Intruder in the Dust (1948)
Black Cinema 1900-1955
•
1h 27m
Directed by Clarence Brown
Produced by Clarence Brown
Written by Ben Maddow
Starring David Brian
Claude Jarman Jr.
Juano Hernández
Music by Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography Robert Surtees
Edited by Robert Kern
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date:November 22, 1949 (United States)
Running time: 87 minutes
Often, it’s the quietest movies that make the most impact, and resonate with the viewer for days – even weeks – after watching. Clarence Brown’s stirring drama Intruder in the Dust, is one such film. Based on a novel of the same by William Faulkner, it tells of a crisis averted but not solved. African-American landowner Lucas Beauchamp (Juano Hernandez) is found standing over the dead body of lumberman Vinson Gowrie, with a recently-fired pistol hidden in his pocket. Presumed guilty, Lucas is marched off to the local jail, through an angry mob of local white folk who are desperate for what they call ‘justice’, but probably runs closer to revenge.