100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #97: Night of the Hunter (1955)

Directed by Charles Laughton. Starring Robert Mitchum.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15)

Charles Laughton’s Southern gothic fairy tale begins with a kindly old woman (Lillian Gish) reading this scripture lesson to a group of children, at once establishing the film’s unique blend of tones and styles, combining thriller elements with nursery story tenderness. Laughton referred to Gish as the “Mother Goose” character of the story, and even though her character doesn’t formally appear until halfway through the film, her appearance at the beginning gives her prominence as the nurturing storyteller, the wise, guiding voice in a film about false leaders who appropriate the Word of God for their own devious ends. While much of the film centers around the evil deeds of Robert Mitchum’s Preacher Harry Powell (one of cinema’s most frightening and charismatic screen villains), Laughton’s vision shows evil from an innocent child’s point of view. Adapting the story from Davis Grubb’s novel, screenwriter James Agee gives the characters an archetypal richness, heightening the good-versus-evil story to a traditional black-and-white morality tale. Combined with expressionist cinematography and set design that gives the film a lightly surreal, storybook quality, Night of the Hunter stands as one of the most unique thrillers of the 50’s, and one of the best films about false prophets ever made.

The story begins when the impoverished Ben Harper robs a bank and kills two men in the process. Coming home while running from the police, he tells his two small children, John and Pearl, to hide the money and never tell a soul where it’s hidden. Agreeing to this, John convinces his little sister they must do what their father says, carrying their father’s sin and shame in secret. Arrested and sentenced to death, Ben is brought to prison and shares a cell with the fraudulent Preacher Harry Powell who is serving 30 days for stealing a car. Powell overhears Ben talking in his sleep about the stolen money he’s hidden. After Powell’s 30 days are up, and after Ben is executed, Powell slowly makes his way to the Harper’s homestead, and begins to charm the local townsfolk with his preaching, weaseling his way into the town’s good graces in search of the money. Powell has the words “love” and “hate” tattooed on his knuckles, and uses his hands to demonstrate the power of love triumphing over the power of hate. The townspeople are quickly duped by his simple preaching, convinced he is an upright Christian, including Ben Harper’s Widow Willa (Shelley Winters), who is still grieving the loss of her husband, and is especially susceptible to Powell’s charisma. She is struggling to care for her two children working at an ice cream parlor, and wonders if Powell is the answer to her prayers.

While little Pearl is won over by Powell’s false kindness, John is suspicious of Powell from the start. Grieving his father, and still holding strong to the belief that his father was a good man, the task of hiding the money becomes his purpose. When he accidentally lets it slip that the money is still at the house, Powell begins his manipulations, trying to coerce Pearl and John to reveal the whereabouts of the money and pulling the wool over Willa’s eyes. He eventually marries Willa, much to the horror of John, who knows that Powell is only after the money.

The way Robert Mitchum plays the sinister Powell is a balancing act that Mitchum pulls off with aplomb, creating a character who is obviously a manipulator, but is just believable enough so that when Willa believes his lies, the audience buys this development as well. It’s commonly held that the devil is well-versed in scripture, and Mitchum exudes a devilish knowledge of Christian teaching while seeking to exploit it at every turn. His charm is all performance, and even when he reveals his more frightening side to Willa, he never breaks from the narrative he’s crafted. When Powell addresses God directly, it becomes clear he has been lying for so long that he’s convinced himself he’s doing the Lord’s work, viewing his robbery and murder as God’s intentions. His surface charm masking brutality places him in the villain category that would fit comfortably in the work of Flannery O’Connor.

Of course, this is not Powell’s story, but John’s. From the innocent child’s perspective, evil is more apparent, and when tragedy strikes, John understands that he must protect his sister from his wicked stepfather. The important part of John’s character is how he still holds fast to the belief that his father was a good man, which is ambiguous, since his father murdered two men in a robbery, similar to the criminal actions of the Preacher. When Powell becomes a father figure in John’s life, his character becomes symbolic of the shadow that Ben Harper’s sin has cast over his son, awakening John to the reality of evil in the world. As John matures, he grows closer to recognizing and rejecting his father’s actions as wrong, but this is a long journey for the children. With Willa lost in her grief, and Powell manipulating the virtues of obedience and honesty for his own profit, John and Pearl have no true guidance in right and wrong.

This is when Lillian Gish enters the picture, playing Miss Cooper, a kindly woman who takes in lost children. Having escaped the clutches of Powell, they find refuge in her home and rest from their fears. With Powell still hunting them, their temporary respite gives John and Pearl warmth and comfort they have been missing since the death of their father. Laughton contrasts Powell’s false preaching with Miss Cooper, who reads the word of God to the children and speaks with compassion and understanding. Her nurturing presence removes any shred of cynicism from the story, showing the importance of teaching the word of God with honesty instead of manipulation. Most modern false-prophet stories decry religion as dated at best, evil at worst, but the nuance found in Night of the Hunter means that despite Powell using scripture to his own advantage, the same scripture is used as a sword and shield against evil. In one scene, Powell is hunting the children as they hide in Miss Cooper’s house. Outside, they hear him singing the old hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” which carries sinister undertones throughout the movie. But as Miss Cooper protects the children, she begins singing the hymn too, taking back the truth of the hymn from the mouth of the liar.

Charles Laughton was more famously known for his acting, performing in classic roles such as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) and Sir Wilfred in Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution (1957). Night of the Hunter was his only directorial effort, and was a box-office disappointment upon release. Because of this, he never directed again, but as the critics reassessed it over the years, the film world grew to appreciate the magnetic performances, expressionist imagery, and powerful script, with many critics later considering it a masterpiece. Part of the film’s lasting power comes from Laughton’s gentle, innocent treatment of the child characters, calling to mind Christ’s message to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. As she tends to the children under her care, Miss Cooper offers a reflection of hope. In a world full of wolves who would do God’s children harm, the innocence of children must be protected, and will always prevail over evil.

Lord save little children. The wind blows and the rains are cold. Yet they abide.