Anssi Vartiainen Charles Laughton, better known as an actor, only ever directed one film in his life. That being The Night of the Hunter, where a small town husband commits a bank robbery, in the process killing two people. He gets caught, but before that he assists his children in hiding the money and swears them to secrecy. In the prison, awaiting hanging, he accidentally reveals to a corrupt preacher the fact that the kids are in the know. The man gets hanged, but the preacher is released, and he promptly sets out to woo the widow and squeeze the hiding place of the money from the children.Laughton was heavily influenced by the German expressionism style of film making and it shows. Heavy shadows, sharp silhouettes, Gothic imagery and stylized dialogue are the order of the day. The film even opens with the detached head of an old woman floating in space, quoting Bible to a bunch of children. Or rather their heads, also floating in space.And I have to be frank, it's more corny than impressive. You get the idea that Laughton likes this art style, but is not fully able to pull it off. The film is filled with artistic touches, but most of them cause the story to flow erratically. Granted, there are also some truly beautiful shots, especially when Laughton plays with silhouettes, but I was still pulled out of the story way too often.Full props to Robert Mitchum as the preacher Harry Powell. He has one of the best voices I've ever heard in cinema, and even though the character he plays is one of the more over the top men of cloth I've ever seen, he almost manages to pull it off, which is a small miracle in and on itself.All in all the film definitely has an identity. Personally I didn't much care for it, but I can see why some people hail this as a masterpiece. It dances just at that razor edge where it could be seen as something unique and daring, rather than presumptuous.

ben hibburd The Night of the Hunter is directed by Charles Laughton, his first and unfortunately sole film that he directed. The film is written by James Agee adapted from Davis Grubbs novel. It sees a fanatical murderous preacher Harry Powell (expertly played by Robert Mitchum), marry the widow of his former cellmate Ben Harper(Peter Graves), in an attempt to find the location of $10,000 that Harper had stolen in a robbery, prior to his arrest.This is one of the best films I've ever seen, and one of my all-time favourites, which is a phase I don't use lightly. The direction is near faultless. Despite many of the off-screen issues surrounding this film, It's amazing how well it congealed together. The framing and stylish noir set design gives this film an incredibly eerie atmosphere, which in turn adds a dreamlike sense of impending dread throughout the entire run-time. This is felt most notably in the scenes where the terrifying Harry Powell is hunting Harper's two children Ben(Billy Chapin) and Pearl(Sally Jane Bruce).Shelly Winters plays Willa Harper. After her husband dies in prison at the hands of Powell. She Is seduced, and taken in by Powell, and soon finds herself helpless, as the lingering omnipotent stature of Powell looms large over her and her children. Winters gives a terrific performance of someone that is both smitten and trapped at the same time.The standout of the film without a doubt is Robert Mitchum as the Preacher Harry Powell. Mitchum delivers one of the finest performances in cinematic history. He's able to effortlessly switch between being charming and charismatic to frightening and hateful on the turn of a dime. His performance is utterly compelling and as his character permeates through every scene of the film. His performance is matched pound for pound by Lillian Gish as Rachel Cooper. Gish plays a steadfast woman, who takes the children in when they are trying to evade Powell. She does a great job of being a warm and unshakeable saviour figure for the children, against Powell's menacing and unrelenting wrath.It's truly a shame that Laughton never got the chance to direct another film. The Night of the Hunter was so far ahead of it's time. There are moments in the film where the subject matter and imagery are still shocking and unrelenting even for today's audience. The film does have a couple of missteps. The child actors do tend to overact in some places, but it's not enough for it too become distracting. There are also a couple of pacing issues in the middle act which is quickly smoothed out when the film enters into the final act.The Night of the Hunter is a film beyond it's years, and still holds up as-well if not more-so today. It's an un-compromising thriller wrapped inside a noir, wrapped inside a Grimm fairy-tale, and it's a masterpiece.

strumdatjag This film is a melodramatic morality tale about the struggle of good against evil against the backdrop of an idyllic small southern river town. You'll see more shots of cute wildlife than a Disney Nature Film. Stereotypes of nice southern bible thumpers abound! A better version of this "evil visits nice small town" story would be Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" (10/10). I was disappointed by "Night of the Hunter" and gave it a 6/10. A mediocre movie with many nice moments. Great to see Lillian Gish.

DonAlberto I don't quite remember when I heard about this movie but it might have been just about the same time I found out who Robert Mitchum was, that is, my teen years. Those beautiful years that will never come back and that taught me so many things, showed me there was some American actor whose name was worth remembering. Growing up in the early 90s with no Internet didn't give you much of a chance to watch movies from previous decades. Still, the name found its way into my memory and hasn't move from there. It wasn't up until some years ago that I came across these movie at a public library. Mitchum was on the cover, all black and white, his eyes staring at you. Bang! It rang a bell almost straight away. I took the movie home and watched it the next day.The Night of the hunter is the story of a priest brilliantly performed by Robert Mitchum with a taste for not so holy pleasures. The storyline is one of mystery. Before being handcuffed and taken away by the police a father dressed in rags hides 10000 dollars. So far..so good but for one mistake: he had told their children where the money was hidden. Meanwhile, the priest comes along. The first look we have of him could not be more indicative of his personality traits. Driving around in his car, looking up into the sky and talking to god. You can tell straight away just judging by the look of his face that Mitchum lives up to the highest expectations. Given a character as cold-blooded as ice, Mitchum repertoire of expressions and gestures has room to shine. On top of it all, it's the fact that whenever that he has to keep up a reputation as a normal priest would do. That's when you know Mitchum deserves a place in Hollywod's Eden. The transition between merciless bastard and middle age respectable man is so smooth that you'd think he does so effortlessly.