Overview
This is an examination of "The Night of the Hunter", Charles Laughton's only outing as a film director. It looks at the symbolism of the piece, at Willa, her throat cut sitting in the Model-T Ford, and the Preacher, a silhouetted threat on the horizon.
Synopsis
The Night of the Hunter (1955) was the only film that Charles Laughton directed. Adapted from a best-selling novel by Davis Grubb, it is part expressionist horror movie, part luminous fairy tale, and it contains some of the most haunting images in cinema. Willa (Shelley Winters), her throat cut and her hair streaming out like seaweed, sitting upright in a submerged Model T Ford. Her children, framed by looming animals, in a downriver flight from Preacher (Robert Mitchum). Preacher a silhouetted threat on the horizon. The Night of the Hunter is revered today, but it failed on its first release, and Laughton never recovered from the disappointment.
About the Author:
Simon Callow is one of Britain's foremost stage and film actors. He has written acclaimed biographies of Charles Laughton and Orson Welles.