Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Scott S — 19 Feb 2011

Night of the Hunter is one of cinema's greatest told stories to grace the screen. There is no misunderstanding about why it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in its National Film Registry. It is shot in black and white so it is older (1955), but nonetheless it is a fantastically told story of good american moral, innocence, and yes Evil...true, true evil oh lord!

Night of the Hunter is loosely based on the true story of Harry Powers aka The Lonely Hearts killer who killed two widows and three children. One of the movies strong points is the sadistic character of Harry Powell played by Robert Mitchum. A holy man who is definitely "driven" by the lord.

The real story begins when a man shows up at his farm home after robbing a bank. Before he is apprehended by the law he gives his boy John $10,000 and tells him to hide the money and never tell anyone where it is.

It just so happens that the boy's father goes to prison and meets Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) who becomes his cellmate. Before the boys father is hanged to death, he tells Powell about the $10,000. After Powell is released from prison he heads seeks the $10,000 which leads him to wooeing a whole family of religious people and marrying their daughter Willa (Shelley Winters) who he brainwashes with the fear of the lord.

All of this is in effort to get closer to his true ulterior motive; to get John and his sister pearl alone and threaten them with a switch blade to tell him where the money is! Mitchum is kind of scary sometimes as he transforms from preacher to evil creep.

John and Pearl end up leaving in their uncle's boat and travel down the river where they are still pursued endlessly by the money hungry evil preacher. Timeless stuff.

The movie is a bit long, but it is worth it. It really is one of those classical era pieces that captures so much within its running time. The metaphors of good and evil throughout the film make it really eye catching. The preacher almost poses as the devil as where Rachel Cooper played by Lillian Gish poses as the salvation for the children and almost a form of god. The characters are all very classic and the character of Powell has become a cultural media icon with his "Love" and "hate" tatoos on his knuckles. Mitchum's Powell was ranked No. 29 in the villains column in AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains.