#541: LAUGHTON, Charles: The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

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LAUGHTON, Charles (United States)
The Night Of The Hunter [1955]
Spine #541
DVD


The Night of the Hunter — incredibly, the only film the great actor Charles Laughton ever directed — is truly a stand-alone masterwork. A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, it stars a sublimely sinister Robert Mitchum as a traveling preacher named Harry Powell (he of the tattooed knuckles), whose nefarious motives for marrying a fragile widow, played by Shelley Winters, are uncovered by her terrified young children. Graced by images of eerie beauty and a sneaky sense of humor, this ethereal, expressionistic American classic — also featuring the contributions of actress Lillian Gish and writer James Agee — is cinema's most eccentric rendering of the battle between good and evil.

93 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2010
Director/Writers


From the novel by David Grubb.
Screenplay by James Agee.
Charles Laughton was 56 when he directed The Night of the Hunter.

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Thirty-two page booklet featuring essays by critics Terrence Rafferty and Michael Sragow.

Commentary

Featuring second-unit director Terry Sanders, film critic F. X. Feeney, archivist Robert Gitt, and author Preston Neal Jones.

Documentary

Featuring interviews with producer Paul Gregory, Sanders, Feeney, Jones, and author Jeffrey Couchman.
Video interview

With Laughton biographer Simon Callow.
Clip

From The Ed Sullivan Show in which cast members perform a scene deleted from the film.
Archival documentary

Fifteen-minutes about the film, featuring Mitchum.
Archival interview

With cinematographer Stanley Cortez.
Gallery of sketches

By Grubb, author of the source novel.

Charles Laughton Directs “The Night of the Hunter”

A two-and-a-half-hour treasure trove of outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage.

Video conversation

Between Gitt and film critic Leonard Maltin about Charles Laughton Directs.

Original theatrical trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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