Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) belongs in the same renown as American masterpieces like Citizen Kane and The Godfather. The films reputation has increased tremendously from its release, and is now regarded as one of the hidden gems of American cinema. It happens to be one of my favorite American films. I guess its a good day to celebrate America, it being Independence Day and all.
Based upon the novel by Davis Grubb, the film was a collaboration between Charles Laughton and screenwriter James Agee, it was a remarkable film for both. Remarkably, it is the only film that Laughton had directed. Renowned for his work as an actor, it was an artistic risk for Laughton. Unfortunately, the film was a critical and commercial failure, but like many films, it received new found attention in the latter part of the century.
The film starts with a strange sequence involving Lillian Gish telling a story to some children, surrounded by stars. As the plot progresses, we soon realize that children are the true heroes of the story. We are then introduced to Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a so-called preacher who is a serial killer that preys upon widows. A man who hates "perfume-smelling things" and other feminine traits, Powell preys upon women who are weaker than him. His hands are tattooed with the words "LOVE" and "HATE", and he loves to tell everyone the story of right hand vs. left hand.
Unfortunately for Willa Harper (Shelley Winters), Powell shared a cell with her husband. Her husband was thrown in jail for stealing money to help feed his children. And only his children, John and Pearl, know where the money is. So, after Mr.Harper is hanged, Powell is released and goes to woo Willa with the idea of eventually killing her and getting his tattooed hands on the money. A master of smooth talking, he succeeds.
Without going into all the details, Powell kills Willa, and her body remains at the bottom of the river, with her car. The scene showing her hair moving with the water and seaweed is strangely beautiful. It is scenes like these that separate this film from its contemporaries. There is another brilliant sequence when the children escape from Powell and drift down river at night. Pearl beings to sing a surreal song that seems to make time stop on the river to the viewer. Funny, because the scene only lasts about half a minute. Another classic scene is the murder of Willa in the bed room. The shadows in the scene are obviously taken out of German Expressionism, and Mitchum really knows how to work it. His movements and posture in that scene seem unnatural, kind of like Count Orlock in Nosferatu.
In fact, the performance of Robert Mitchum in this film is the greatest reason this film has moved into the realm of the legendary. In my opinion he is even better than Anthony Perkins in Psycho, five years later. He reminds me of Travis Bickle in the sense that, while proclaiming he is above worldly desires such as lust, why is he then seen at a burlesque show? The character has so many intricacies that add to his effectiveness. The aforementioned tattooed hands has become almost a cliche. In Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, there is a repetition of that same story. Maybe it is in homage. Perhaps Powell's greatest character trait is the singing. When Powell is on the hunt, he always sings the biblical song, "Leaning on Jesus". When his silhouette is seen on the horizon, it is incredibly eerie hearing his voice sing out. In the final showdown, as he watches the house of Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish), he sings again, yet this time Gish returns the favor, singing the second part of the song in tandem with his singing. This simple scene is brilliant. It reveals the yin-yang of good and evil. It shows that while both of the characters are complete opposites, their roots are not that far apart. Maybe any one of us has the potential to be a Harry Powell. The biblical references in this film are many. I am not an expert on scripture, but being that the children are received by Rachel Cooper (funny that Gish was always dealing with children, even as far back as Intolerance) after their scif lands, it parallels the story of Moses.
There are some parts of the film that I find superfluous, namely the last five to ten minutes. The children celebrating Christmas with Lillian Gish seems unnecessary to me. However, I plan on watching this film many more times. And, maybe during this expenditure, I will finally see the point. All in all, this is one of my favorite films of all time, and it really should be seen by all. Especially horror fans. Chil-dren?
