cinema history class: the night of the hunter

Session: Bring Your Own Movie Month, Week 5 (Ethan)
Movie: The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Directed by Charles Laughton

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Plot:
A preacher marries a widow for the money her husband hid. But only her children know where it is.. Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

It's a terrible shame that Night of the Hunter was a critical and commercial failure upon its release. I say that in part because it's a really great film that deserved to be successful. But more importantly its failure resulted in Laughton never directing again, which is a true loss to the history of film.

Robert Mitchum, as the preacher, turns in one of cinema history's great creepy performances. One of the things Ethan noted in his presentation is that Laughton wanted that role for himself -- which makes sense given that he had toured the country giving Bible readings. It's fortunate that that didn't happen. As good an actor as Laughton was, I can't imagine him turning in such a strong performance as a disingenuous charmer.

Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce as the children, John and Pearl, turned in amazingly strong performances -- which was all the more amazing given their young ages. Chapin, I note, seemed very much like Billy Mumy (of Lost in Space fame).

Bob-O noted that this movie is all about adults failing the kids. Their father fails them (and his actions end up getting their mother killed), their mother fails them, the friends and neighbors fail them. The preacher -- well, it's hard to say he failed them since he had no intention of helping them. It's not until the end of the movie, when they find Mrs. Cooper (or, more accurately, Mrs. Cooper finds them) that there's an adult who they can actually rely on.

I've seen references to this movie as a noir, but I don't think that's really accurate. Other than being in black and white and having beautiful stark contrasts, it's really not noir. In many ways, it is stylistically like a silent film (except for the silent part). A lot of the imagery -- notably in the scene before the preacher stabs his wife -- seems taken from the silents.

Which brings me to the visuals. The backgrounds are often stark and minimalist. The night scenes often look like the background is a gray cloth lit from behind. And yet it works It creates a stunningly beautiful effect. And it draws you into the real action.

I just can't praise this enough.

Ratings

Me: 10

Bob-O: 9.2

Christina: 10

Dave: 10

Joe: 10
Keith: 9.8
Sharon: 8