Sat 28 Sep 2019
A Movie Review By Dan Stumpf: Intruder in the Dust (1949).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[9] Comments
INTRUDER IN THE DUST . MGM, 1949. David Brian, Claude Jarman Jr, Juano Hernandez,. Porter Hall, Charles Kemper, Will Geer, and Elizabeth Patterson. Screenplay by Ben Maddow, from the novel by William Faulkner. Directed by Clarence Brown.
As much a mystery/suspense movie as a social-problem film, and excellent on both counts.
Intruder opens with Lucas Beauchamp (Juano Hernandez) arrested for the murder of Vinson Gowrie — he was found standing over Gowrie’s body with a recently-fired pistol in his pocket—and the locals, egged on by Gowrie’s brother Crawford (Charles Kemper) feel it their civic duty to skip the formality of a trial, stalled only by the absence of Gowrie’s father (Porter Hall.)
Enter Chick Mallison (Claude Jarman Jr) a spectator in the crowd who knows something of the aloof “uppity†Beauchamp, believes him innocent, and enlists his older-and-wiser attorney uncle (David Brian) to defend him in Court. If he ever gets there.
Sounds like To Kill a Mockingbird before its time, but the characters surprised me: Juano Hernandez’ Beauchamp is remote and uncooperative. Porter Hall , who at various times in his career murdered The Thin Man, shot Will Bill Hickok, locked up Kris Kringle, and marooned Tab Hunter, is quite sympathetic here, while David Brian’s wise-looking lawyer is only slightly less benighted than the noose-swinging locals — he doesn’t wait to hear Beauchamp’s story, just wants to plead him Guilty, and has no intention of getting in the way of any lynch mob.
BUT THEN….There’s a marvelous moment in Brian’s office, where Jarman interrupts his conference with a meek little old lady (Elizabeth Patterson, being sued for running over a chicken) and Brian rails about the impossibility of Beauchamp’s case. “Why did he have to murder a Gowrie? And if he did, why did he have to shoot him in the back?†Whereupon Patterson pipes up softly but firmly “Maybe he didn’t.â€
At which point the whole tone of the piece shifts. Patterson (who was also in The Story of Temple Drake) takes over the investigation, blockades the Jail and… and other stuff I won’t spoil for you. Suffice it to way she’s a tough and smart in her own way as Margaret Rutherford’s Miss Marple.
I think this character was deliberately brought on quietly and allowed to grow, as do some others, making this a film that reminded me of Chandler’s dictum: The crime itself is less important than its effect on the characters. Or in this case, the effect of the characters upon the crime.
Make no mistake. This is a Mystery Movie, albeit a fairly obvious one. Bodies get buried, moved, and dug up again, clues get gathered, and toward the end, Will Geer’s canny sheriff has a tense stand-off with a hidden killer.
We also get some quietly pungent displays of passive racism, as when Jarman’s dad shrugs off a lynching with, “These things happen. And people like us do not get involved.†but scenarist Ben Maddow (The Asphalt Jungle, God’s Little Acre, etc) keeps the lesson implicit, and never preaches what he can show.
So we get a good mystery here, and a thoughtful one. Mostly though we get to see human beings acting like people we know. And this is what makes Intruder in the Dust a film to treasure.
September 29th, 2019 at 8:26 am
I remember Patterson most as “Mrs. Trumbull” on I LOVE LUCY.
September 29th, 2019 at 12:28 pm
She’s amazing here
September 29th, 2019 at 1:39 pm
This film is indeed a classic.
September 29th, 2019 at 3:40 pm
I’ve not seen this one — it is available on DVD from Warner Archives — but I think I see some resemblance to Anthony Mann’s BORDER INCIDENT, made the same year. Am I way off on this?
September 29th, 2019 at 3:54 pm
Both INTRUDER IN THE DUST and BORDER INCIDENT are socially conscious dramas, with positive depictions of minorities. So they reflect the same historical era and attitudes.
But the tones are very different. BORDER INCIDENT is a film noir with sinister atmosphere. INTRUDER IN THE DUST is a whodunit, with Clarence Brown’s warmth.
September 29th, 2019 at 5:46 pm
Thanks, Mike. That sounds like a good summary/comparison to me. It matches what Dan says about this movie and what I remember about BORDER INCIDENT.
September 29th, 2019 at 6:41 pm
Side Note:
In the years prior to writing Intruder In The Dust, William Faulkner used Gavin Stevens in a brief series of short stories, which were collected in the book Knight’s Gambit.
Fred Dannay occasionally reprinted several of these tales in EQMM over the years, establishing their provenance in our genre.
Both books are still in print.
Just so you know …
September 29th, 2019 at 7:29 pm
Everything Dan says, plus the performances by Hernandez, Jarman, Hall, Geer, and Patterson, even Brian who gets to play against type here, are all outstanding.
Director Brown had some notable films on his resume, but this one can stand with any of them. That scene with Patterson in the rocker at the jail had to have inspired Harper Lee and MOCKINGBIRD.
I think I was twelve when I first saw this, living in the Southwest if not the South, and so many things fell into place because of it. Since then it entertains, informs, and moves me every time I watch it again, and Brian’s last line is as powerful as ever.
September 30th, 2019 at 8:12 am
Yes, this is a great one and your review more than does it justice. I was in high school when I read the book but the movie brought back much of it. And you are right, the people in it are real and look and act like people we know. I am sure Faulkner was not pleased with some of the film versions of his work, but he had high praise for this one.