YMMV / Intruder in the Dust

• Award Snub: The film's cast, script, and cinematography impressed many, but it only got one award nomination, which it lost, a Golden Globe Best Newcomer nomination for Juano Hernandez (who, despite his advanced age, had yet to play a major role in a film shot for black and white audiences until then).
• Ensemble Dark Horse: One-armed backwoodsman Nub Gowrie (the father of the murder victim, who has some Hidden Heart of Gold moments) and Cool Old Lady Mrs. Habersham only appear in a few scenes each, but are probably the most iconic characters after Lucas. This is even more true in the movie, where Mrs. Habersham gets a little more focus in defending Lucas from a lynch mob and Nub's actor does a fantastic job of Playing Against Type.
• Fair for Its Day: The story broke ground by having a strong black protagonist and a blunt, honest, and critical look at the culture behind Jim Crow laws and lynch mobs, but several characters also naively assert that such attitudes will soon pass naturally if the South is allowed to handle them without outside interference, and some reviewers dislike how the story gives so much focus to the effect of Jim Crow society on whites, as Lucas and Aleck are the only notable black characters.
• Vindicated by History: The film was a Box Office Bomb due to its Troubled Production and its frank and powerful look at the Jim Crow era not resonating with white audiences, but nowadays, it is praised as a powerful work that was far ahead of its time.