The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Charles Laughton

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason, Evelyn Varden

From: United Artists

It was time for me to finally give this picture another shot. Many years ago, I viewed this movie once on TCM; as blasphemous as it is to state, Hunter left me cold aside from Robert Mitchum & Lillian Gish. As most seem to love the film, perhaps the passage of time and my viewing of thousands of films since then will have changed my tune. Much of it was forgotten by me, including the Christmas elements. Mitchum’s Harry Powell was perversely entertaining as an evil preacher who has “LOVE” and “HATE” tattooed on his knuckles. He discovers from cellmate Ben Harper (who doesn’t have any Innocent Criminals) that his young children know where he hid $10,000 from a robbery.

 

I know most will vehemently disagree with this opinion but a LOT of time is spent on Ben’s annoying children; that bothered me then and now as it felt so apparent and cloying. Another issue is that this is like too many 21^st century movies in that the plot is full of contrivances that most seemingly are able to ignore or not even notice—I’m incapable of not noticing. The fact that there are also several irritating adults AND there’s a major tonal shift out of nowhere when one supporting character is introduced… sadly, I was reminded why the movie did and still does leave me cold. The “fairy tale” elements don’t charm me either.

 

It is a shame that the movie left me colder than the weather currently in most of the United States. Somehow, through the passage of time the Expressionistic style faded from my mind; this proved to be the highlight for me during the second viewing. There is great imagery throughout; it is for this reason that I found it a shame Charles Laughton never directed another film. The movie featured stunning imagery throughout; that kept me engaged when the story nor most of the characters did not connect with me.

 

Most people love this film far more than I; this is why I can still recommend it to everyone despite my lukewarm opinion. The visuals-how shadows and light are used were masterful-plus a lead performance that has been paid homage to many times in the preceding 70 years are good reasons why.