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The Night of the Hunter Overview:

The Night of the Hunter (1955) was a Film Noir - Drama Film directed by Charles Laughton, Robert Mitchum (uncredited) and Terry Sanders (uncredited) and produced by Paul Gregory.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Davis Grubb published in 1953.

SYNOPSIS

In this eerie meditation on good and evil, a murderous "preacher" with the elemental forces of "love" and "hate" tattooed on each hand relentlessly hunts two small children across the Depression-era Bible Belt to get at their dead father's stolen fortune. He marries then kills their mother (Winters), and the children flee on a nighttime river odyssey to the protection of Gish. In the only directorial effort by Laughton (from a screenplay by Agee), Mitchum turns in the performance of his career, with Gish as costar and camerawork by Cortez, of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). A dreamlike parable laced with stunningly orchestrated symbolism. Despite current critical acclaim, it was a box-office flop and was nominated for no Academy Awards.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Night of the Hunter was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1992.

The Night of the Hunter BlogHub Articles:

Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, and Lillian Gish star in "The Night of the Hunter"

By Stephen Reginald on May 30, 2023 From Classic Movie Man

Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, and Lillian Gish star in "The Night of the Hunter" The Night of the Hunter (1955) is an American thriller directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, and Lillian Gish. The supporting cast includes James Gleason, Evelyn Varden, Billy ... Read full article

The Night of the Hunter (1955), Charles Laughton’s horrifying masterpiece

By Carol Martinheira on Oct 8, 2021 From The Old Hollywood Garden

The Night of the Hunter (1955), Charles Laughton’s horrifying masterpiece On October 8, 2021October 8, 2021 By CarolIn Uncategorized Can you believe it’s October already? I certainly can’t. But you know what that means. Horror Month is here! And we kick o... Read full article

Silver Screen Standards: The Night of the Hunter (1955)

By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 8, 2020 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Silver Screen Standards: The Night of the Hunter (1955) The Night of the Hunter (1955) is such a haunting and unusual film that I often wonder what else Charles Laughton might have produced had he directed any more movies, but if he was only going to direct once at least we got this picture to sh... Read full article

ClassicFlix (Teen Scene): The Night of the Hunter (1955)

By Virginie Pronovost on Jun 29, 2017 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

From March 2015 to April 2017, I was writing the monthly Teen Scene column for the website ClassicFlix. My objective was to promote classic films among teenagers and young adults. Due to the establishing of a new version of the website, it’s now more difficult to access to the old version and read... Read full article

Love Fights Hate in "The Night of the Hunter"

By Rick29 on Sep 8, 2016 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

In addition to a gallery of memorable performances, actor Charles Laughton’s cinematic legacy includes one fling with directing—but oh what a fling it is! The Night of the Hunter is a haunting, poetic film that explores themes ranging from the battle between good and evil to the propensi... Read full article

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The Night of the Hunter Quotes:

Rachel Cooper: Women are such durn fools.
Icey Spoon: [about sex in marriage] A woman's a fool to marry for that. That's somethin' for a man. The Good Lord never meant for a decent woman to want that. Not really want it. It's all just a fake and a pipe dream.
Icey Spoon: A husband's one piece of store goods you never know 'til you get it home and take the paper off.
Birdie Steptoe: Man of my age needs a little snort in the morning, heat the boilers.
Rachel Cooper: [to Ruby, sobbing in her lap] Child... You were looking for love, Ruby, in the only foolish way you knew how.
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The Night of the Hunter Facts
In the Spanish version the translators changed the name of the girl from Pearl to May, perhaps for the difficult pronunciation in Spanish.
The sequence purportedly showing the preacher riding a horse in the distance was filmed in false perspective and was actually a midget astride a pony.
Stanley Cortez, the cinematographer on "Night of the Hunter", had also worked on Orson Welles's masterpiece, "The Magnificent Ambersons". He remarked some years after the making of this film that only two directors he'd worked with had understood light, "that incredible thing that can't be described": Welles and Laughton.
The Swedish title spoils the film, as it tells where the money is hidden.
Robert Mitchum was very eager for the part of the preacher. When he auditioned, a moment that particularly impressed Charles Laughton was when Laughton described the character as "a diabolical shit." Mitchum promptly answered, "Present!"
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