This was a full decade before The Servant made a section of the cinema-going public aware of Robin Maugham as a novelist and although he was by no means the first writer to address the problem of long-serving servicemen adjusting to civilian life (arguably Hemingway was the first to do so in his 1925 short story 'Soldier's Home' and 20 years later Robert Sherwood's screenplay 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' explored the same theme) he made a half-decent fist of it. Jack Hawkins as Wolf Merton the ex-tank commander virtually phones it in and the movie, helmed by Guy Hamilton, is rich in supporting actors like Edward Chapman, George Cole, Duncan Lamont with Michael Medwin as Ginger (Maugham's novel was entitled 'Line On Ginger', much more evocative than the insipid The Intruder) Edwards possibly hoping the film would kick-start a more successful career than it in fact did.

THE INTRUDER is a post-war British drama that uses a thriller-based storyline to explore the effects of the Second World War on the soldiers involved in fighting it. Jack Hawkins plays a former colonel who arrives home one night to discover one of his own men burgling his house. As the police hunt for the suspect, the circumstances leading to the situation are told via flashback, as each soldier adapts to society on his return home in a different way. The good news is that an exemplary cast including Dennis Price, Hugh Williams, Michael Medwin, Duncan Lamont, and George Cole do very well throughout, and there are constant cameos from the likes of Michael Ripper, George Baker, and Dora Bryan. THE INTRUDER is less about the thrills and more about making you think and feel, and it does that very well.

Jack Hawkins plays a Colonel of a tank corps during world war two.After the war he finds a burglar in his home who turns out to be Michael Medwin who was one of his loyalist soldiers during the war.It turns out that he is on the run from prison having been sent there for manslaughter.The story of how Medwin arrived at that spot is dealt with by flashbacks.A couple of them ,such as that with Arthur Howard,don't add very much too the plot.What this film does tell us about is the trouble that many ex servicemen had in adapting back to civilian life.The cast is excellent and is very entertaining.However I found the end a bit of a disappointment and rather an anti climax.Not seen now,it deserves an airing.There is a great cameo from Denis Price who nearly steals the film with his cowardly Captain.

Underrated film, starring Jack Hawkins - long one of my favourite actors. There are some great scenes, not least that at the farm when the Merton character appears with a container of water for his car, immediately defusing an awkward situation with his friend being interrogated by two detectives. Watch out for character actor Edward Chapman, in a nasty role as an abusing stepfather.