The Night of the Hunter

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves”, says Lillian Gish, suspended in the blackness of space and addressing a cluster of children. So begins one of the most beautiful and unsettling fairy tales ever committed to film. The Night of the Hunter, the only film Charles Laughton ever directed, unfolds this biblical warning into a parable set in the American South. It is the era of the Great Depression. Into a small town comes the itinerant preacher Harry Powell (a magnificent Robert Mitchum). But he has not come to spread the word of God. He is after money hidden there from a bank robbery. Morally bankrupt and predatory to the core, he is only just beginning his hunt.

Laughton wanted, as he once put it, to “restore the power of the image in the age of sound”. Drawing on German Expressionism, he created a world of subjective, abstract and pared-down sets. At the same time, the image takes on the sharpness and luminosity associated with pre-war nitrate stock. The result is a film unlike any other: singular, timeless, and far ahead of its moment. Rejected by both critics and audiences on its release, it dealt a lasting blow to Laughton’s confidence and effectively ended his directing career before it had truly begun.

Marcin Prymas

Charles Laughton (1899–1962) – British actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He built his career on Broadway and in Hollywood. He won the Academy Award for his performance in Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Henry VIII. As a director he made only one film—The Night of the Hunter—which, initially underappreciated, later gained cult status and is now regarded as one of the most important achievements of 1950s American cinema.