Robert Mitchum

Robert Mitchum discusses his role as the character “The Reverend Harry Powell” with director Charles Laughton, for the film ‘The Night of the Hunter’ on the set during filming. Robert Mitchum would later cite Charles Laughton as his favourite of all of the directors that he worked under during his illustrious film career.

Charles Laughton’s American film noir thriller ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955), followed a screenplay by James Agee that was adapted from the 1953 novel of the same name by Davis Grubb.

In the film, The Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is, or poses as, a religious fanatic and serial killer who targets women to con, exploit, and kill. Serving time in prison for car theft, he meets condemned murderer Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who confesses to hiding $10,000 in stolen loot with his family. Released from jail, Powell is obsessed with finding the money, and he tracks down Harper's unsuspecting widow, Willa (Shelley Winters), and her two children, John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce), and in a sinister manner conducts unspeakable deeds in an attempt to get his hands on that money.

The novel and film draw on the true story of Harry Powers, who was hanged in 1932 for the murder of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Robert Altman, and Martin Scorsese have all cited Charles Laughton’s ‘The Night of the Hunter’ as a film that has influenced their own work.

In addition to Robert Mitchum as “The Reverend Harry Powell”, the film features Shelley Winters as “Willa Harper”, Lillian Gish as “Rachel Cooper”, Billy Chapin as “John Harper”, Sally Jane Bruce as “Pearl Harper”,

James Gleason as “Uncle ‘Birdie’ Steptoe”,

Evelyn Varden as “Icey Spoon”, Willa's employer, Don Beddoe as “Walt Spoon”, Icey's husband, Peter Graves as “Ben Harper”,

And Gloria Castillo as “Ruby”, one of Rachel's wards. In my opinion, of the supporting cast members, it is Lillian Gish’s and child actor Billy Chapin’s performances that are particularly remarkable, although the entire ensemble supporting cast is extraordinarily good with all of their performances.

Charles Laughton’s ‘The Night of the Hunter’ is my favourite feature film of all time. Today we remember the late, great Robert Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997).