The Night of the Hunter

Rating:
Summary: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Review: I first saw this movie with my sorority sisters on tv in the sixties, and it scared all of us to death. I can remember very clearly the scene where Shelly Winters is underwater with her hair floating upwards, and it still gives me chills. What scared me most was that all the characters were nightmarishly unreal except for the boy and Lillian Gish. Even little Pearl wasn't realistically written...what child can sing the way she does in the floating boat? Later, thanks to a viewing of "The Lusty Men," I became a real fan of Robert Mitchum and never missed an opportunity to watch him. Whether playing a moonshiner in "Thunder Road" (incidentally, I know all the words to the song, too!), to watching end-of-career interviews on AMC, I saw them all. Many of the reviews I have seen online of this movie("Night of the Hunter") make much of the fact that James Agee wrote the script. In an interview Mitchum said the original script by Agee had to be completely rewritten by Charles Laughton who got absolutely no credit for it. He also said the German Impressionist look to the movie came about for the same reason original German Impressionism was invented: no money! The really creepy scene where the boy says "Don't he ever sleep?" while looking out the window at Mitchum's silhouette on the horizon is an optical illusion. That's really a midget on a pony inside a sound studio, photographed to look like a long shot of Mitchum. The budget was miniscule for the movie because nobody wanted to invest a lot in Laughton's initial directorial effort.

Rating:
Summary: A gothic film-noir classic....
Review: Charles Laughton unfortunately only directed one film, but what a brilliant one it turned out to be! A gothic film-noir classic infused with a wicked sense of understated black humor.

The storyline is quite simple; centered around the quest for the loot of a bank-robbery gone wrong, but the real high-point of this film is Robert Mitchum.

Mitchum's portrayal of a sexually frustrated, sadistic, murderous conman, that tries to uncover the whereabouts of 10.000 $ by presenting himself as a god-fearing preacher-man, is one of the most sinister and menacing displays of criminally insane, psychopatic behaviour ever captured on film.

Laughton's direction and Stanley Cortez's cinematography, especially in the underwater, where the dead body of Shelly Winters is found strapped to her car, and in the nightmare-ish, dream-like sequense, where Mitchum stalks the river-bound children, creates scenes that has forever etched themselves in my "movie-memory".

Laughton's directing-style seem influenced by german expressionists as Fritz Lang or Walter Ruttmann with his highly stylized use of film-techniques to underline Mitchum's darkened mental state and the general disturbed "feel" of this truly frightening film.

Rating:
Summary: A milestone in American cinema
Review: 'Night of the Hunter' probably deserves special recognition not only as a Hollywood classic, but as a product of the studio system in which an unproven director and screenwriter managed to create a truly unique work. Obviously influenced by European film and literature (as the house reviewer deftly explained), this is still an indisputable product of America that works as parable, social criticism, art and entertainment.

The look of the film is probably its most noteworthy aspect-- stark, fantastic, and atmospheric, it manages to capture a haunting slice of existence as seen from the eyes of the very young, even as it maintains a highly intellectual tone. The performances are top-notch, with the only sour notes coming from the children on one or two occasions, and from the adults when they deliver lines to the camera in what are the only obviously dated moments within the film (these come at the very beginning and the very end, and seem more like unsuccessful attempts to incorporate theatrical elements into the film-- perhaps inevitable from a famed actor directing for the first time).

The film is full of astounding moments, from the haunting visuals of Shelley Winters as a recently-born again preacher to her appearance as a beatific corpse to the children's escape from a lynch mob. But the most spectacular, beautiful and haunting (and I suspect for most adult viewers, the most evocative of childhood) scenes are those of the children's flight down the Mississippi River in an idyllic American wonderland of clear skies and abundant wildlife, which stand in stark contrast to the Expressionistic scenes in which they live in poverty and in fear of Mitchum's murderous preacher.

While 'Night of the Hunter' hasn't aged quite as well as some other truly American cinematic classics, its sensitive portrayal of life in America and the historical moments that define our nation more than deserves a place next to the best, a la 'Bonnie & Clyde,' 'Little Big Man,'and 'Ride the High Country.'

Rating:
Summary: The second best movie of all time.
Review: I'll be predictable and say "Citizen Kane" is the greatest movie ever. But I've always felt "The Night of the Hunter" is a rather unpredictable No. 2. It answers the question, "Are movies art?" The music, the black-and-white images, the dream-like quality to this work elevate it from entertainment media to artistic experience. Not pretentiously so, I might add. For one thing, we have real big-time actors here, not the no-name wanna-be actors we often see in those low budget independent films. And the two main children, brother and sister, are perhaps the best child actors I've ever seen on screen. There is a sadness in their portrayal which sets the film apart. Robert Mitchum is at his "Cape Fear" creepy best, but one must praise the subtlety he brought to his finest performances. I've never heard enough praise given to James Gleason, maybe because he's confused with Ralph G., but he added to the stature of many-a film, this one more than any other. The car floating under water, dreamily-- an unforgettable image. And the almost unrealistic night sky of stars that are almost too bright. The feeling of helplessness as the young kids try to escape a danger too large to comprehend. The feeling of peace and freedom on the river. The geniune religious quality to the entire movie, especially the final scene. Charles Naughton crafted a totally unique experience in this movie, with an exciting plot and universal theme. Like all great works of art, we can completely enjoy it while we're in it, but after we walk away know that there is so much more to it. I can't be more specific without giving away the plot, but just know this isn't the usual "thumbs up!" (By the way, I'd rank "The Apartment" at No. 3 and after that, I don't know).

Rating:
Summary: A dark journey on the river of dreams...
Review: There are images in Night of the Hunter, Charles Laughton's only film as a director, that will sear themselves into your brain and haunt you the rest of your life. That's not hyperbole; this film is simply that potent.

Nothing about Night of the Hunter is "realistic" or even plausible - not the plot, not the dialogue, not the behavior of the child characters, not the photography. Yet, Night of the Hunter transcends realism utterly to do something far more challenging than merely create a simulacrum of reality. It creates a waking dream - a vivid hallucination of fearsome beasts, tragic heroines, children in peril, and ultimate redemption. It succeeds as a modern fairy tale in the darkest tradition of the brothers Grimm. Even comparisons to German expressionist cinema of the silent era (apt though they are) diminish the singular, elemental power of this film. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu are stunning, but it's hard to imagine either of them getting under the skin in quite the same way.

The plot centers on the evil machinations of Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a murderous, psychotic "preacher" who does time with bank-robber Ben Harper (Peter Graves), father of two young children (Billy Chapin - brother of Father Knows Best star Lauren, and Sally Jane Bruce). Before being taken away by the police, Harper hid the money he stole and swore his children to secrecy about its location. No one else - not even their mother Willa (wonderfully played by Shelley Winters) - knows where the money is hidden. But after Ben Harper is hanged for the murder of two bank guards killed during the robbery, Harry Powell makes it his business to find out. Thus begins a cinematic odyssey like no other, filled with stark symbolism and eerie imagery.

Perhaps the most unsettling image is the celebrated shot of Willa's corpse in the river, strapped into a car, her hair billowing out in the water like the aquatic plants that surround her. It is one of the strongest images in all cinema - comparable to the baby carriage racing down the Odessa steps in Battleship Potemkin, or the eyeglasses landing on the snow-covered battlefield of Dr. Zhivago.

The central sequence is a boat journey that the children take down-river in an attempt to escape the evil preacher. Though obviously filmed on a sound stage and filled with incongruous and frankly theatrical moments, the overall effect is nearly overwhelming in the way it evokes childhood fears of abandonment and pursuit. Every time I see it, I fall completely under its spell.

Stanley Cortez's breathtaking black-and-white cinematography is complemented by Walter Schumann's atmospheric score. There is a moment during the river journey when Pearl (the little girl) begins singing a children's lullaby. The orchestra swells and turns the song into a dreamy, meditative piece of night music - filled with dread, sadness, and awe. It's not at all realistic, but if that scene doesn't give you chills, then you're just made of stone.

It is fitting that Lillian Gish plays the children's savior, the elderly Mrs. Cooper - a righteous woman with a steely constitution. Gish was there for the birth of cinema itself. Her presence in Night of the Hunter is like seal of approval, a testimony to this film's enduring status as a classic.

My only reservation with this otherwise superb DVD is the warning at the beginning that "This film has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your TV". Either that's flatly untrue (as Night of the Hunter looks perfectly at home in 4:3), or MGM has cheated us by not giving a true American classic its due.

Rating:
Summary: A HAUNTING PARABLE
Review: This is a very special film, in that it was the only one to be directed by Charles Laughton. Very Germanic in it's creepy photography, the movie has much symbolism and it very well acted. I can see why it wasn't a success in 1955, it being ahead of its time. It plays like a fairy tale and a thriller all at once. I liked the old uncle played by James Gleason, Evelyn Varden is an amusing pain as Icey Spoon and Mitchum is genuine and convincing as the psychotic 'preacher'. I wasn't crazy about the artificial set where Ruby goes to find love. I felt Lillian Gish gave the best performance in the film.Creepy is the scene where the children's mother (Shelley Winters) is shown beneath the water, drowned by Mitchum. My favorite part is where the kids are sleeping in the hayloft and John wakes up in the wee hours and sees Powell's sillouette riding a horse singing "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" - he remarks to himself in horrific disbelief "Don't he ever sleep?" The music is hauntingly realized although the scene where Pearl sings a song in the rowboat with John is ridiculous - a child her age wouldn't sing such lyrics.

Rating:
Summary: If this is a masterpiece, so is a paint-by-# of Mona Lisa
Review: I am still wondering why this film has so much admiration, being called brilliant, a masterpiece, terrifying, etc. etc. Because I was laughing most of the way through it...this film is HOKEY, folks! I was not scared at all; much of the plot was predictable ( I knew right away where the money was hidden), the acting was bad (even Robert Mitchum's performance was so silly), the music a bit too out front and not compatable at times, the sets cheap (like that "cardboard" barn and the string spiderweb), the story did not flow smoothly and was not always understandable, character/relational development was lacking...I could go on. Really, I couldn't believe how amateurish this film came across.

The reason I watched it is not because I like "scary/weird/disturbing" movies. I don't. But I enjoy studying the art of classic film, and I have seen Charles Laughton in some films, and so I was curious what he had to offer as a director. Sadly, I found it was a pitiful offering. Not that it was all Laughton's fault. For we many people work together to make the whole film come out okay. I felt this film had much potential to be a very disturbing film. But it never took off, it just floundered around, trying to be something good, but not delivering. Perhaps Charles Laughton had a vision but for some reason was just not able to bring it all together to a satisfying whole. You could see he tried hard in this film, but often I think he tried too hard. He tried to put in too much with varied camera angles, shadows, etc. A few times he almost achieves some artistic beauty...esp. the scene of the boy seeing the preacher on the ground being arrested as almost a flashback of seeing his own father in that similar situation, and when Mitchum, while sitting out front of Lillian Gish's house in the night, singing the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms", and Lillian Gish joins in. This is a beautiful hymn; we see that the song means something much different to Gish's character than it does to the preacher. But sadly, Laughton just did not seem to have the gift to handle these scenes exactly right.

I think it began very well, with the Bible verses speaking of how we can tell a man by his fruit...a good man brings forth good fruit, etc. Obviously, we are set up to know right away this preacher is just a wolf in sheeps clothing. I think the ending could have been much more effective if they had had Bible verses being quoted by Lillian Gish at the end too...to reinforce this concept. Or to have quoted other Bible verses about how good always overcomes evil,or how our sin will always be found out, etc. I felt the ending Laughton left us with was too weak.

As I said, the acting overall was bad. I know it is hard to find good child actors, and that can be excused sometimes, but in a story such as this, better child actors would have helped a lot. I was glad to see Lillian Gish in something, and I felt she did well, except in the weak ending. I feel Shelley Winters was very good as a very confused, guilt-laden young mother. Robert Mitchum did not impress me at all. In the basement scene with the children, he was so silly...groping after them like Frankenstein or something...I couldn't help laughing, and this was supposed to be a very scary moment for these children. And when he had a bad experience with Lilian Gish and her gun that night at her home, and he runs off howling to the barn, well I broke out laughing! He sounded like Disney's big bad wolf, on my son's story tape, howling as he ran away from his fall into the little pig's pot of boiling water!!! It was so so silly!! So so unreal!! Again, this should have been a very suspensful moment, and again, it just ended up very amateurish and silly. I can't say Mitchum ever really appeared scary. Couldn't Laughton see this?? He himself gave a very scary performance in The Barretts of Wimpole Street...he played Mr. Barrett, Elizabeth's oppressive, controlling, religiously-misguided and over-zealous father. The scenes where he commands the one daughter to bring the port for Elizabeth to drink and later the scene where he makes that one daughter swear an oath on the Bible are truly frightening...why? Because they were so real...the first time I watched Laughton as Mr. Barrett, it instantly brought back the exact same feelings of fear and oppression I felt with my stepfather in my childhood. A good film should have you feeling or understanding what the characters are feeling. Laughton took part in good movie making as an actor, so it was a disappointment to see that he couldn't achieve the same realism in his own directorial efforts.

I think this is about enough. I am sorry to know that Laughton was so discouraged by the reception of this, his first effort at directing, that he never tried again. Maybe if he tried again, he could have learned from the mistakes made in this film, and could have presented us with something better. Maybe he should have tried a different genre too, not suspense. But then, maybe he just did not have the gift to be a director!

I think most people would agree that Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense. Many of his films are indeed true masterpieces. But of course not all were...noone is perfect!

As for films that were truly frightening to me (besides Hitchcock ones), I thought "Sorry, Wrong Number" was very very effective in that regard, as was "Sudden Fear" with Joan Crawford. I thought "The Bad Seed" was also quite frightening, but in that one, there were a few moments of hokiness as well.

This is a film where one watch was more than enough for me. However, one good use for this film would be in a film class; it would serve as a great example and topic of discussion of errors in movie making.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic film-noir
Review: I saw this movie when I was a child and it absolutely terrified me. It also captivated me with its surreal photography, dream-like sequences, and haunting images. This movie sticks in the mind LONG after you've finished it. Mitchim is terrifying and there are scenes that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. A must for every collection

Rating:
Summary: Freakin' Awesome! Believe me, it's NOT overrated!
Review: This film should easily dethrone "Citizen Kane" from of any Top Ten list. There's plenty more to it, but I'll give it 5 stars for imagery alone. After all, this is CINEMA we're dealing with, folks.

It's unfortunate that this was Charles Laughton's first and only attempt at directing, but the fact that he was able to produce something as magnificent as this on his first outing is simply astounding. One can only imagine what great things might have been.

The scene where the children are starting down the river and Pearl begins to sing the song about the "pretty fly" is simply unmatched in its haunting beauty and is alone worth the price of admission.

Do yourself a favor. Trust in the advice of the clear majority and pick up a copy of "Night of the Hunter". If you truly love cinema you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: The megaplex is thataway...
Review: To the 3, 2 and 1-star reviewers, I have this to say. You don't "get" the movie. That sounds elitist, and maybe it is, but it's true. If you're looking for cinematic reference points for this movie, consider surrealism and expressionism (e.g. the great German classics of the '20s, like "Nosferatu" and "Metropolis"), read some William Faulkner, and have a look at the stories contained in an old French cathedral's stained-glass windows.

If you have the proper mindset, this is one of the greatest movies ever made. If you're looking for a "blockbuster", you're certainly in the wrong place, and please don't regale us with smug write-off reviews while you're here.