In 1962 Roger Corman made "The Intruder". It wasn't just the most controversial film he ever made but one of the most controversial films ever made in the US. The subject was racism and he made it quite early on in the growth of the Civil Rights Movement. Even today it still packs a considerable punch. The Intruder of the title is William Shatner, a handsome, smiling stranger in a white suit who arrives in a small Southern Town preaching racism and hate, (it's not just African-Americans but Communists and Jews who are grist to his mill), and it's a much more terrifying film than any of his Poe adaptations.
Shatner gives a great performance in a great film but who might have guessed it. Corman was King of the Z-Movies and for many Shatner would never be more than Captain Kirk, a role he was still to play. Needless to say, the film virtually disappeared without trace and it's seldom revived but it showed Corman really was a film-maker to be taken seriously. It may still be only a B-Movie but it's one of the greatest B-Movies ever made.
Shatner gives a great performance in a great film but who might have guessed it. Corman was King of the Z-Movies and for many Shatner would never be more than Captain Kirk, a role he was still to play. Needless to say, the film virtually disappeared without trace and it's seldom revived but it showed Corman really was a film-maker to be taken seriously. It may still be only a B-Movie but it's one of the greatest B-Movies ever made.