The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Agreed, OP. You do come out of it wishing Laughton had done more.

Shades of Poseidon...

What would be a good second film for a double feature?

I think the obvious pairing would be Cape Fear but I also like watching it around the same time as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance or True Grit.

R3, With its expressionistic style, allegorical storytelling, and near-experimental techniques, a good 2nd feature would be "The Trial" by Orson Welles or maybe even "Touch of Evil," although that one is more straightforward in its storytelling.

Well done, R5. "Touch of Evil" and "Night of the Hunter" are two of my top five favorite films!

Touch of Evil has that absolutely incredible opening shot...

Laughton never directed another film because NOTH was considered a major failure at the time. It took decades for people to realize it's brilliance.

Does anyone remember if the actresses in Cape Fear (they played the wife and daughter) giving an interview and saying something about being afraid of Robert Mitchum? Maybe I am remembering another movie or actor, but it seems Robert Mitchum was so intimidating that he frightened them. Anyway, this was years ago and I am probably confused. Robert Mitchum is my favorite film noir actor. There is one film noir with RM and Kirk Douglas that I wish I could watch again. RM was hiding out in a small town and running a gas station. He hired a deaf mute kid who was a devoted friend .

Ate the scat rumors about Laughton true? I love his acting and directing but when I watch him in a movie now that is what think of. Same with Danny Thomas.

R9 That's "Out Of The Past," also in my top five...or at least top ten.

Thank you, Sylvia! That drives me insane when it happens. I used to know that as well I know my name. Early onset dementia with my luck, 😊) That movie is the perfect film noir, and I usually can not stand Kirk Douglas. The classic film noir. You may enjoy this article, Sylvia.

Try that again.

Jane Greer as film star Dorrie Larkin in The Depth of Beauty episode of Quincy M.E.

OP Elsa Lancaster was married to Charles Laughton and they appeared together memorably in Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

I decided to watch L.A. Confidential as the second movie in my double feature, which was a great choice. I love rewatching great movies.

And Robert Mitchum was mentioned by name in L.A. Confidential! I always forget that.

I think Elsa Lanchester would have worked in the Gish role if she could suppress the British accent. She'd be a tougher but less surprised old lady. Great film.

Has anyone seen the remake with Richard Chamberlain and Diana Scarwid?

“It’s a hard world for little things.” One of the greatest movie lines ever.

I didn’t realize that Billy Chapin, who played John, was the brother of Lauren Chapin from Father Knows Best.

I means "surprising" in the sense one didn't expect Gish to be so tough.

Yes, r22, Lillian was usually more of a Camille...

This is the good-looking heterosexual who made the big decision to allow neurotic homosexual Laughton direct this cheap, arty movie.

Laughton wanted to play the preacher role himself.

My all time favorite film. The recent Promising Young Woman used bits from it, including Pearl's song (which is the one thing I don't like, but has been redeemed, for me, through PYW, and the Criterion Collection Documentary) to great effect.

My favorite scene:

It was self-consciously 1950s-abstract-arty.

Laughton refused to shoot outdoors on cloudy days because he wanted crisp, deep-focus photography.

And some of the studio set-ups definitely look like cardboard. They look as self-consciously abstract as the interiors in this weird movie which was made the year before--

R15 You have misspelled her surname. They did 14 movies together (but I don't know if they did any procreation together)

They did not procreate, but they may have fucked—maybe rarely or not at all.

The two

Elsa was a flapper in the nightclubs of 1920s London. She was shocking.

Mitchum loved working with Laughton on that movie.

"When Laughton called Mitchum to play the role, he exclaimed that he would play 'a diabolical crud,' and Mitchum replied, 'Present!'"

The novel it's based on, by Davis Grubb, is very good. Laughton entirely rewrote James Agee's adaptation, but he received no screenwriting credit.

One of best, underappreciated movies of all time. It's always like a dream. Gish's best performance of a long, long career. Cinematography and direction created another world. And I always feel like a child when watching... a fairy tale with real evil lurking in the world.

^ Bruno Bettelheim

She said on Cavett that her two favorite stage roles were done with Laughton. Ariel in The Tempest at the Old Vic and Peter Pan at the Palladium. I assume he made a great Hook.

R18, Elsa couldn't act and she almost never showed humanity. It wasn't her thing. Just observe her in THE BISHOP'S WIFE.

Lillian Gish couldn't help but show her humanity, and her performance was exactly the stereotypical, strong-woman figure Laughton needed.

The bitch *invented* stoicism, r36.

Dorothy Loudon was part of the concept album for the musical.

I once saw this in a double bill with the original "Cape Fear", another Mitchum psycho. Another good one would be the Shelley Winters film "He Ran All the Way" where John Garfield plays the crazy.

[quote] Elsa couldn't act and she almost never showed humanity.

She was a nightclub performer rather than an actress. She was ethereal— which was useful when asked to play a witch or when Disney asked her to play batty old ladies.

R32, I read Mitchum's biography and he was telling the truth about himself.

I thought some of the editing was bad, especially when Mitchum is hurt/mad and runs away baying. The sound editing just repeated his first yelp and it’s obvious. Also, the little girl was too young to talk properly or understand everything, yet she sings quite well as if she were older when in the boat on the river. Btw, I loved the boat sequences except for the singing.

On the plus side: Mitchum really played menacing well and he was frightening. I also loved the s

I like to watch it with A PLACE IN THE SUN. Shelley is best when she is miserable, plus hot Monty Cliff, and Liz in the white strapless dress with the velvet violets- I became a costume designer partially because of that dress.

R42, it makes me mad that the child actress who played Pearl was hired because of her performance of that song. However, when the film was made, they used an adult singing like a child, instead of the child herself, which is why I think it is the only misstep, aside from the scream at the end, as you mentioned. Still, about as perfect as they get.

I watched NOTH when I was 5 years old on the Million Dollar Movie. It scared me half to death and gave me nightmares for years afterwards.

Elsa Lanchester's autobiography is one of the greatest I've ever read. She was funny as hell and led a crazy life.

I don't remember why she didn't end up with the Gish role in this movie, does anybody know the reason? I think Gish is perfect in it but it would've been nice for Elsa to have another well-remembered role besides the Bride

"I like to watch it with A PLACE IN THE SUN. Shelley is best when she is miserable"

That's about 95% of the time, r43. Anyway, Laughton originally intended it to be a musical set in the Caribbean....

It's a shame they couldn't afford to shoot the entire thing ion location.

Well, it still had a *look*, r48.

R49 Yes, I think the weird soundstage look of it was its strength. Unreal, dreamlike.

I agree, r50.

I haven’t seen NOTH in years but still remember its visual and emotional impact. My memory of it is both “Huh?” and “Wow!” I don’t think I got it at the time and need to watch it again.

R46, wasn't it great? She and Margaret Rutherford had weird childhoods and turned it to gold.

When did you last wash your asshole?!

Lillian Gish is magnificent in this movie...

Her frail stature in the face of the evil villain Harry Powers points out the strength of her faith

I'm of British heritage so most of the Americana in this strange movie is foreign to me.

I do like Laughton (who was physically unappealing) but dislike Mitchum (who was also physically unappealing but in a different way).

I wonder how I would have reacted if it was made as originally intended with Laughton and Lanchester as the 2 of the 3 stars on-screen.