ViewGuide

Created Mar 16, 2013 08:21PM PST • Edited Mar 16, 2013 08:33PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   Oscar winning British actor Charles Laughton directed only 1 movie in his 30 year plus career but in this case 1 movie was enough.

   “Night of the Hunter” remains not only one of the great thrillers in the history of cinema but one of the better “Children in Peril” movies, not quite up there with “To Kill a Mockingbird” but in the conversation.

   Laughton adapted Davis Grubb’s 1953 best seller with ample assistance from Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish. He also gets a lot of help from cinematographer Stanley Cortez and composer Walter Schumann.

   “Night of the Hunter” oozes atmosphere but is not just a stylish thriller. It is an audacious film that bombards you with unforgettable images and dialog and some pretty amazing performances.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Robert Mitchum gives one of his best performances as the murderous fake preacher. Shelley Winters is perfect as the well meaning if incredibly dumb mother. But the movie’s best performance belongs to Lillian Gish as the nurturing heroine who has forgotten more scripture than Powell ever knew and ain’t too shabby with a gun either.

   The two kids, Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce, are not that great but Laughton finds a way to work with them and it works.

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    Amazing cinematography, majestic score and strong screenplay by James Agee.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Great 4.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.6

    For 1955 some disturbing images.

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

18. Violence Fierce 2.1

19. Rudeness Salty 1.8

21. Reality

    Glib 1.9

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.9

23. Biological Glib 1.9

24. Physical Glib 1.9