OVERLOOKED FILM: SHAME (THE INTRUDER)

Charles Beaumont was a unique talent.  A master of the short story, Beaumont produced stunning stories for Playboy and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, among others.  As a television writer he is probably best known for his work on The Twilight Zone, but he also contributed to many other television shows, including Steve Canyon and One Step Beyond (one episode of which -- "The Captain's Guests" -- was an earlier Overlooked choice of mine).  In films he wrote the marvelous 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, and co-wrote The Mask of the Red Death and Burn, Witch, Burn; he even wrote the gloriously cheesy Queen of Outer Space.  He produced only two novels in his short lifetime:  one a co-written Gold Medal paperback under a pseudonym, the other was The Intruder, a penetrating look at race relations in the South.

     Beaumont wrote the script for the film based on his book.  The Intruder has also been released under the titles of I Hate Your Guts! and Shame (the title given the Internet Archive version I've linked below).  The director, Roger Corman, later said that it was the only movie he made that lost money and blamed its failure on William Shatner's performance in the lead role.  (But, hey, any movie with the Shat has gotta go on the must-watch list, right?)

     Included in the cast was Beaumont himself as Mr. Paton.  Also appearing was Beaumont's sometime collaborator William F. Nolan, playing Bart Carey, and Nolan's Logan's Run collaborator, George Clayton Johnson, as Phil West.  And according to IMDB, June Foray (the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel himself) might -- just might -- have provided the voice of the Old Hotel Clerk.  Did I mention Shat?

     All this...and it's a pretty darned good movie.  Take a look;

http://www.archive.org/details/shame_

     Did I mention Shat? 

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     For more Overlooked stuff, don't overlook Todd Mason's Sweet Freedom blog.  Our host always has links to lotsa goodies.