The Night of the Hunter (1955)

 Charles Laughton's "The Night of the Hunter"

Charles Laughton, best known for being a British film actor, dabbed at being a director only once for the 1955 film "The Night of the Hunter." The fact of him directing only one film baffles many people considered that his directional effort in "The Night of the Hunter" elevated the film to a cult-like classic status. This appreciation for the film did not exist when it was released in 1955, however. The film mostly received negative reviews and did poorly at the box office. This is precisely why Laughton never directed another film afterwards. 

The film draws from the true story of Harry Powers, who was hanged in 1932 for the murder of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The name of the killer in the film is changed to Harry Powell, who is a self-proclaimed preacher travelling the country murdering women and stealing cars in Depression-era America. After getting arrested, he gets information regarding a load of money that his cellmate hid back with his family. Powell visits the family after getting out of prison, learning that the children know of the money's whereabouts. 

Echoing the dark themes that emanated from the noir films of the past decade, "The Night of the Hunter" demonstrates the harshness of the world through the perilous circumstances the innocent children of the story find themselves in. I think this film fits quite neatly into the noir and suspense films that were popular in American cinema at the time because of this quality. It depiction of unrelenting evil within the human spirit makes the themes as black as ever. What's fantastic about this depiction of evil is that it is all the more palpable through the exploitation and posed danger on the children. Because children are thematically such innocent beings, their peril demonstrates the harshness of the evil that exists in the world.

To achieve the darkness in the film, Laughton created images influenced by German Expressionism. He used shadows to enhance the immorality of its antagonist, sponging the frames with a sense of terror. There are certain frames of the film that look like a gothic painting (like the one below), which give the film an other-worldliness quality. Because of the elevated imagery that extends beyond realism, Laughton elevated the film into more abstract and surreal places. 

While these notions laud the film, there are certain story elements that don't quite work well for me. There are certain instances when the story drags, particularly the scenes in which the children are on their own traversing the landscape and evading Powell. There is also some pacing issues throughout, along with thematic instances in which Laughton seemed unsure of what tone he was going for. Lilian Gish said that Laughton was often unsure of himself on set, believing that his whole vision was wrong. Perhaps this accounts for the wishy-washy way the themes and tone seem to travers the film's runtime. 

That being said, the story itself and its lack of assuredness doesn't disqualify "The Night of the Hunter" from being a completely unforgettable visual experience. My attraction to the film lies purely in its visual execution of its dark and disturbing themes. There were many shots in the film that caused me to audibly gasp. I found the visual elements of the film, along with the abstract qualities that these images are connected to be the primary source of artistic elevation that has made the film timeless.