THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 34, Issue 874, 4 May 1956, Page 18

THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

(Paul Gregory-United Artists) [HIS is the first film to be directed by Charles Laughton, and to call it uneven in quality would be a gross understatement. It is an almost unbelievable conglomeration of tension, horror, outdated pictorial tricks, cheap sentimentalities, and sudden penetrating psychological insights. Mr. Laughton is undoubtedly intelligent, and it is obvious that he has been studying the masters, from D. W. Griffith onward. But it was scarcely necessary or even desirable to incorporate all the styles (including that of Griffith at his corniest) in the one production. There were passages in this film that had my scalp prickling, but the tension was almost invariably relieved by humour that was not meant to be there. The tension, however, was there. It’s true that to place children in jeopardy is a quick easy way of arousing audience emotion, but it is also true that Mr. Laughton, after a shaky start, handled the children pretty well. I found it pleasant, too, to encounter old Jimmy Gleason again and the durable Lillian Gish (in what was almost a silent-era role). Even Robert Mitchum, as the psychopathic preacher Harry Powell, seemed more at home in black than he had done a fortnight before in white. But, granted that he was a wolf. in sheep’s clothing, was it really necessary for him to howl? When he gave tongue I felt like throwing another log on the fire and reaching for my bottle of cough-mixture.