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The Night of the Hunter
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The Night of the Hunter (1955) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Davis Grubb (novel)
James Agee (screenplay)
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Night of the Hunter on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 November 1955 (Argentina) more
Tagline:
The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL... THE SUSPENSE! more
Plot:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
Shelley Winters: 1920-2006
 (From IMDb News. 14 January 2006)

User Comments:
Sleep, Lit'le ones, sleep... more
US TV Schedule:
Tue. July 214:15 PMTCM   

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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:

Corey Allen ... Young Man in Town (uncredited)
Paul Bryar ... Bart the Hangman (uncredited)
Cheryl Callaway ... Mary (uncredited)

Michael Chapin ... Ruby's Boyfriend (uncredited)
Mary Ellen Clemons ... Clary (uncredited)

Kathy Garver ... Child (uncredited)
James Griffith ... District Attorney (uncredited)
John Hamilton ... Townsman Who Greets Rachel (uncredited)
Kay Lavelle ... Miz Cunninghan (uncredited)

Gloria Pall ... Burlesque Dancer (uncredited)
George Wallace ... (uncredited)
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Directed by
Charles Laughton 
Robert Mitchum (uncredited)
 
Writing credits
Davis Grubb (novel)

James Agee (screenplay)

Charles Laughton  screenplay contributor (uncredited)

Produced by
Paul Gregory .... producer
 
Original Music by
Walter Schumann (music by)
 
Cinematography by
Stanley Cortez (photography by)
 
Film Editing by
Robert Golden 
 
Casting by
Millie Gusse (uncredited)
 
Art Direction by
Hilyard M. Brown  (as Hilyard Brown)
 
Set Decoration by
Alfred E. Spencer  (as Al Spencer)
 
Makeup Department
Don L. Cash .... make-up (as Don Cash)
Kay Shea .... hair stylist
 
Production Management
Ruby Rosenberg .... production manager
Frank Parmenter .... production manager: second unit (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Milton Carter .... assistant director
Frank Parmenter .... second unit director (uncredited)
Terry Sanders .... second unit director (uncredited)
Jack Sonntag .... first assistant director (uncredited)
 
Art Department
Joe LaBella .... property man (as Joe La Bella)
 
Sound Department
Stanford Houghton .... sound (as Stanford Naughton)
 
Special Effects by
Louis DeWitt .... special photographic effects (as Louis De Witt)
Jack Rabin .... special photographic effects
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Seymour Hoffberg .... assistant camera (uncredited)
Harold E. Wellman .... camera: second unit (uncredited)
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jerry Bos .... wardrobe
Evelyn Carruth .... assistant wardrobe
 
Music Department
Arthur Morton .... orchestrator (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Saul Bass .... publicist (uncredited)
Robert Mitchum .... director: children (uncredited)
Denis Sanders .... unspecified assistant (uncredited)
Terry Sanders .... unspecified assistant (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Runtime:
92 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 (1959) (cut) | South Korea:15 (2003) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1955) | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #17385) | West Germany:12 | UK:X (original rating)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In his biography, Robert Mitchum stated that director Charles Laughton found the script by James Agee totally unacceptable; he paid off Agee, sent him packing and rewrote virtually the entire script himself, uncredited. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When John is telling Pearl the bedtime story, Harry's shadow appears on the bedroom wall. When John looks outside at Harry at the gate, the angle of the streetlight next to him would not throw the shadow into the house, but on the ground in front of him. more
Quotes:
Icey Spoon: A husband's one piece of store goods you never know 'til you get it home and take the paper off. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Devil's Rejects (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Dream, Little One, Dream more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is this movie based on a novel?
How did Harry get out of prison?
more
99 out of 128 people found the following comment useful:-
Sleep, Lit'le ones, sleep..., 23 September 2002
10/10
Author: paulhjrickards from London, England

I still hear the lullaby singing sweetly in my head, like a hazy, haunting dream that won't go away.

From the opening scene of the beautiful Lillian Gish and her children, watching over the world in a starry sky, this movie just sinks you into a mesmeric fairy tale land. The camera takes us down in one sweeping move to a scene of children playing, a hot sunny day, and right to the feet of a murder victim. And that sweet music turns on us like a twisted nightmare as the scene chases after a car speeding along a country road to find one of movies worst villains.

Charles Laughton, in sadly his one and only stab at directing, created a masterpiece of horror with Night of the Hunter. The moments of sugar coated sweetness only make this movie even more disturbing as you wonder how the two can inhabit the same world.

Mitchum is terrifying. More-so in a town full of simple folk ready to match him up with the local widow who needs a father for her lit'le n's. Its like he's walked into the middle of a Frank Capra movie and he's going to do what he wants to.

This is not just a great horror movie, but an artist achievement to rival Welles' Kane. The river scene is one of many moments of pure visual splendor. And that sound track just keeps drifting alone, as if trying to coax you into slumber, till the singing madman of your nightmares comes over the hill, relentless. "Chil-dren, Come along now"

You don't watch this movie, it watches you. ...Hush, Lit'le ones, Hush.

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I really like this movie but..... Libbyanne2
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Best justification for a new, special edition. virgiltx
Anyone else notice that Pearl was useless.... appleseiter15
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Notes on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER JSlack3
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