr.) who has befriended Hernandez, agrees to take the accused man's case. His job is complicated by the lynch-mob mentality fomented by the dead man's brother (Charles Kemper) and Hernandez' refusal to reveal the name of the man he suspects as the killer. The hostile atmosphere reaches a fever pitch, but justice is ultimately served. Intruder in the Dust stands out among other films of its period with its refusal to stoop to any form of condescension towards its black characters or to rationalize the behavior of the bigots. Though produced by MGM, the film wisely displays none of that studio's patented glossiness, opting instead for a dusty, sun-scorched, fleabitten veneer that enhances the film's basic realism. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Clarence Brown
- Written By
- Ben Maddow, William Faulkner
- Genres
- Drama, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Nov 22, 1949 Wide
- On DVD
- Apr 28, 1993
Critic Reviews
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, L.A. Weekly
Denis' film -- which may be her most intricately constructed and intensely beautiful to date -- is one that transcends words and stories, a movie to be felt rather than rationalized.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A brilliantly accomplished "racial bias" cycle film of the 1940s.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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David Brian
as John Gavin Stevens
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Claude Jarman Jr.
as Chick Mallison
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Juano Hernandez
as Lucas Beauchamp
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Charles Kemper
as Crawford Gowrie
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Will Geer
as Sheriff Hampton
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Elizabeth Patterson
as Miss Habersham
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Porter Hall
as Nub Gowrie
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David Clarke
as Vinson Gowrie
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Elzie Emanuel
as Aleck
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Lela Bliss
as Mrs. Mallison
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Harry Hayden
as Mr. Mallison
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Harry Antrim
as Mr. Tubbs
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Alberta Dishmon
as Paralee
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James Kirkwood
as Black Convict
- Edmund Lowe
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Ephraim Lowe
as Gowrie Twin
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Dan White
as Will Legate
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R.X. Williams
as Mr. Lilley
- John Chapin Morgan
