NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
(1955)With Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish, Shelley Winters, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce, Peter Graves
Directed by Charles Laughton
Black and White
Reviewed by JL
With THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER,
Charles Laughton
proved himself the greatest one-hit wonder in film history.
The
actor's lone directing effort was a stunning and unique masterpiece
that ranks with the best of Hitchcock and Welles in terms of visual
inventiveness and dark thematic undertones. A parable, a
fairy
tale, and a surreal horror story all in one, the film chronicles an
episodic cross-country chase by the psychotic, murderous "Reverend"
Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum in his greatest performance), who is in
pursuit of two orphaned children who know the hidden location of their
late father's $10,000 stash. The great Lillian Gish is a
pillar
of integrity as the film's moral core, and Shelley Winters is
appropriately innocent as Powell's tragic and psychologically abused
wife. Perhaps THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER's most impressive
aspect is
how everything is unified under Laughton's highly stylized approach:
the acting is mannered, the visuals are darkly expressionistic, and
everything rings emotionally true through all the artifice.
An
amazing and unforgettable film without antecedent or descendant
anywhere in American film history. 
- JL
http://thestuffyougottawatch.com
Copyright © 2010 John V. Brennan, John Larrabee