“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
Charles Laughton is known primarily as an actor. He starred in several classics such as Spartacus, Witness For The Prosecution, and the title role in I, Claudius. He was the titular character in a remake of Lon Chaney, Sr’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. He was the cruel Captain Bligh in Mutiny On The Bounty and the evolutionary mad scientist in Island Of Lost Souls with Bela Lugosi which was based on the H.G. Wells novel The island Of Dr. Moreau and happens to be my favorite of his films. He married the Bride of Frankenstein herself, Elsa Lanchester, in one of those rare Hollywood pairings that lasted from 1929 until death did they part in 1962. They were a kind of royal couple for a while, giving some of the era’s most iconic parties. He was quite an accomplished man when he died too soon at 63. The unfortunate story about his life has to be the fact that he directed only one film. It was a truly remarkable turn in the director’s chair, but sadly in an industry that seeks instant gratification in terms of box office numbers, it was a commercial failure. But that film has stood the test of time, and is taught in film classes across the world, an appreciation that came far too late for any chance to see what else he could have done. But thanks to KL Classics, that film has been restored and delivered to our homes in glorious 4K via the UHD Blu-ray release of The Night Of The Hunter.
The film begins with an experimental collection of images. You get an odd view of a starfield with a woman’s voice offering little snippets of teachings, mostly from the Bible. We’ll meet this teacher later, and the gathering of children that she’s speaking to. The next thing we know there are children playing hide and seek when their game stumbles onto a woman’s body. Cut again, and we are introduced to the killer himself, played by Robert Mitchum. He’s driving along a country road with an uncanny smile on his face as he delivers his own lesson statements, but these are not of the Bible. We suffer yet another abrupt cut, and we see a bank robber just a step ahead of the law arriving at his home where his two children are playing. He gives the $10,000 he stole to his son John (Chapin) and directs him to hide it while making both John and his sister Pearl (Bruce) swear not to tell the secret. The children watch the law carry their father away. He’s convicted and sentenced to death, and it’s there he shares a cell with a self-proclaimed preacher in the guise of Reverend Harry Powell, but we already met Powell, and we know what kind of a preacher he really is. The bad news is that he knows that his cellmate went to his grave with a $10,000 secret, and he sets out to make that secret and the money his own.
When Powell shows up in town, he knows his Bible verses, and he charms nearly the entire town. No one seems immune to his spell except young John, who doesn’t trust him from the start. He tells the town of his interactions with the deceased robber but fails to mention the part where he was an inmate as well. Powell is particularly convincing to the newly widowed Willa Harper, played by a young Shelley Winters. Before long they are married and he’s putting a full court press on John to tell him where the money is. When Willa catches on, he kills her, only to tell the townspeople she up and deserted him with the young children. But John’s instincts warn him of the danger he and his sister are in, and they take a rowboat and run away on the river. Along the way they catch glimpses of Powell on a horse searching for them. They are tired and hungry when their boat runs aground at a farm run by kindly Ms. Cooper, who is played by silent screen starlet Lillian Gish, who came out of retirement to take the roll as a favor to Laughton. You will instantly recall her character as the one delivering lessons in the film’s opening moments. Cooper takes in stray kids like some older ladies might take in stray cats. She offers them a safe and clean environment, and her little community thrives through her kindness. She takes in John and Pearl who are soon discovered by Powell. There’s the requisite confrontation, and justice is finally served, and the orphaned siblings have found a home.
Charles Laughton deserves a great amount of credit here. By 1955 Hollywood had started to leave the old way of doing things behind. After little more than two decades, the silent era and transition to talkies was all but forgotten. Actors like Lillian Gish had little to do but enjoy their retirement if they could. But Laughton went against the grain by reintroducing all of those elements of the silent era. The actors deliver that over-the-top performance that was so necessary on the stage and in the silents. The film also sports many examples of German Expressionism in the way the film is lit and many of the film’s shooting angles. Laughton uses shadow quite effectively. A wonderful example happens toward the end of the film. The children are taking temporary shelter in a barn for the night when John hears Powell on horseback searching for the children while delivering a rather unnerving melody. We see Powell and his horse strictly through shadow, and it is one of the most atmospheric scenes you’ll find from that era. The unfortunate fact is that the movie-going public had moved beyond these elements of film and relegated them mostly to cheaply made film noir titles that were starting to go out of style themselves. The box office numbers were disappointing, and Laughton was so moved by the perceived failure that he never attempted to direct again. Today the film does receive the appreciation it deserves, but decades too late to know what Laughton might have achieved behind the camera.
The film contains two awesome performances. Mitchum refers to it as his favorite performance in his own autobiography, and I think that’s a pretty good bet. There is a powerful scene where Powell is meeting some of the town’s influential people and he’s asked about an unusual tattoo pattern on his fingers. It’s an iconic image today that has been copied many times. On one hand he has H A T E tattooed across his four fingers and the other hand has the letters L O V E. When asked what it means he delivers an incredible performance telling the story of Cain & Abel with his hands symbolizing the concepts of love overcoming hate in the end. It’s a compelling performance that is mesmerizing nearly 70 years later to the film’s audience as it was then for the captivated audience in the scene. There’s also wonderful atmosphere played as the adults cheer, but John’s face shows that he has a very different opinion of the charming “preacher”. Just another example of some of the ways in which this film has stood the test of time.
The second performance is from Lillian Gish, who came out of retirement and completely nailed the character of Ms. Cooper. She’s an actress who never really found the kind of fame she once had in the silent era, but if this is an example of what she could do, it’s enough to make me think it’s another tragic loss that she didn’t do more.
The rights to the book were actually gotten for a mere $10,000 by producer Paul Gregory in partnership with Robert Mitchum. Mitchum saw the potential of the story, and the cheap price comes because they jumped on it before the book was even published. It was a great call, because it went on to become a huge hit for author Davis Grubb, and it was his very first novel. But the rest wasn’t as easy for the partners. They shopped it to major studios who shot it down because no one thought it could be filmed and pass the Production Code of the time. Columbia Pictures ran it past the group, who objected strongly to the killer having the guise of a reverend. Protestant groups did object strongly to the imagery, and Gregory was asked by many not to make the film. All of this scared away the big players. The Protestant Motion Picture Council erupted, claiming that the religious elements of the film would be greatly offensive to “most people”. Gregory did water down many elements that included Powell being lynched by an angry mob at the end of the film. Instead we still have the idea of the angry mob, but they are presented as they had typically been in horror films as they pushed through the pursuit of Powell with torches and farm instruments. I’m not sure if there were any actual pitchforks. One scene I’m surprised they did get away with was an establishing shot of Willa’s body under the water with her hair moving in the currents. It’s a truly effective shot even today.
Video
The Night Of The Hunter is presented in a somewhat altered aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The ultra-high-definition image presentation is arrived at with an HEVC codec at an average of over 90 mbps. The film was shot on 35mm, so is native 4K. There has also been extensive restoration here and it shows. Contrast is essential for a black & white film, and it’s done to perfection here. You won’t find age or digital artifact here. Most small flaws are the result of what was shot: A soft focus here, a little lighting issue there. The film retains wonderful atmosphere and a ton of detail that comes out in the wonderful atmosphere of the movie. Black levels are important here, and those necessary shadow moments offer as good as you can expect. I was impressed at how well the film retains that perfect balance from dark to the lit moments. When the children are in their boat on the river, the transfer reveals all of that emotional nuance and immerses you totally in the experience. Let’s talk about the aspect ratio. The film was originally released in 1.66:1, but my research has discovered it was also viewed in 1.85:1, and looking at an older print, I don’t think you’ll lose anything here at all.
Audio
The DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono audio presentation is there strictly to serve the dialog of the film. Yes, there are some eerie musical cues, particularly Powell’s search at night for the children. All in all it would not have served this film at all to create a surround mix. Trust me when I tell you it’s just as immersive without all of that.
Special Features
The extras are found one on a Blu-ray which contains archive bonus features and not a copy of the film.
Final Thoughts:
Charles Laughton should have directed more films. He took some incredible chances here, and they didn’t quite work out … or did they? So how do we as critics and you as film fans define a success or failure in any given movie? Does the contemporary box office tell the story? Or only part of the story? Many box office smash films are forgotten in a decade … or two … or three. Some failures are still be talked about 50 years or more after their release. I guess I don’t really know the answer to my own question. “I know you remember: Judge not lest ye be judged.”
