The Night Of The Hunter

Sometimes you finally get around to watching what you've heard is a great film and end up disappointed.  This happened to us last year viewing The Rules of the Game (1939) by Jean Renoir, a movie on many Top Ten greatest film lists.  It was boring, pretentious, and way too obvious in its themes.

And then there is The Night of the Hunter, which we viewed last night and one of the finest films I've ever seen.  Released in 1955 and the only movie directed by actor Charles Laughton, The Night of the Hunter stars Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish, the great silent film star, in one of her few sound picture appearances.

Set in West Virginia during the Depression, Mitchum plays an itinerant preacher who has devised his own religion, based on a twisted interpretation of Christianity, while marrying widows, killing them and stealing their money.  With L-O-V-E tattooed on the knuckles of his right hand and H-A-T-E on the left he charms small town folk and mesmerizes his intended victims.  In this case, he plans to shake loose the secret location of a hidden $10,000 from the two young children of his newest wife (played by Shelly Winters with much more restraint than usual).  After murdering the woman he sets off to track down the children who have fled.  Lillian Gish plays the children's protector, a deeply religious woman who represents love in the struggle against hate.

This is an eerie and terrifying movie.  As AO Scott remarks in the video below, "While you're watching this movie you are like a child in the grip of a nightmare".  Mitchum is frightening whether charming, threatening, or both at the same time.  The film is shot using techniques from German expressionist films of the silent era, giving it a dreamlike quality.  The scenes and images from this film will stay with you for a long time.

A unique and unforgettable film, it was a commercial failure at the time and Laughton never directed another movie.  You can watch the cast and crew talk about the making of the film here.