The Night of the Hunter (film)

Harold Matson, a literary agent, sent a copy of the 1953 novel The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb to Paul Gregory.[11] He sent the book to Laughton, who loved it and described it as a "nightmarish Mother Goose story".[12] Laughton contacted Grubb, and the two of them instantly got along very well. He traveled to Philadelphia, where Grubb lived, and they spent five days discussing ideas for the film. Grubb had studied art in college, so he offered to draw sketches as a form of inspiration. Laughton loved the drawings, and many of them were used in the film's storyboard.[13]

At first Grubb was being considered to write the screenplay himself, but the studio wanted to hire someone with experience writing for films.[14] James Agee was hired as the screenwriter because he was from the South and had experience writing about the Depression.[15] Agee began writing in April 1954, and finished in June, but his script was 293 pages: much too long for a feature film. Laughton made significant rewrites to the script, and his was the version used for shooting, even though he insisted that Agee be credited as the only writer.[16][9] Agee's original script ended with a shot of children's faces floating among the stars, an idea that was eventually moved to the opening of the film.[17] Throughout 1954, Gregory worked with the Production Code Administration to change the script to meet the guidelines of the Production Code. There was much concern about depicting a preacher on screen as an evil person, and Gregory made an effort to make the character of the Reverend not appear to be a real, ordained minister. Eventually the script was approved, but Protestant groups who had read the script continued to object to the film's production.[9]

While preparing for the filming, Laughton studied silent films by viewing their original nitrate prints, including The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He wanted to "restore the power of silent films to talkies."[18]

The budget of the film was a little under $600,000,[19] of which about $75,000 was for the rights to adapt the novel.[20]

Robert Mitchum playing Reverend Harry Powell and Shelley Winters as Willa Harper

Laughton's initial thought after reading the novel was to cast himself in the role of the preacher, but Gregory convinced him that no studio would finance a film unless they cast someone else.[21][22] For the most part, he did not hold traditional auditions for the actors; he simply met with them to get a sense of their personalities and whether they were right for the role.[23]

Laughton considered casting Gary Cooper as Harry Powell, but Cooper did not accept the role as he thought it might be detrimental to his career.[24] John Carradine expressed interest in the role of the reverend,[25] as did Laurence Olivier, but his schedule was not free for two years.[26] Robert Mitchum was eager for the part of the preacher. When he auditioned, a moment that particularly impressed Charles Laughton was when Laughton described the character as "a diabolical shit," and Mitchum promptly answered "Present!"[24] Laughton liked Mitchum for the role partly due to his sexual persona, but Grubb was concerned about the character of the preacher being considered sexual. Laughton told him, "If you want to sell God, you have to be sexy."[27]

Agnes Moorehead, Grace Kelly, and Betty Grable were all considered for the role of Willa Harper.[28] In the end Laughton chose Shelley Winters because he felt she had a vulnerable quality and was more of a serious actor than a movie star; she committed to the role only two weeks before filming began.[29] In her 1989 memoir, Winters described this as "probably the most thoughtful and reserved performance I ever gave".[30]

Laughton's first pick for the role of Rachel Cooper was his wife Elsa Lanchester.[31] Jane Darwell and Louise Fazenda also were considered.[32] Lanchester, for reasons unknown to Laughton, turned down the role, suggesting silent movie star Lillian Gish for the role.[31] A doubtful Laughton went to New York for the purpose of watching films in which Gish starred. These included the shorts and feature films she made with pioneer D.W. Griffith. Gish had gotten word of his watching these old movies, and when she asked him why, he replied, "When I first went to the movies, they sat in their seats straight and leaned forward. Now they slump down, with their heads back, and eat candy and popcorn. I want them to sit up straight again."[33]

A lighting arrangement in The Night of the Hunter. Note the placement of the key light off the subject (Lillian Gish) to create a silhouette while illuminating Robert Mitchum in the background. This plays off the conventional association of light with good and darkness with evil.

Principal photography of The Night of the Hunter began on August 15 and ended on October 7, 1954, a total of 36 days of shooting.[34][35] Laughton kept the editor and musical composer on set during filming, which was very uncommon at the time.[36] Mitchum originally suggested Laughton to shoot the film in authentic Appalachian locations, but the director could not afford the budget to do on-location shooting. Besides, he wanted to create the film's unique look on Hollywood sound stages and found what he was looking for at Pathé, Republic Studios, and the Rowland V. Lee ranch in the San Fernando Valley.[37] Certain cutaway shots and compositing shots were shot in West Virginia.[38] Laughton hired Terry Sanders as second unit director in order to scout and shoot the river scenes because he had recently directed an Academy Award-winning short film A Time Out of War, which mostly took place on a river.[39]

Rather than shooting with traditional takes, Laughton had the crew only slate at the beginning of each reel of film and let the camera roll continuously until the reel ran out. This was so that he could direct the actors without waiting to reset the camera and sound equipment, not unlike the way silent films used to be directed.[40] Shelley Winters told Laughton she had this image of Willa as being "a fly fascinated by a spider, and she very willingly walks into this web". He liked this image and told her to channel that into the performance.[41] Mitchum's performance in the film has been described as Brechtian acting, which Laughton had extensive experience with.[42] According to Lillian Gish, Laughton was very unsure of himself on set as this was his first time directing a film, and when someone would give him a suggestion he would start talking about fears that his whole vision was wrong.[43] Laughton's directing style was supportive and respectful of the actors' input and several of the actors have said it was among their favorite professional experiences.

The director of photography was Stanley Cortez, who also shot Orson Welles' 1942 film The Magnificent Ambersons. Because Laughton had very little experience working with film, Cortez would visit his house to explain various concepts of camera lenses, camera heights, and what effect each of them gave.[44] Laughton told Cortez that the nitrate prints of the silent movies that he had been watching for research impressed them with how sharp they looked, so he asked Cortez to create that same sharpness for The Night of the Hunter.[45] The studio brought most of the crew from a recent film Black Tuesday because they had worked so well together, and Cortez had experimented with a new black-and-white film Kodak Tri-X on that production, with great results. He chose to shoot certain scenes of this film on Tri-X because it had a sharp contrast that would help fulfill Laughton's vision.[46][47] The studio however, tried to convince them to shoot on color film instead because they thought it would sell more tickets. Gregory fought to keep it black-and-white: "I could not see this film being in color."[48] The style of the cinematography was split up between the two units: the first unit of the crew shot the scenes in and around the Harpers' home, which were very dark, whereas the second unit shot the scenes traveling along the river, which were designed to look more like images from the children's perspective. One scene in particular that Cortez has spoken about is in the bedroom after Willa has overheard Powell threatening the children. He lit this scene with a halo of light surrounding Willa's head on the pillow, foreshadowing that her death is imminent.[49] Cortez also brought back the Iris shot in one scene, as an homage to silent films.[50]

Laughton drew on the harsh, angular look of German expressionist films of the 1920s, which is especially noticeable in the art direction by Hilyard Brown.[51][52] He had the idea that children notice only certain details of their surroundings that they are focused on, which is why some set pieces are somewhat abstract and minimal: neon lights that are not attached to a particular store, white picket fences that are not surrounding any house, the barn along the river that looks like a painting, and the "chapel-like" parents' bedroom.[53] The river scenes with the children were all shot on a sound stage.[54] The shot of John looking out of the barn window and seeing Powell's silhouette on the horizon was created using a little person and a miniature horse.[55] The underwater scene showing Willa's dead body was shot in a studio using a mannequin with a custom mask to make it look like Winters.[9]

The film's score, composed and arranged by Walter Schumann in close association with Laughton, features a combination of nostalgic and expressionistic orchestral passages. The film has two original songs by Schumann, "Lullaby" (sung by Kitty White, whom Schumann discovered in a nightclub)[56] and "Pretty Fly" (originally sung by Sally Jane Bruce as Pearl, but later dubbed by an actress named Betty Benson).[57] A recurring musical device involves the preacher making his presence known by singing the traditional hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms".[47] RCA Victor was impressed by the score, so in 1955 they released a soundtrack with Schumann's score and Laughton narrating an abridged version of the story, also written by Grubb.[56][47]

The film's editor, Robert Golden, has said that after he screened the complete film to one of the United Artists studio executives for the first time, the executive told Golden, "It's too arty."[58]

The Night of the Hunter was a total flop with both audiences and critics at its initial release, and Laughton never directed another film.[10] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film "a weird and intriguing endeavor," adding: "unfortunately the story and the thesis presented by Mr. Grubb had to be carried through by Mr. Laughton to a finish—and it is here that he goes wrong. For the evolution of the melodrama, after the threatened, frightened children flee home, angles off into that allegorical contrast of the forces of Evil and Good."[66] Gene Arneel of Variety summarized: "The relentless terror of Davis Grubb's novel got away from Paul Gregory and Charles Laughton in their translation of Night of the Hunter. This start for Gregory as producer and Laughton as director is rich in promise but the completed product, bewitching at times, loses sustained drive via too many offbeat touches that have a misty effect."[67] Harrison's Reports wrote, "The picture might have some appeal for those who patronize art houses in search of the unusual in movie fare, but the great majority of those who see it will look upon it as a choppily-edited, foggy melodrama peopled with foggy characters."[68] Life summed up the film, "If sometimes it strains too hard at being simple and winds up being pretentious, it still is one of the year's most interesting and provocative films."[69]

The Legion of Decency gave the film a B because it degraded marriage, and the Protestant Motion Picture Council rated it "objectionable," saying that any religious person would be offended by it. The film was also banned in Memphis, Tennessee, by the city's head of censorship, Lloyd Binford.[70][9] Great Britain rated the film "adults only."[9]

The film was shot in black and white in the styles and motifs of German Expressionism (bizarre shadows, stylized dialogue, distorted perspectives, surrealistic sets, odd camera angles) to create a simplified and disturbing mood that reflects the sinister character of Powell, the nightmarish fears of the children, and the sweetness of their savior Rachel. Due to the film's visual style and themes, it is also often categorized as a film noir.

Laughton took this commercial failure of his first film personally, and never attempted to make another film.[71]

At the time of its release, The Night of the Hunter received mixed reviews, but over the years it has been reassessed and is now an undisputed classic.[72] It began as a cult film, with a small group of fans, and regularly played at museums and in revival houses. Its popularity grew as a new generation of children were exposed to the film when it played on television.[73] In the 1970s, as the field of film criticism began to expand, many articles were written about the film.[74]

Roger Ebert wrote, "It is one of the most frightening of movies, with one of the most unforgettable of villains, and on both of those scores, it holds up ... well after four decades."[75]

The Night of the Hunter was rated No. 90 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. In a 2007 listing of the 100 Most Beautiful Films, Cahiers du cinéma ranked The Night of the Hunter No. 2.[76] It is among the top ten in the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. In 2008, it was ranked as the 71st greatest movie of all time by Empire magazine in its issue of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[77]

In 1992, the United States Library of Congress deemed The Night of the Hunter to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and selected the film for preservation in its National Film Registry.[78] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 80 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 9.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring Robert Mitchum's formidable performance as a child-hunting preacher, The Night of the Hunter is a disturbing look at good and evil."[79]

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – No. 34
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains – Reverend Harry Powell - Villain No. 29

Mark Callaghan, the lead singer for the Australian band The Riptides, parodied Mitchum's character in the music video for the 1982 track, Hearts And Flowers.

Reverend Harry Powell's speech about love and hate has become a memorable moment in film history. In the 1989 Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing, the character Radio Raheem wears brass knuckles saying "love" and "hate" on each hand and gives a speech that is an almost verbatim copy of Powell's.[80]

The Coen brothers have referenced The Night of the Hunter in several of their own films, including The Big Lebowski (the line "the Dude abides," which is an echo of Rachel's closing line "They abide, and they endure") and True Grit (the visual style of Rooster's night ride with Mattie, which is similar to that of John and Pearl's river journey, and the use of the music from Leaning on the Everlasting Arms).[81]

In the episode "Fall" of the television series Better Call Saul, The Night of the Hunter is shown playing in a retirement home as series protagonist Jimmy McGill attempts to deceive a number of his clients. Reverend Powell's hand gestures during his "right hand, left hand" speech are juxtaposed with similar gestures made by Jimmy, highlighting his charismatic but duplicitous nature.

In Emerald Fennell's 2020 film Promising Young Woman a clip from The Night of the Hunter is playing in a scene where the protagonist's parents are watching TV on the couch. In a later scene, the song “The Pretty Fly,” from the soundtrack to The Night of the Hunter, plays after the protagonist makes a disturbing discovery.