Night of the Hunter (The)
- Director: Charles Laughton; Robert Mitchum
- Writer: Davis Grubb; James Agee
- Producer: Paul Gregory
CGiii Comment
It's the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his adolescent son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl's favorite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death. But before he is executed, Ben is in the state penitentiary with a cell mate, a man by the name of Harry Powell, a self-professed man of the cloth, who is really a con man and murderer, swindling lonely women, primarily rich widows, of their money before he kills them. Harry does whatever he can, unsuccessfully, to find out the location of the $10,000 from Ben. After Ben's execution, Harry decides that Willa will be his next mark, he figuring that someone in the family knowing where the money is.
Trailer...
Cast & Characters
Robert Mitchum as Harry Powell;
Shelley Winters as Willa Harper;
Lillian Gish as Rachel Cooper;
James Gleason as Birdie Steptoe;
Evelyn Varden as Icey Spoon;
Peter Graves as Ben Harper;
Don Beddoe as Walt Spoon;
Billy Chapin as John Harper;
Sally Jane Bruce as Pearl Harper;
Gloria Castillo as Ruby;
Emmett Lynn as Birdie Steptoe;
Corey Allen as Young Man in Town;
Paul Bryar as Bart the Hangman;
Cheryl Callaway as Mary;
Michael Chapin as Ruby's Boyfriend