The Night of the Hunter (1955)
92%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins
Featuring Robert Mitchum’s formidable performance as a child-hunting preacher, The Night of the Hunter is a disturbing look at good and evil.
The Night of the Hunter is a classic horror film that will leave you feeling both terrified and impressed. Charles Laughton’s direction is daring and unconventional, making it a unique Hollywood production. The story is haunting and the characters are grotesque, but that’s what makes it stand out as one of the great pieces of American genre cinema. And let’s not forget about Preacher Powell, one of the greatest movie villains of all time. Overall, if you’re a fan of moody and evocative dramas, this film is definitely worth a watch. Just be prepared to have the old hymn “Learning” stuck in your head for days.
Production Company(ies)
Fox 2000 Pictures, New Regency Productions, Linson Films,
Distributor
United Artists
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Moundsville, West Virginia, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1955
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 32m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 29, 1955 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 25, 2000
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
Mystery, Thriller, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Peter Graves, James Agee, Charles Laughton, Paul Gregory, United Artists, Mono, 35mm, MPAA rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by critics, directed by Charles Laughton, written by James Agee and Charles Laughton, good vs evil, religious fanatic, serial killer, child-hunting preacher, stolen loot, condemned murderer, widow, children, disturbing, haunting, horror, film noir, German Expressionism, symbolism, cinematography, sound design, visual style, experimental, striking imagery, powerful performances, iconic villain, commentary on religion, morality, society
Worldwide gross: $2,001
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $25,208
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,117
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,749
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Shelley Winters – Willa Harper
Lillian Gish – Rachel Cooper
Evelyn Varden – Icey Spoon
Peter Graves – Ben Harper
James Gleason – Birdie Steptoe
Director(s)
Charles Laughton
Writer(s)
James Agee, Charles Laughton
Producer(s)
Paul Gregory
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 wins
Academy Awards
All Critics (79) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (74) | Rotten (5)
The Night of the Hunter doesn’t altogether, as they say, “come off,” but it is a film of extremely individual flavour, and its daring, its indifference to convention, make it uniquely surprising for a Hollywood production today.
October 2, 2020
Gavin Lambert
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Mr. Charles Laughton directs, and, since Mr. Laughton is a highly intelligent man, nothing that he does is without interest. The Night of the Hunter is indeed none the less interesting for being a failure.
October 2, 2020
Times (UK) Staff
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It is doubtful that you will ever hear the old hymn, ‘Learning,’ again without recalling the gaunt, flapping figure of Preacher Powell as he lams it out in the dark night — to the terror of the listening youngsters
June 28, 2019
Philip K. Scheuer
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
The only film directed by actor Charles Laughton, this haunting masterpiece is simply one of the best horrors ever made.
September 6, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
It’s overwrought and lurid; the story is grotesque and so are the characters. It’s unlike anything else before and since. And that is why this strident psychological horror stands up now as one of the great pieces of American genre cinema.
October 5, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
One of the great movie horror tales, with one of the greatest of all movie villains.
October 14, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
[Director Charles Laughton] is experimenting with the medium and, if he fails more of often than he succeeds, this does not make his attempt less admirable. The Night of the Hunter is frequently bad, but it is never less than interesting.
June 7, 2022
Eugene Archer
Film Culture
That The Night of the Hunter was Charles Laughton’s first effort as a director is remarkable. That it was his only film behind the camera is one of cinema’s most unfortunate tragedies.
February 12, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
One of the most iconic American Gothic films and delves deeply into the fear and anxieties of small-town inertia.
June 25, 2021
Rob Aldam
Backseat Mafia
It is a true original, unable to be categorized in any specific box or genre, existing within parameters set only by itself.
April 15, 2021
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
The strong dramatic values inherent in the plot have been dissipated by the director’s striving for symbolic touches and for unusual camera effects, as well as by the fact that the characterizations are not clearly defined and lack conviction.
October 2, 2020
P.S. Harrison
Harrison’s Reports
If you enjoy a moody, and often evocative drama, The Night of the Hunter will appeal to you. When Mr. Laughton learns to tell a story through his actors rather than symbolism, something very fine will result.
October 2, 2020
Frank Morriss
Winnipeg Free Press…
Plot
It’s the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his adolescent son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl’s favorite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death. But before he is executed, Ben is in the state penitentiary with a cell mate, a man by the name of Harry Powell, a self-professed man of the cloth, who is really a con man and murderer, swindling lonely women, primarily rich widows, of their money before he kills them. Harry does whatever he can, unsuccessfully, to find out the location of the $10,000 from Ben. After Ben’s execution, Harry decides that Willa will be his next mark, figuring that someone in the family knows where the money is hidden. Despite vowing not to remarry, Willa ends up being easy prey for Harry’s outward evangelicalism; she is a pious woman who feels she needs to atone for her sins which led to Ben doing what he did, especially as Harry presents himself as the preacher who worked at the prison and provided salvation to Ben before his death. Harry quickly figures out that John and Pearl know where the money is. Conversely, John doesn’t trust Harry, John who first tries not to show to Harry that he indeed does know where the money is, and then second constantly reminds a more-trusting Pearl of their promise to their now-deceased father. With Willa devoted to her new husband, John and Pearl need some other adult assistance in evading Harry’s veiled threats, an adult who not only can see the honesty and goodness in children but who can also see a true wolf in sheep’s clothing like Harry.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Robert Mitchum delivers a formidable performance as the child-hunting preacher in The Night of the Hunter.
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