Night
of the Hunter opens with Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a preacher from the
Deep South who does the Lord's will by murdering women he finds promiscuous.
When Harry ends up sharing a cell with a condemned man (Peter Graves) who's stolen and hidden
a considerable sum of money, he hatches a plan to marry his widow (Shelley Winters) and take the
money for himself. But his stepson John Harper (Billy Chapin) cottons on to him, and flees
with his sister and the money.
Night
of the Hunter feels more like two ok films instead of one great one. The
second half focuses more on John than Harry, and feels more like a children's
drama than a thriller. The movie has a clear angel/devil dichotomy, with Harry
as the murderous parental figure contrasted with Miss Cooper (Lillian Gish), the stern but
good-natured Christian woman who adopts the Harper orphans.
The
strongest link between the two halves (more so than the plot) is the portrayal
of Christianity. The first half not only focuses on the psychotic Harry, but
also shows him corrupting Mrs Palmer, turning her into a bible-thumping zealot
who fails to protect her children. Christianity is represented by Miss Cooper
in the second half, showing it in its more idealistic form. Whereas Harry
teaches that we are all sinners and must be punished, Miss Cooper teaches about
Exodus and overcoming adversity. Both figures have a profound impact on John –
at first he's frightened off by Christianity in the form of Harry, but
eventually embraces it in the form of Miss Cooper.
The
acting is on the whole very good. Mitchum has a ball playing the insincere
preacher, and I felt it was a bit of a shame that we saw less of him in the
film's second half. Gish gives Miss Cooper a good mix of authority and
compassion. Chapin does a decent job as John, portraying a stubborn child without
veering into sentimentality. One interesting character who I felt should have
been expanded more was Icey Spoon, a shameless gossip who sings Harry's praises at
the start, only to lead the mob when he's convicted of murder. I felt the movie
could have better explored the hypocrisy and bigotry that can bring out the
worst in people's religion, to parallel with Harry's own bigotry.
Harry's
motivation is one of the film's weaker points. It opens strongly with Harry
targeting women for the way their promiscuity, introducing him as a
megalomaniac. This is also done very well when he admonishes Mrs Palmer for
trying to get in bed with him on their wedding night, showing he's a predator
of women, but not the type we usually think of. However, Harry's greed is his
main drive for the rest of the film – if not for that, he wouldn't have an
excuse to pursue the kids. I felt this was a much weaker motivation and
cancelled out Harry's earlier characterisation. Harry's puritan crusade at him
start made him seem like a more powerful threat, especially as it speaks to
centuries of religious violence which is still around today. By the end of the
film, this has been replaced by his greed, which makes him seem less of a
monster and more of a pathetic sleazebag.
As I
said before, the film changes so drastically in the middle that it feels like
two shorter films. The Christian motif transcends the two halves well, but the
tone and characterisation suffers. Night of the Hunter is worth seeing
for its handling of the theme of faith, and the performances also make it
worthwhile. But the film doesn't tie together as well as it should, and for
that it's merely good but not great.
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