The Night of the Hunter (1955)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Charles Laughton

Writers:

Davis Grubb (novel)
James Agee (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 November 1955 (Argentina)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL... THE SUSPENSE!

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.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Widow | Children | Preacher | Hymn

Awards:

1 win

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)

Also Known As:

La noche del cazador (Argentina) (Mexico) (Spain) [es]
Die Nacht des Jägers (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
La nuit du chasseur (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
A Sombra do Caçador (Portugal) [pt]
A vadász éjszakája (Hungary) [hu]
De jagersnacht (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
I nyhta tou kynigou (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
La morte corre sul fiume (Italy) [it]
O Mensageiro do Diabo (Brazil) [pt]
O thanatopoinitis me to simadi (Greece) [el]
Pimeydessä vaeltava (Finland) [fi]
Räsynukke (Finland) [fi]
Trasdockan (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

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)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Paul Gregory Productions

Trivia:

Robert Mitchum was very eager for the part of the preacher. When he auditioned, a moment that particularly impressed Charles Laughton was when Laughton described the character as "a diabolical shit." Mitchum promptly answered, "Present!"

Goofs:

Continuity: In the basement scene, John pulled down the overhead shelf with the jam or oils pouring over Harry's hairs and shoulders. In the following shot when Harry is trying to grab at John and Pearl, his hairdo remained its normal form without drops of oils or jam on them.

Quotes:

Rachel Cooper: John - ain't you going to say hello to your pa?
John Harper: He's not my pa!
Rachel Cooper: No, and he ain't no preacher neither!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Onion Field (1979)

Soundtrack:

Once Upon a Time There Was a Pretty Fly (Lullaby)

Sleep, Lit'le ones, sleep...

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.