Intruder in the Dust

1949
Approved
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer2:29

1 Video

14 Photos

Crime Drama

In 1940s Mississippi, two teenage boys and an elderly woman combine forces to prevent a miscarriage of justice and clear a black man of a murder charge.In 1940s Mississippi, two teenage boys and an elderly woman combine forces to prevent a miscarriage of justice and clear a black man of a murder charge.In 1940s Mississippi, two teenage boys and an elderly woman combine forces to prevent a miscarriage of justice and clear a black man of a murder charge.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 3 wins & 8 nominations total

Trivia
The film was shot on location in William Faulkner's hometown of Oxford, MS.

Goofs
When Chick comes out of the water, his hair is dry even though he had been completely underwater. Then he goes to Lucas's cabin and takes off his wet clothes, and his hair is wet.

Quotes
John Gavin Stevens: Lucas, has it ever occurred to you if you just said "mister" to white people and said it like you meant it, you might not be sitting here now?
Lucas Beauchamp: So I'm to commence now? I can start off by saying "mister" to the folks that drag me outta here and builds a fire under me.

Connections
Featured in Some of the Best: Twenty-Five Years of Motion Picture Leadership (1949)

User reviews43

Review

Featured review

10/10

A neglected classic

An unjustly neglected classic, "Intruder in the Dust" is one of the great films of the 1940's which has unfortunately slipped into obscurity. Based on a story by William Faulker, and shot in his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi, "Intruder" tells the story of Lucas Beauchamp (played with great dignity by Juano Hernandez), a black man unjustly accused of the murder of a local white man, and a white boy (Claude Jarman, Jr.) who uses this situation as an opportunity to pay a previous debt to Beauchamp. Terrific acting, especially by two great character actors, Porter Hall (as the dead man's father) and Elizabeth Patterson (best known as Mrs. Trumbull on "I Love Lucy") as an old woman willing to stand against the townspeople to see that right is done. This straightforward, tense and sincere study of racial bigotry deserves to be seen more.