{"id":2747,"date":"2025-08-01T03:21:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T07:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2747"},"modified":"2025-08-30T14:54:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T18:54:01","slug":"the-night-of-the-hunter-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2747","title":{"rendered":"The Night of the Hunter-1955"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Night of the Hunter-1955<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Charles Laughton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 250 Films #61<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #351<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"804679\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed January 9, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Night of the Hunter (1955) is a fairy tale for adults. Although it is categorized as a thriller, it certainly teeters on the edge of being a horror film. In addition to being well-written, it also contains breathtaking cinematography.<\/p>\n

Made in the mid-1950s, it is shot in black and white and tells the tale of good versus evil in a small town. The film is a masterpiece and one of my all-time favorites.<\/p>\n

The film is both creepy and intelligent, and director Charles Laughton is responsible for its considerable success. Although it was not <\/strong><\/em>a success upon release, it has only finally received its due admiration as the years pass.<\/p>\n

The film is way ahead of its time.<\/p>\n

It is based on the 1953 novel by Davis Grubb.<\/p>\n

The time is the 1930s, and the setting is rural West Virginia along the Ohio River. Ben Harper, a local family man, robs a bank and hides the stolen money inside his daughter’s doll.<\/p>\n

His son and daughter (John and Pearl) are central characters in the story. Caught, Ben is out of the picture, leaving his wife, Wilma (Winters), vulnerable and alone.<\/p>\n

A serial killer, Reverend Harry Powell (Mitchum), a misogynist, is on the loose disguised as a preacher. In prison with Ben, he knows the money is hidden and is determined to find out where it is. He has designs on wooing Wilma.<\/p>\n

When dire events occur, John and Pearl are left along the river to seek refuge with a kindly older woman, Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish).<\/p>\n

The film is majestic, haunting, and artistic. Each scene seemingly glows as the dark black-and-white colors mix gorgeously with tranquility despite the dark tone of the subject matter.<\/p>\n

The Night of the Hunter also has a dream-like visual quality. In one pivotal scene, we see a dead body submerged at the bottom of the river. The scene is horrific, with bulging eyes and bloating beginning to set in, but it is also creatively beautiful.<\/p>\n

The flowing hair of the victim and the posture are mesmerizing scenes that stick with you for some time.<\/p>\n

Poetic and a sense of good versus evil, this is clearly laid out as Powell has two words imprinted on the knuckles of each hand: “L-O-V-E” and “H-A-T-E.”\u00a0 These words form the basis of the film, as both can be applied to the characters.<\/p>\n

My favorite scene is when John and Pearl travel along the Ohio River, fleeing from their rival. The shapes of the trees mirrored by the flowing river are incredible, and I can watch this scene again.<\/p>\n

A thriller, written intelligently well, with creativity for miles, is a recipe for pure delight. Director Laughton directed only this one film, encouraging creative collaboration and participation from his actors, which is evident in the resulting masterpiece.<\/p>\n

The Night of the Hunter (1955) has had a profound influence on numerous directors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Night of the Hunter-1955 Director Charles Laughton Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters Top 250 Films #61 Scott’s Review #351 Reviewed January 9, 2016 Grade: A The Night of the Hunter (1955) is a fairy tale for adults. Although it is categorized as a thriller, it certainly teeters on the edge of being a horror … Continue reading The Night of the Hunter-1955<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8020,80,4646,362,1114,4485,603,617,204,7530,7464],"tags":[8021,253,4647,363,1117,4488,604,618,258,7533,7460],"class_list":["post-2747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-61-favorite-film","category-1955-movie-reviews","category-charles-laughton","category-favorite-film-of-the-year","category-lillian-gish","category-peter-graves","category-robert-mitchum","category-shelley-winters","category-thrillers","category-top-100-films","category-top-250-films","tag-61-favorite-film","tag-1955-movie-reviews","tag-charles-laughton","tag-favorite-film-of-the-year","tag-lillian-gish","tag-peter-graves","tag-robert-mitchum","tag-shelley-winters","tag-thrillers","tag-top-100-films","tag-top-250-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2747"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21988,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions\/21988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}