The Night of the Hunter (1955)

A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.

Director:

Charles Laughton

Writers:

Davis Grubb (novel), James Agee (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish

Top 250 #170 | 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Harry Powell
Shelley Winters	...	Willa Harper
Lillian Gish	...	Rachel Cooper
James Gleason	...	Birdie Steptoe
Evelyn Varden	...	Icey Spoon
Peter Graves	...	Ben Harper
Don Beddoe	...	Walt Spoon
Billy Chapin	...	John Harper
Sally Jane Bruce	...	Pearl Harper
Gloria Castillo	...	Ruby (as Gloria Castilo)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Emmett Lynn	...	Birdie Steptoe (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Harry Powell marries and murders widows for their money, believing he is helping God do away with women who arouse men's carnal instincts. Arrested for auto theft, he shares a cell with condemned killer Ben Harper and tries to get him to reveal the whereabouts of the $10,000 he stole. Only Ben's nine-year-old son, John and four-year-old daughter, Pearl know the money is in Pearl's doll and they have sworn to their father to keep this secret. After Ben is executed, Preacher goes to Cresap's Landing to court Ben's widow, Willa. He overwhelms her with his Scripture quoting, sermons and hymns, and she agrees to marry him. On their wedding night he tells her they will never have sex because it is sinful. When the depressed, confused, guilty woman catches him trying to force Pearl to reveal the whereabouts of the money, she is resigned to her fate but the children manage to escape downriver, with Preacher following close behind.

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Plot Keywords:

widow | money | children | preacher | doll | 

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Taglines:

The Hands Of ROBERT MITCHUM in "The Night of the Hunter"

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1955 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

La noche del cazador

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$795,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paul Gregory Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While the poor critical reviews are often cited as the reason Laughton never directed another feature, Laughton himself said that he much preferred directing in the theatre. In the theatre you could constantly change and amend the production - adding lines, changing lighting and sets - but with film once it was done it could never be changed.

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Goofs

When Harry is stood in front of the Moonlit window and talking to Willa who is lying down on the bed, the 'odd' shaped window frame is projected by the moonlight on the wall behind Harry. When there is a shot of Willa alone on the bed, the shape of the moonlit window obviously frames Willa and not on the wall as before. Although the lighting around her is coffin-shaped and likely to be a framing device.

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Quotes

Willa Harper: [Willa and Harry's wedding night] Harry?
Rev. Harry Powell: I was praying.
Willa Harper: I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought...
Rev. Harry Powell: You thought, Willa, that the moment you walked in that door, I'd start to paw at you in that abominable way that men are supposed to do on their wedding night. Ain't that right, now?
Willa Harper: No, no, no.
Rev. Harry Powell: I think it's time we made one thing perfectly clear, Willa. Marriage to me represents the blending of two spirits in the sight of Heaven. Get up, Willa.
Willa Harper: Harry, what...?
Rev. Harry Powell: Get up. Now go look at yourself yonder in...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in L.A. Noire (2011)

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Soundtracks

"The Lullabye"
(accompanying the barn-scene)
"The Lullaby" (1955) (uncredited)
Music by Walter Schumann
Lyrics by Davis Grubb
Sung by Kitty White

User Reviews

Very atmospheric thriller

Just before John Harper's father is captured by police, he tells his son where he has hidden the money. While in prison for his crime, he sleep talks and betrays himself to the religiously unhinged Rev Harry Powell. Powell leaves jail with Harper dead in his cell and sets out to infiltrate the family and get the money. However, when he kills John's mother, he and his sister go on the run from him.

One of these `hindsight is 20/20' films that gains a reputation with time, this film deserves the praise in gets in many areas and deserve to be very fondly remembered, or at least a lot more fondly than it was received by critics and audiences of the time. The plot is basic but full of religious imagery that works very well, whether it's Powell's twisted preacher or the runs of scripture that many of the characters cling to. The film presents itself with a very strong tone of foreboding and darkness that makes the material (and characters) feel more dangerous.

Most of the credit for this belongs with Laughton as director, who uses shadow really well and frames the film with clever shots. Some that come to mind is the shadow of Powell on his horse on the horizon, or the woman in the car underwater and so on. It stills feels clever and inventive now so it must have been seen as very different in the fifties. How he didn't win an Oscar, I'm not sure – wonder what else was up in this year.

Mitchum is tremendous in the title role, his role is larger than life and was also slightly playing with fire in it's portrayal as a reverend as corrupt or evil. Chapin is really wonderful as young John and has a much better character than some of the others in the cast. Winters is good in her performance. The only downside of the film is the 10 minutes at the end which feel like they are a happy ending that has just been tacked on and doesn't fit with the tone of the film.

Other than that, this is a very strong film in terms of theme, plot, acting and cinematography. It deserves more than it got at the time and I'm glad that modern audiences are finding this film all the time.