The Night Of The Hunter

UK Release Date. 24 November 1955
Certification. X
Running Time. 1 hour 32 mins
Director. Charles Laughton
Cast. Lillian Gish, James Gleason, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters.
Rating. 71%

Review.

Dismissed at the time of its release, by critics and audiences alike, The Night Of The Hunter has steadily grown in stature over the years. The malevolent, expressionistic film noir is memorable for two things; Robert Mitchum's impressive lead performance and secondly, the masterful use of lighting throughout the film.

Robert Mitchum's portrayal of pastor Harry Powell - a misogynistic serial killer posing as a lay preacher, who marries widows for their money and murders them in the name of the Lord - is mesmerising. Some may say, his performance is a foretaste of his role as Max Cady in J. Lee Thompson's Cape Fear, but for me it is the sinister preacher with the words 'love' and 'hate' tattooed on his fingers that provides Mitchum with the role of his career.

Few films come close to the use of light used in The Night Of The Hunter by cinematographer Stanley Cortez. Every cinematic element is carefully planned. The use of shadows and contrast throughout the film adds to it's monochrome beauty, while symbolising the contrast of good versus evil. For example, the children [John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce)] are usually illuminated in bright light, with little to no shadows cast on their faces. Pastor Harry Powell, on the other hand, nearly always has half of his face covered in shadow. The stark lighting is routinely used to convey a character's demeanour and intent. A brief moment before her murder, we see Willa (Shelley Winters) lying on a bed with crossed arms, and a light glow around her. The shot is eerily, and purposefully, akin to a religious portrait of the Virgin Mary. Stunning cinematography that preaches the film's overarching theme, the conflict between good and evil.

The Night Of The Hunter is a film that has most certainly stood the test of time. At its heart, the film is a sinister and idiosyncratic fairy tale. But The Night Of The Hunter is also a noir thriller, laced with the darkest elements of both genres - death, greed, guilt, cruelty, poverty and a terrifying pursuit by the most menacing of villains. Today's films may be more complex, more explicit and more dynamic, but this is film noir.