Search - The Night of the Hunter

Adapted by James Agee from a novel by Davis Grubb, The Night of the Hunter represented legendary actor Charles Laughton's only film directing effort. Combining stark realism with Germanic expressionism, the movie is a brilliant good-and-evil parable, with "good" represented by a couple of farm kids and a pious old lady, and "evil" literally in the hands of a posturing psychopath. Imprisoned with thief Ben Harper (Peter Graves), phony preacher Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) learns that Ben has hidden a huge sum of money somewhere near his home. Upon his release, the murderously misogynistic Powell insinuates himself into Ben's home, eventually marrying his widow Willa (Shelley Winters). Eventually all that stands between Powell and the money are Ben's son (Billy Chapin) and daughter (Sally Jane Bruce), who take refuge in a home for abandoned children presided over by the indomitable, scripture-quoting Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish). The war of wills between Mitchum and Gish is the heart of the film's final third, a masterful blend of horror and lyricism. Laughton's tight, disciplined direction is superb -- and all the more impressive when one realizes that he intensely disliked all child actors. The music by Walter Schumann and the cinematography of Stanley Cortez are every bit as brilliant as the contributions by Laughton and Agee. Overlooked on its first release, The Night of the Hunter is now regarded as a classic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Mitchum - Preacher Harry Powell
Shelley Winters - Willa Harper
Lillian Gish - Rachel Cooper
Billy Chapin - John Harper
Evelyn Varden - Icey Spoon
Peter Graves - Ben Harper

A notorious bomb when it was first released in 1955, The Night of the Hunter quickly became a highly regarded cult favorite before taking on the stature of a revered classic. This MGM DVD release of the dark, feverishly hallucinatory film doesn't deliver the definitive deluxe treatment that The Night of the Hunter deserves, but the full-screen transfer has been remastered and conforms to the original theatrical aspect ratio. This edition beautifully showcases Stanley Cortez's rich, textured black-and-white cinematography. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio track is balanced and clean and this inexpensive DVD also comes with an eight-page booklet on the making of The Night of the Hunter, which features a brilliant, truly unsettling central performance by the perpetually underrated Robert Mitchum. Though James Agee is still widely praised for writing the screenplay, the movie's producers and Mitchum are on record as saying that his sprawling draft was unusable and that director Charles Laughton did the uncredited adaptation himself. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide

These movies have the subject or theme of The Night of the Hunter...
2	See No Evil (PG)
4	Nightmare at Bittercreek (PG-13)
4	This Gun for Hire (NR)
25	North by Northwest (NR)
1	Hands of a Murderer (NR)
3	Saboteur (PG)
16	Dirty Harry (R)
S	The Darkside (R)
These movies share cast/crew with The Night of the Hunter...
2	Thunder Road (PG)
9	Suddenly
8	Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn (NR)
1	Man on the Eiffel Tower
2	Empire of the Ants/Tentacles (PG)
3	What's the Matter With Helen?/Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (PG)
S	Katharine Hepburn Collection
1	Film Noir Classics Collection, Vol. 3 (NR)
S	The Boris Karloff Collection (NR)
4	Out of the Past (NR)
S	Scream of the Wolf (NR)
9	The Tenant (R)
3	What's the Matter With Helen?/Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (PG)
10	Stalag 17 (NR)
S	Illegal/The Big Steal (NR)
These movies cover the same subjects as The Night of the Hunter...
6	Undertow (R)
These movies are similar to The Night of the Hunter...
9	Cape Fear (NR)
3	Elmer Gantry (NR)
7	M [Subtitled]
1	Eye of God (R)
10	The Devil's Backbone (R)
2	Don't Bother to Knock [Diamond Collection] (NR)