The Night of the Hunter

"Chill--dren... Chill--dren?"

  ------ Reverend Harry Powell

 One of my most favorite films and just in time for Christmas, "The Night of the Hunter" was considered a critical and commercial flop in it's release but has gained considerable cult status over the decades and has now been regarded as one of the greatest American films of all time. 

The story is set in the 1930's where a man named Ben Harper (Peter Graves) is pursued and captured by the local authorities for robbery and murder. Before he is taken away Ben tells his son John (Billy Chapin) the location of the stolen money and makes him promise to tell no one. 

While languishing in jail Ben shares a prison cell with serial killer Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), he mistakenly talks in his sleep and this gives Harry the idea of taking the stolen money from Ben's family in West Virginia. 

He tracks down the Harper family after his release and woos Ben's widow Willa (Shelley Winters), Harry manages to charm everyone in town even Ben's young and naive daughter Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce) but only John was able so see through Harry's evil core. 

Harry eventually marries Willa and in the guise of the self appointed pastor of God teaches the sexually repressed former widow about the evil desires of men that destroys them to make her feel bad about herself, this is in fact part of a ruse to distract her from his real intention of finding the money that her late husband stole. 

Soon Willa disappears and turns up in the bottom of the river, the victim of Harry's maniacal murdering spree and threatens John and Pearl to reveal the money's location but they manage to escape. 

It soon becomes one of the most haunting chases as we see the evil Harry's tireless quest to find the missing "chill--dren" and claim the stolen money that he thinks is rightfully his to receive.

The Harper kids with luck ends up at the doorstep of old but tough Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish) who raises stray children but with Harry still hot on the trail, Rachel must find a way to defeat this evil before things get deadly for her and the rest of the children.  

The only film that the great Charles Laughton directed that would eventually turn into a classic years later was considered a failure by most accounts, Laughton drew his inspiration on the early German expressionist films (notable examples are The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis, Nosferatu), he was able to perfectly adapt a best selling book to a fantastic film and made it his own. 

"Don't piss off Bob Mitchum."

The set pieces were by all accounts cheaply made and when Mitchum was asked how the haunting barn scene was shot he admitted that it was not him on the horse from a distance riding but a midget. I'm not sure if that was true given Mitchum's devil may care attitude in interviews but there's no denying that even if the film was made "cheaply" it was effective enough to make it look like a fairy tale horror film that Laughton envisioned making it stand out of the films that were made back in the 50's.

The key for the film was Mitchum who made a lasting impression as the psychotic Reverend Harry, his speech regarding LOVE and HATE has been used on Spike Lee's "Do the right thing" and even his "chill-dren" used by Damon Wayan's on "Major Payne". It also didn't hurt that the film had a great supporting cast with 2 mother figures representing for the children with Shelley Winters as the tragic mother and Lillian Gish as the tough as nails savior. 

I could go on and rave about this film but a lot has been said about it already through the years and all I can say for now is to thank the great Charles Laughton for creating a timeless masterpiece. 

 Grade: A+