Monday, May 18, 2009

The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter.
1955 United Artists, released to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce, Lillian Gash, Peter Graves
Director: Charles Laughton
Amazon.com listing (discontinued).

Ben Harper takes part in a robbery where two men are killed. Before being caught, which leads to his sentence of death by hanging, Harper hides the money, and only informs his children John and Pearl (Chapin & Bruce) where the loot is hidden.

Harry Powell (Mitchum) is a serial killer and a self-appointed preacher with the words LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles. Powell shares a cell with Harper and tries to get him to share the location of the money before he is executed, but the only clue Harper provides is a Biblical quote muttered during sleep: "And a child shall lead them".

After being released from prison, Powell seeks out, woos, and marries Harper's widow Willa (Winters), who is unaware of his motives, but is convinced that this marriage will lead to her salvation. Whenever the children are alone, Powell quizzes them over the location of the money, but they do not tell him. John is especially suspicious of his stepfather, and protective of Pearl. Once Willa overhears her new husband grilling the kids, she realizes the truth. That's also the night that Powell slits Willa's throat and dumps her body into a lake. He does find out the location of the stolen money, but the children beat him there first, taking it for themselves, and seeking refuge with Rachel Cooper (Gish). Rachel protects the children armed with a shotgun, but the confrontation never turns violent (she and Powell sing hymns throughout the night), and the would-be preacher is finally arrested.

The Night of the Hunter was one of the two films Charles Laughton directed, and its failure at the box office probably scared him off from directing anything else. However, thanks to the cinematographer Stanley Cortez, whoever did see it was probably impressed by his striking cinematography, which has been both praised and imitated for years afterwards. Highly, highly, highly recommended movie.

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