CinemaLit - Intruder in the Dust (1949)

February 7 - Intruder in the Dust (1949), 87 minutes, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Juano Hernández, David Brian, and Claude Jarman Jr.

Intruder in the Dust should be better known. Based on a novel by William Faulkner and directed by the top-tier MGM director Clarence Brown (National Velvet, The Yearling), Intruder in the Dust centers on a black man in Mississippi accused of killing a white man. Select townsfolk, certain of his innocence, come forward to do the right thing. Filmed in Oxford and feeling much like a cinematic ancestor to To K*ll a Mockingbird, Intruder in the Dust is boosted by sharp expressionistic lighting and welcome flashes of humor. At its center is a magisterial performance by Puerto Rican born actor Juano Hernández, who breaks ground for no less than Sidney Poitier, James Earl Jones, and Denzel Washington.

February 2025 CinemaLit - Race and Intolerance in American Classic Films

Common knowledge says Hollywood’s history of race is appalling. For decades, stardom was limited to white actors, while actors of color were consigned to supporting roles as butlers, maids, chauffeurs, and nannies. Even films inviting expanded casting, such as The Good Earth (1937) and Dragon Seed (1944), resorted to name actors in yellowface. Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) badly scars the movie. Birth of a Nation (1914) glorifies the Ku Klux Klan. The list goes on and on. Many a classic film, Gone with the Wind (1939) most famously, are marred by stereotypes that read poorly with today’s audiences.

Within this legacy are a handful of films that offered a vision beyond cinematic racist shorthand. While not all of the films completely escape the entrenched prejudices of their day, they allowed for complex stories and thoughtful performances from marginalized actors and laid the groundwork for more nuanced and ambitious storytelling. February at CinemaLit is devoted to four of these influential films, now recognized as landmarks in the history of race and racism in Hollywood. Join us for Intruder in the Dust (1949), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), Crossfire (1947), and Broken Arrow (1950).

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute