The Night of the Hunter
Directed by Charles Laughton • 1955 • United States
Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER—incredibly, the only film the great actor Charles Laughton ever directed—is truly a stand-alone masterwork. A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, it stars a sublimely sinister Robert Mitchum as a traveling preacher named Harry Powell (he of the tattooed knuckles), whose nefarious motives for marrying a fragile widow, played by Shelley Winters, are uncovered by her terrified young children. Graced by images of eerie beauty and a sneaky sense of humor, this ethereal, expressionistic American classic—also featuring the contributions of actress Lillian Gish and writer James Agee—is cinema’s most eccentric rendering of the battle between good and evil.
Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in cooperation with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., with funding provided by Robert Sturm and The Film Foundation.
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The Night of the Hunter
Directed by Charles Laughton • 1955 • United States
Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian GishTHE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER—incredibly, the only film the great actor Charles Laughton ever directed—is truly a stand-alone masterwork. A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, i...
Extras
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Guillermo del Toro on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
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THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER Commentary
Recorded in 2008, this commentary features THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER second-unit director Terry Sanders, film archivist Robert Gitt, film critic F. X. Feeney, and Preston Neal Jones, author of “Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.”
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The Making of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
This 2010 documentary traces the history of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, from director Charles Laughton’s discovery of the Davis Grubb novel to the film’s poor reception in 1955 and later celebration. It features producer Paul Gregory, second-unit director Terry Sanders, and authors Preston Neal Jone...
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Moving Pictures
This 15-minute documentary on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, originally broadcast on February 19, 1995, features interviews with producer Paul Gregory, actors Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish, editor Robert Golden, art director Hilyard Brown, director of photography Stanley Cortez, and...
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DP Stanley Cortez on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
In this 1984 interview, shot at the American Society of Cinematographers, director of photography Stanley Cortez talks about filming THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.
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Simon Callow on Charles Laughton
The following program features a 2010 interview with Simon Callow, author of a 1987 biography on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER director Charles Laughton.
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“The Ed Sullivan Show,” 1955
In this excerpt from the September 25, 1955, episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” actors Peter Graves and Shelley Winters perform a scene not included in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER: a visit from Willa Harper to Ben Harper in prison.
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Robert Gitt and Leonard Maltin
In this conversation, recorded in 2010, film archivist Robert Gitt and film critic Leonard Maltin discuss the discovery and preservation of the material used to make CHARLES LAUGHTON DIRECTS “THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.”
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Charles Laughton Directs THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
The following program, assembled by archivist Robert Gitt in 2002, is a two-and-a-half-hour treasure trove of outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage from THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.
