Claude Jarman, Jr.: George Gund III Award + “Intruder in the Dust”

Description

The longtime head of the San Francisco Film Society during its glamorous middle years (1965-1980) – made especially famous by day-long tributes to Hollywood legends and Board president Shirley Temple Black – Claude Jarman was also an accomplished child actor who worked with several legends, including the great John Ford (Rio Grande, 1950). According to those who came before and after, there would be no San Francisco Film Festival without him. Jarman’s exceptional life is chronicled in a recent book My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood. We salute him for his service to the film community and his unwavering commitment to the arts with a moderated conversation and screening of Intruder in the Dust (1949).

Intruder in the Dust
Clarence Brown, USA, 1949
Crafted by six-time Oscar nominee Clarence Brown, this classic story of racial injustice, adapted from William Faulkner’s novel, is also a suspenseful murder mystery and a complex morality tale of the Deep South. Black farmer Lucas is assumed to be guilty of murdering a white man, and a lynch mob hovers. But young Chick (Claude Jarman Jr. at his sensitive best), his Black friend, and a courageous white spinster believe in Lucas and prove that a dedicated few can defeat the racist rabble when justice is on their side.

Director Clarence Brown

Clarence Brown (1890-1987) began his career during the silent era, beginning his directing career with two films in 1920, The Great Redeemer and The Last of the Mohicans. He directed 53 features during his career, receiving six Best Director Academy Award nominations for Romance (1930), Anna Christie (1930), A Free Soul (1931), The Human Comedy (1943), National Velvet (1944), and The Yearling (1946). In 1935, he received the Venice Film Festival’s Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film for Anna Karenina (1935).

Film Details