The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film directed by Charles Laughton, with Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Charles Laughton, a prolific actor during the 1930’s and 1940’s, directed only this film in his career. And what a film it was. Although it was not a commercial success back on its time, it is now a classic gem. Critics and audience praise Laughton’s directorial approach, but most importantly, they adore Mitchum’s performance. And they are right about that.
To begin with, Robert Mitchum portrays Reverend Harry Powell, a self-proclaimed preacher who has one thing in mind, money. More specifically, the 10,000 $ his cellmate had hidden before arrested for a bank robbery. His cellmate will be hanged without revealing where the money is and Mitchum, after released from prison, goes to the village his cellmate used to live. Over there, he will meet the widow along with her two children. Mitchum will earn the trust of the widow (Shelley Winters) and he will convince her to marry him. In the meantime, Mitchum realizes that the children know where the money is hidden and threatens them all the time and while his new wife understands what’s going on, he will not hesitate to murder her and tell everyone in the village that she abandoned him and her children for a life of sin.
And that’s only half of the movie. The vivid portrayal of evil in Mitchum’s performance is exceptional. The contrast between his preaching and his actions is unique. Moreover, the thin line between Love and Hate, the words/tattoos in both of his hands, and the story that goes with that, still gives the chills. Furthermore, the scene where Mitchum stands at the top of the stairs and calls the children to come down has become a model for so many horror movies. Even if you haven’t seen yet “The Night of the Hunter”, you definitely had seen a similar shot in other horror films:
In addition to Mitchum’s performance, we need to hail the other cast and crew members. Shelley Winters plays very well her role as a widow who falls in awe from Reverend’s words. The shot of Winters at the bottom of the sea is tremendous. Stanley Cortez, the legendary Director of Photography, provided some great scenes in this film, including the one we mentioned above. Lillian Gish, who started her career during the 1910’s, is excellent as the old protector of the children against the evil preacher.
The plot takes place over countryside during The Great Depression. In times like these, Charles Laughton tells us that you cannot trust even the Reverends. A film unlike any other. Many critics claim that it is a film noir. And there are some elements of this genre. Low-key lighting with a black and white visual style, which were elements of German Expressionism (as we mention in our video here) and of course the story, where a corrupted man thinks only about evil actions. On the contrary, we would claim that it is mostly a thriller, which uses some film noir elements. Regardless of the categorization, The Night of the Hunter is a great film and everybody should watch it.