The Night of the Hunter

Robert Mitchum does a masterful job bringing the sadistic Harry Powell to life. Shelley Winters gives a realistic portrayal of the young widow lured in by Powell. The children are excellent portraying his innocent victims. Lillian Gish is a gem. Great film!

A character driven masterpiece. Robert Mitchum’s chilling portrayal of Harry Powell rates up there with Perkins' Norman Bates and Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecture. There isn’t a superfluous word or action, and the settings and scenery flit brilliantly between coldly terrifying and warmly hometown secure. Shelley Winters’ Willa Harper clearly emotes submission, innocence, ignorance, tragic hope and emotional and tactile starvation. James Gleason, Evelyn Varden, Don Beddoe all masterfully play neighborly and meddling characters recognizable today in any community. This movie is a must for the cinema collector.

Period.

But I enjoyed it. Love the classic black/white thrillers. The picture quality is crystal clear and gorgeous. Worth watching. B-

A truly unique film of superlative quality. Laughton only directed one film and achieved what most directors strive for their entire career. The performance of Robert Mitchum is simply amazing. His character is incredibly complex and riveting. He was such an underrated actor. Probably because he made it look too easy.

This movie is amazing. Perfectly pieced together,with an outstanding cast it shines like a gem. The plot is well thought out and the lines are perfect to the very breath. I would definitly recommend this movie to anyone.

NOTH should be among anyone's top 10 all-time movies if they're serious about cinema. Robert Mitchum leads an oustanding cast, there's brilliant acting, and the direction by Charles Laughton makes for an American classic. Heath Ledger fans of his Oscar-winning Joker role -- you need to watch Mitchum as the preacher to view what an evil character is about, particularly in the hands of a great actor. I wonder if Ledger would have won the Oscar if he hadn't commited suicide? This is what evil does look like; not a joke, but a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Night of the Hunter is probably one of the best thrillers ever created. The cast was phenomenal, the acting was great, and the suspense was amazing. This movie will bring you so far to the edge of your seat that there's a good chance you might fall off! AWESOME! And for all of you who think, "Well since it is an old movie, it shouldn't be that good!" Well you guys are wrong, because it was back in the 20th century when the best ideas were made into movies, like James Bond, Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Jurassic Park, Halloween. Today hollywood is churning out dumb ideas like Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and Shark Boy and Lava Girl, and other movies that are just pathetic remakes of the old movies. So buy this! Ok now I am done ranting.

This movie is absolutely stunning. I was first introduced to it b my genius 8th grade film teacher, and the beautiful direction of CHarles Laughton combined with the brilliant acting of Robert Mitchum Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish made this one of the greatest films ever made no argument.

I couldn’t agree more with the first reviewer. However, I would add the tremendous contribution of James Agee’s adaptation of the Davis Grubb novel. Agee also wrote Let US Now Praise Famous Men about depression share croppers in the American South and Walker Evans did the photography. Many of Walker Evan’s compositions are duplicated in the cinematography. All in all, this is a tremendous work of art.