A timeless must-see classic of suspense and noir (The Night Of The Hunter (DVD))

Member Name: thereddragon

Product:	The Night Of The Hunter (DVD)
Date:	16/04/09 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything - acting, direction, photography, story, script - you name it

Disadvantages: None

Starring:

Robert Mitchum as 'Reverend' Harry Powell
Shelley Winters as Willa Harper
Peter Graves as Ben Harper
Lilian Gish as Rachel Cooper
Billy Chapin as John Harper
Sally Jane Bruce as Pearl Harper

This is simply one of the very greatest films ever made - no review can ever do it justice so I don't know why I'm even trying, but I want so much to encourage you to seek out this highly unusual and absorbing classic movie.

The only movie directed by the acclaimed actor Charles Laughton, it is a pity that he didn't direct more - this 1955 film is a masterpiece of psychological suspense with a very 'Film Noir'-ish feel, beautifully photographed with excellent use of light and shadow, directed in a style that borders on the mystical and surreal, a real work of art.

And, it is the film that features the legendary iconic demented preacher who has 'Love' and 'Hate' tattooed on his knuckles and makes a profession of bumping off widows who have a bit of cash stashed away.

The story takes place in a small rural American town in the 1930s. It will draw you in from the very start, with its fantasy scene of elderly farmer Rachel Cooper superimposed upon a background of the heavens, giving a gentle Bible lesson to a group of smiling children, then segueing straight to 'Preacher' Harry Powell in his old jalopy, having his own rather different dialogue with The Lord: 'There are things you do hate, Lord - perfumed things, lacey things, things with curly hair', and muttering about there being 'a lot of killin' in the Bible'...

Cut to Harry at a sleazy strip joint, getting more and more agitated as he watches the woman onstage - out comes his hand with the knuckles famously tattooed 'Hate' and then his concealed switchblade knife springs open and the blade pops out through his jacket. 'There are too many of them,' Harry mutters upwards to The Lord. 'You can't kill the WORLD.' Creepy.

Harry suddenly receives a tap on his shoulder - it is a policeman, and he is arrested for theft of the car he had been driving. Harry does jail time for this, sharing a cell with Ben Harper who has committed murder in the process of stealing a large sum of money. Just before his arrest, Ben had hidden the money, the location of which no one has been able to get him to tell. Harry tries to pry this information out of Ben, but to no avail.

Learning of Harry's rather dodgy past, Ben asks him 'What religion do you profess, Preacher?' 'The religion the Almighty and I worked out betwixt us,' Harry replies through clenched teeth, twirling his switchblade knife which he had been able to smuggle into jail.

On being released after Ben has been executed for his crime, Harry decides to look up Ben's family, hopeful of ingratiating himself with the newly-made widow Willa and finding out where the money's hidden. He is successful at winning Willa over, and they marry. But after a short time, wedded bliss fades away as, frustrated at finding that his new family claim that they do not know anything about the money or where it is, Harry begins a campaign of terror towards Willa and her children...

The acting in this film consists of what are probably the best performances of every one of the cast's careers. A very young Peter Graves (Mr Phelps from the old 'Mission Impossible' TV series) only makes a brief appearance, as Ben, but is still memorable. The little boy and girl who play Willa and Ben's children John and Pearl are amazing actors, displaying maturity way beyond their years in depicting their resourcefulness at outsmarting Harry Powell when he turns on them. Lillian Gish is compelling as feisty old Rachel Cooper who takes in stray children and also packs a real wallop with a shotgun.

Even minor characters are so well drawn that they stick in the mind long after viewing the film. The piece de resistance of the acting performances, though, is of course Robert Mitchum having a field day as the thoroughly deranged homicidal 'reverend'. The image of Harry Powell on horseback sillhouetted against the night sky, singing his favourite hymn ('Leaning, leaning / Leaning on the everlasting arms...') while hunting for young escapees John and Pearl with the intention of killing them, is one that you never forget.

The film's sense of atmosphere is equally breathtaking, with superb sharp black & white photography of a rural Depression-era America, brilliant use of darkness and shadows, and beautifully-done artistic surreal/fantasy effects. This is a film that really HAD to be made in black & white - in colour, it could not have had the overwhelmingly Noir visual impact, so its being in black and white is not a detriment but instead sets the content off perfectly.

All things considered, if I were a filmmaker, this movie is what I would aspire
to. Even though it was made in 1955, it is just as watchable today. I've watched it countless times from childhood to the present, and am now pleased to own a copy on DVD, as I am sure I will view it countless more times.

It is a true masterpiece and if you love great films, you will probably not only never forget this one but will want to see it again sooner rather than later.

Also on ciao.co.uk as threddragon and ciao.com as EsmeraldaDragon.

Summary: A must-see