The Night of the Hunter dvd movie.|
The Night of the Hunter dvd videos, dvd movies reviews |
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List Price: $14.98 Our Price: $10.99 You Save: $3.99 Features • Black & White • Color • DVD-Video • NTSC In Theaters : 1955 DVD Release : 25 January, 2000 |
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The Night of the Hunter description In the entire history of American movies, The Night of the Hunter stands out as the rarest and most exotic of specimens. It is, to say the least, a masterpiece--and not just because it was the only movie directed by flamboyant actor Charles Laughton or the only produced solo screenplay by the legendary critic James Agee (who also cowrote The ... review details |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | The False Prophet verses The True Christian: A Memorable Allegory of Good and Evil |
| Loosely based on an actual 1920s murder case, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER was directed by legendary actor Charles Laughton--and its failure with both critics and public derailed Laughton's directorial ambitions; it was both his first and last directorial effort. Over the years, however, it has come into its own, and today it is regarded as one of the finest films to emerge from 1950s Hollywood.
In general, the story concerns an itinerant preacher named Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a truly unpleasant entity who believes he has made a pact with God to rob and kill unsuspecting women. Arrested in a strip joint for auto theft, he finds himself in prison with Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who is condemned to death for a bank robbery murder--and who the stolen money hidden away. When Powell is released, he heads straight for Harper's wife and children (Shelly Winters, Billy Chapin, and Sally Jane Bruce) in search of the cash. HUNTER is clearly influenced by the film noir movement, but even so it would be difficult to describe as film noir per se. The film is very deliberately artificial in style with an emphasis on remarkably beautiful and distinctly dream-like cinematography that counterpoints the darkness of the story. The production values are memorable and direction quite remarkable, and few films have so successfully created a balance between right and wrong, good and evil. A good deal of the film's success rests on Mitchum and legendary actress Lillian Gish, the latter of whom appears as Rachel Cooper in the second half of the film. Mitchum is truly frightening in is evil--but he proves no great match for a truly Christian woman, who quickly sees through his pretenses and does battle with him for the lives and souls of the children he so relentlessly pursues. What ultimately emerges from the film is both Christian allegory and a classic tale of good verses evil, about which the film makes a remarkable statement: while evil strives to be impressive, it is at best trivial and may be overcome by simple and unpretentious goodness. It would be nice to see the film given a full bells-and-whistles release on DVD--the transfer here is acceptable but no better than what you might find on television, and the bonuses consist of a theatrical trailer and nothing more. Even so, this is a film worthy of inclusion in any collection. Strongly recommended. GFT, Amazon Reviewer |
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