Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Imdb P — 23 May 2011

This is a nightmarish tale of a psychopathic preacher named Harry Powell(Robert Mitchum). When Ben Harper(Peter Graves) commits killings and he hides the money, promising his sons -Pearl and John- silence about the secret place where is stashed. While Harper is in prison knows to lugubrious preacher Powell who has the words ¨Hate¨ tattooed on the knuckles of his left hand and ¨Love¨ on his right. One time condemned Ben to death penalty, Harry is freed from jail and goes to Harper's home where lures Willa(Shelley Winters) and after he marries to her in the hopes of getting the cache of money. Later the kids are protected by Rachel(Lilian Gish) when Powell threatens them , she's a valiant old lady , rifle wielding and Bible-reading.

This is an ogre-tale in which the psychotic baddie is a bogus preacher. It's a film noir classic of bizarre beauty and extraordinaries performances, a totally unique in Hollywood history .A perfect collaboration between author novel : David Grubb, the personal screenwriter: James Agee, the cameraman : Cortez and director Laughton. This unusual, odd picture is proceeded under point of sight the children, describing mysterious scenarios and has its moments of strange images such as the magic journey across the river. Top-notch Robert Mitchum in the acting of his life along with ¨Cape fear¨, magnificent Lilian Gish who defends the children wielding her shotgun. Special mention James Gleason as an old drunk who lives on a cottage over the river. Stanley Cortez's masterly cinematography drew heavily from photographers Nicholas Musuraka and John Alton, noir cinema's masters , in its use of lights,darkness and shadows to originate apprehension, suspense, mood and fear. Splendid musical score by Walter Schumann with sensible lyrics and songs creating a hypnotic atmosphere. This masterpiece is wonderfully directed by great actor Charles Laughton, his only film behind the cameras , however was a flop on original release and he was never again offered the film-making another movie. Rating: Over-the-top film, above average. Indispensable and essential watching.