Harry Powell marries and murders widows for their money, believing he is helping God do away with women who arouse men’s carnal instincts. Arrested for auto theft, he shares a cell with condemned killer Ben Harper and tries to get him to reveal the whereabouts of the $10,000 he stole. Only Ben’s nine-year-old son, John and four-year-old daughter, Pearl know the money is in Pearl’s doll and they have sworn to their father to keep this secret. After Ben is executed, Preacher goes to Cresap’s Landing to court Ben’s widow, Willa. He overwhelms her with his Scripture quoting, sermons and hymns, and she agrees to marry him. On their wedding night he tells her they will never have sex because it is sinful. When the depressed, confused, guilty woman catches him trying to force Pearl to reveal the whereabouts of the money, she is resigned to her fate but the children manage to escape downriver, with Preacher following close behind.

The Night of the Hunter (1955)
  • Rating: (33,752 votes)
  • Taglines:The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL... THE SUSPENSE! » The Hands Of ROBERT MITCHUM in "The Night of the Hunter" »
  • Runtime:93 minutes
  • Directors: Charles Laughton, Robert Mitchum, Terry Sanders
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Harry Powell
    Robert Mitchum
    Willa Harper
    Shelley Winters
    Rachel Cooper
    Lillian Gish
    Birdie Steptoe
    James Gleason
    Icey Spoon
    Evelyn Varden
    Ben Harper
    Peter Graves
    Walt Spoon
    Don Beddoe
    John Harper
    Billy Chapin
    Pearl Harper
    Sally Jane Bruce
    Ruby (as Gloria Castilo)
    Gloria Castillo
  • Genres:Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
  • Producer:
    Paul Gregory
    producer  
  • Plot: Harry Powell marries and murders widows for their money, believing he is helping God do away with women who arouse men's carnal instincts. Arrested for auto theft, he shares a cell with condemned killer Ben Harper and tries to get him to reveal the whereabouts of the $10,000 he stole. Only Ben's nine-year-old son, John and four-year-old daughter, Pearl know the money is in Pearl's doll and they have sworn to their father to keep this secret. After Ben is executed, Preacher goes to Cresap's Landing to court Ben's widow, Willa. He overwhelms her with his Scripture quoting, sermons and hymns, and she agrees to marry him. On their wedding night he tells her they will never have sex because it is sinful. When the depressed, confused, guilty woman catches him trying to force Pearl to reveal the whereabouts of the money, she is resigned to her fate but the children manage to escape downriver, with Preacher following close behind. Written by alfiehitchie
The Night of the Hunter
  • User's comment: by Infofreak

    'The Night Of The Hunter' is recognized by most critics and hard core film buffs as one of the most extraordinary movies ever made, but sadly it's still frequently overlooked by the many movie fans, probably because it's so difficult to categorize. Yes, it's a thriller but it's also a child's nightmare. A Noir but also a fable. Robert Mitchum gives one of his very best performances as Harry Powell, the charming but evil preacher with "love" tattooed on one hand, "hate" on the other. Powell is one of the most memorable screen villains of all time, and 'The Night Of The Hunter' is worth watching just for Mitchum, who is mesmerizing. Shelley Winters is surprisingly effective as the widow Powell woos, Peter Graves has a small role at the beginning as her first husband, and Lillian Gish plays the saintly Ms. Cooper, guardian of unwanted children. Because this movie isn't set in isn't the "real world" many viewers don't know exactly how to react to it. Charles Laughton's small town America is a stylized, dreamlike place, in some ways not unlike David Lynch's twisted world depicted in 'Blue Velvet' and 'Twin Peaks'. It also reminds me of Flannery O'Connor's Gothic South in her classic novels 'Wise Blood' and 'The Violent Bear It Away'. Some of the scenes involving Powell menacing Winters' children deliberately invoke James Whale's 'Frankenstein', and the sequence depicting the children's journey down the river is charming but blatantly artificial. While I'm a big fan of "outsider" film makers like Russ Meyer, Coffin Joe and Alejandro Jodorowsky, I also greatly admire those who work within the system but still manage to subvert Hollywood with doses of surrealism. I'm thinking of movies such as 'Kiss Me Deadly', 'Shock Corridor' and 'The Manchurian Candidate'. Each of these films are unique but they also remind me of each other and of 'The Night Of The Hunter'. I highly recommend them all and wish that there were a lot more movies like them today. 'The Night Of The Hunter' is essential viewing for anybody interested in American movies!


  • Quotes: Rachel Cooper: Get your state troopers out here. I got something trapped in my barn. Rev. Harry Powell: There are things you do hate, Lord. Perfume-smellin' things, lacy things, things with curly hair. Rev. Harry Powell: [when he notices John staring at the words "love" and "hate" tattooed across his knuckles] Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil? H-A-T-E! It was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low. L-O-V-E! You see these fingers, dear hearts? These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends, the hand of love. Now watch, and I'll show you the story of life. Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t'other. Now watch 'em! Old brother left hand, left hand he's a fighting, and it looks like love's a goner. But wait a minute! Hot dog, love's a winning! Yessirree! It's love that's won, and old left hand hate is down for the count!
  • Also known as: La noche del cazador (Argentina), La noche del cazador (Mexico), La noche del cazador (Spain), Die Nacht des Jägers (Austria), Die Nacht des Jägers (West Germany), La nuit du chasseur (Belgium - French title), La nuit du chasseur (France), A Sombra do Caçador (Portugal), A vadász éjszakája (Hungary), Caniler avcisi (Turkey - Turkish title), De jagersnacht (Belgium - Flemish title), I nyhta tou kynigou (Greece - reissue title), Kariudo no yoru (Japan - imdb display title), Kludedukken (Denmark - imdb display title), La morte corre sul fiume (Italy), Noaptea Vanatorului (Romania - imdb display title), Noc lovca (Serbia - imdb display title), Noc mysliwego (Poland), O Mensageiro do Diabo (Brazil), O thanatopoinitis me to simadi (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), Räsynukke (Finland - imdb display title), Trasdockan (Sweden),

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