Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Elliott F — 23 May 2011
Charles Laughton's only directorial feature was the gothic fairytale The Night of the Hunter. The film follows Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), an independent preacher and psychotic zealot with the words LOVE and HATE iconically tattooed on his knuckles.
When Powell establishes himself in the lives of a widow (Shelley Winters) whose late husband stashed $10,000 in an unknown location, he becomes obsessed in finding the location of the money. The only people in the world who know where the money is are the woman's two young children: John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce).
Powell will go to such lengths to obtain the money as murder. The brilliant execution of the story is masterful. Laughton's direction is at once lyrical and twisted, macabre and pastoral; it's impossible to tell that it was his directorial debut.
The cast is uniformly excellent, breathing life into a morbid tale, but best of all is Robert Mitchum, whose wicked performance as the serial killing preacher is one of the most chilling of all time. In her limited screen time, Winters crafts a deeply disturbed woman who tricks herself into religious zealousness after marrying Powell.
The two children--especially Chapin, who played John--are excellent, possibly standing as two of the finest child performances ever. And lastly, screen legend Lillian Gish, whose character is a lone beam of light in a world proven to be dark, vicious, and cruel, delivers a heart-rending, beautiful performance.
The Night of the Hunter is an absolute masterpiece, in every sense.
This review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) was written by Elliott F on 23 May 2011.
The Night of the Hunter has generally received very positive reviews.
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