The Night Of The Hunter

One thing that has concerned for some time is that a lot of modern films but by no means all of them, put no effort into the plot or story and are overly reliant on star power or special effects. It seems to me that some of that old style Hollywood magic has waned over the years and the art of storytelling has been dealt a blow. I will admit to a certain amount of bias here as I am more than a little bit enchanted by some of the old movie stars and directors and the sheer artistry they put onto the silver screen. In fact, were I to list my top films then a good 80% at least of the list would be films made more than 25 years ago with most of them being made before I was even born.

Tying in with that is the sheer screen presence of some actors/actresses with names like Bogart, Lemmon, Bacall and suchlike tripping off the lips like screen versions of the old masters of the art world. One of these luminaries of cinema is the fantastic Robert Mitchum, a man who almost oozes menace and character. I could almost call him the original anti-hero, the template for later actors to follow when they wanted to go down the roguish route, the slightly scary one.

In this movie, he plays a preacher who bumps off widows. Whilst in prison for carrying a flick knife he hears his cellmate, a condemned man, mumble in his sleep about some cash he has hidden, the proceeds from the raid that got him sent to the hangmans noose. Mitchum then takes it upon himself to go the mans widow and try to finagle his way to the loot. However, the widows children are the only ones privy as to where to money is hidden and the boy in particular takes against the preacher and refuses to give in and confess to the location of the stash. We then see Mitchum dripping menace from every pore as he gets more and more desperate in his hunt. The mother of the children is seemingly oblivious at first as to the true nature of Mitchum but she later leanrs of his true nature and is murdered. The children go on the run and are rescued by a matronly woman after floating down the river on a raft.

I don't think such a description can really do this movie justice. There is a great sense of dread running through this movie and some scenes are truly frightening with Mitchum chasing the kids through fields and marshes as they make their break truly terrifying, the stuff of nightmares. The use of shade and shadow, allied with weird camera angles for some shots, creates a palpable sense of dread and panic and also makes for a real sense of beauty running throughout the film. This is, if nothing else, a visually amazing film. The use of nursery rhymes at moments in the film also lends it a sense of creepiness.

Mitchum is amazing in this film and the other actors also follow in the path of greatness with the children in particular pulling off the rare feat of being both believable and likable. Lillian Gish is fantastic as the matronly heroine. This is a movie that has leapt right onto my favorite films list. I cannot urge you enough to go see it if you can and I promise you won't leave disappointed.