Scott Derrickson is remaking “The Night of the Hunter” (1955)

The Night of the Hunter is one of those films that I was prepared to love, tried to love and cannot love - there is simply too much wrong with it in terms of pacing and storyline. Mitcham's villainy is amazing, Miss Gish is wonderful, but the plot drags and the last act is too long by 15 minutes.

Mitchum was so effective in that role, so menacing but weirdly playful in his sermonizing. He lets you see his character thinking in real time, manipulating others, “lovingly” threatening and shaming that little boy. It’s a really dark character and pretty fascinating to watch.

Matthew McConaughey as the preacher

I wonder who will be cast in this inevitably bad remake

Will they redo that scene at the bottom of the river?

Hopefully they won’t have an adult sing coherently for the little girl in the boat who previously could barely speak because she was so young.

Or have the Mitchum character run off sounding like a hyena on repeat.,

R5 That footage of Shelly Winters’ character in the submerged vehicle really frightened me when I was a kid.

I think it was John Waters who wondered why they do remakes of good movies when there are so many bad ones that could be remade well. I'd love to see a proper Bonfire of the Vanities, for instance.

Charles Laughton’s direction of Night of the Hunter is pretty masterful. I really admire all the naturalistic elements, the croaking frogs and things like these, and that haunting score. Night of the Iguana has a similar visual and sonic form, the lush music playing over highly stylized closeups of the Iguana and during transitions between scenes. Night of the Hunter was considered a failure at first, but rediscovered and celebrated. Too bad Charles Laughton directed only this one film. I think he did an amazing job.

Poor Shelly Winters. She had a really cool career (and a long one) but she was limited as an actor by that irritating way of expressing desperation (the trembling quiver and fragile tone). Jennifer Jason Leigh is limited that way (the quivering “mannered mumble” delivery of lines in Delores Claiborne and Single White Female). In fairness, overwhelming desperation is a hard idea for any actor to convey (see John Tuturro sob and spit in Miller’s Crossing).

In one of her last films, one titled Heavy, you see Winters dig up that technique when her character, Dolly, struggles to connect with her son. It’s pretty fascinating if you follow actors and their “poker tells”.

What’s so poor about Shelley Winters? She had a long and successful career. What a stupid comment.

[quote] but she was limited as an actor by that irritating way of expressing desperation (the trembling quiver and fragile tone)

She always had a kvetch in her voice.