That this movie exists at all is remarkable, that it was produced by MGM, the poshist of all studios is even harder to believe, that it lost money, now that part makes sense. Based on the 1948 novel of the same name by William Faulkner, 'Intruder in the Dust' is the story of a black man accused of a murder he didn't commit, and the efforts of a group of liberal whites to make sure he's not killed for it.
The film hasn't dated entirely well, its the story of a black man told from the point of view of a group of whites, who are actual savior figures for him. But for the time and place of its creation the film is exceptionally progressive, and the performance by Juano Hernandez as the wrongfully accused man, proud, head unbowed, I can't think of anything like it from the Hollywood of the time.
There is something a little 'Hardy Boys' about the actual mystery. Claude Jarman Jr, who had won a special "Juvinale Oscar" three years earler for 'The Yearling', and is still with us at nearly 90, is the chief audiance surrogate figure. David Bain is noble but bland as his uncle the lawyer. While Elizabeth Patterson is endering as a stubern old white woman willing to sacrifice her life to prevent injustice. All three characters seems rather wish fulfilment, out of place in their convictions for the world in which they were born. Not impossible people, but unlikely ones.
The film is a relatively strong condemnation of racial bigotry, and has a few standout scenes with good tension, though these are mostly in the first half of the movie, before it becomes largely concerned with conventional sleuthing. But the film remains most notable for the no nonsense nobility of its lead black character, that he had to be presented within the context of a mostly middling southern fried 'who done it', is an understandable concession for the time. ***
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