TCM Pick O’ The Day: Friday, January 30th
by John Nolte
9:45pm - Night Of The Hunter, The (1955) – A bogus preacher marries an outlaw’s widow in search of the man’s hidden loot. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason Dir: Charles Laughton BW-93 mins, TV-PG
Absolutely brilliant chiller anchored by Robert Mitchum’s larger-than-life performance as a psychotic preacher chasing two children for a doll stuffed with money. Equally good is former silent screen star Lillian Gish, as the children’s protector. The testament to her abilities as an actress is the dialogue she gets away with, especially near the end.
How tragic actor Charles Laughton only ever directed this one film. Unfortunately, when released, “Hunter” was not appreciated either by audiences or critics and this closed the door for Laughton to helm again. But it’s his direction and unique sensibility that makes “Hunter” so special. The film’s tone is set just a notch above reality and this allows from some amazing sequences, especially the final confrontation between Mitchum and Gish, but also a surreal trip down a river and the unforgettable, haunting underwater shot of a drowned woman in a car.
In 1962, Mitchum would play the even more sadistic Max Cady in J. Lee Thompson’s striking “Cape Fear,” and with just two roles establish himself as one of the screens most menacing villains. I’ve also read that it was Mitchum who directed the children in “Hunter” because Laughton didn’t have the patience.
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20 Comments
Great film, one of my favorites. That shot of Shelly Winters’ hair flowing with the river current is one of the most eerie and haunting I’ve ever seen. The whole movie takes on a slightly surreal quality. Gish is outstanding, as are the two children. Mitchum is the consumate bad guy, menacing and manipulative. This is a film that stays with you long after it’s over.
After you watch “The Night of the Hunter,” rewatch Scorsese’s remake of “Cape Fear,” and see how many elements Marty borrowed/homaged.
Great movie. Used to have it on LASERDISC (thousands of years ago) and never bothered to get it on DVD. I have a real problem buying the same movie over and over again, no matter how good. Same thing with CDs, though I don’t buy music anymore.
NOTE TO SEAN PENN: You can be a great actor and not b such an utter jerk. I mean, the sensitive tough buy schtick vs. real mensch. Watch more Mitchum and less Chavez/Castro.
PS: U suck.
Just when I was getting over Bruno Anthony …
Anthony Bruno, you know.
Lest we forget, screenplay by James Agee. One of the great and most lyrical writers in modern American letters, perhaps the greatest film critic, and one of the last of the great liberal artists.
Somewhere among the cells in my brain are vivid moments in a Robert Mitchum/Keely Smith (?I think, a singer?) black and white movie. It ends tragically, with Mitchum dead on the road. I think the plot involved running booze in the backroads of Appalachia.
Heather: That great drive-in classic “Thunder Road.”
Thunder Road. Mitchum also wrote the jaunty theme song, and his performance of it is FAR better than the one unfortunately used in the film.
That’s ‘Thunder Road’, Heather. Mitchum’s a moonshine runner, Smith is his songbird girlfriend. Mitchum produced, I believe. Lots of car stuff, ‘revenooers’, a rival gang, I bet it played drive-ins down South for years.
Eddie Coyle is a terrific movie, with a great cast. The late Richard Jordan made his debut.
Night of the Hunter is one of my all time faves, a truly unique movie.
MR. SIDEOUS: Ah, but did Penn ever do time for weed, as did Mitchum?
This is one of my alltime favorites also. John, you do such a great service to us amateur film lovers by your postings; that’s why I followed over from your previous site. I enjoy these postings, rather than the political stuff.
Anyway, this movie I think demonstrates a lot about how movies have changed over the past 50 years. It is a tragedy that Laughton directed only this movie, because he demonstrates such an artistic eye for atmosphere and staging shots. He lingers over shots in such a leisurely manner that they have time to stay with you. Movies have become so “fast” in the last generation, seemingly afraid to bore youngsters whose attention spans apparently have shrunk to nothingness. All of the older movies take such elegant time to present themselves….its something I miss so much.
I always viewed Mitchum as a one trick pony, but my God that trick was so extraordinary. Someone mentioned in an earlier post somewhere here that the older generation actors seemingly lacked “range”, but its much less satisfying to me to view the “jack of all trades, master of none” type actors in this generation. They seem too often to place the highest regard on how many different roles they can play with mediocrity.
It’s available on DVD, and worth it in my opinion. Of old-time films, I’m happiest with this and Ben Hur. It’s that good.
Robert Mitchum’s silhouette on the horse, singing hymns in the night sky on that ridge. One of the most chilling film scenes ever.
robert mitchum and keely smith in the same movie? My head is gonna explode…where have I been?
(QUOTE)Ronsonic – January 29th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
The remake, and eventually there will be one, will have none of the reality, brilliance or power to frighten this one had. Pretty much like Cape Fear.(END QUOTE)
There was a poor “Night of the Hunter” remake with Richard Chamberlin 15 or 20 years ago. I believe it was a made for TV film. It captured none of what made Mitchum’s version a classic.
One of my favorites. The incongruity of such beautifully composed and lit views of such horrific deeds contribute to the surreal feeling.
My 20 year-old nephew and I had a long running discussion last summer of the worst screen villians. Mitchum in this movie certainly would make my top ten – and now probably my nephew’s after seeing it.
We screened The Night Of The Hunter when the kids were younger… Whenver they’d start getting rambunctious for a few weeks after that, all the wife or I would have to do would be to sing out “Children… CHILL-drennn” a time or two to snap them back into line. That movie had its impact…
[...] John Nolte: This old black & white movie on TCM about a psychotic money-grubbing preacher is pretty cool but if you made it today it would be anti-Christian and therefore liberal and bad. [...]
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