Night of the Hunter

[Flint]

Hey All-
Just watched Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter" with cinematography by Stanley Cortez last night for the first time. If there's anyone here who hasn't seen it, I highly recommend it for those who enjoy imaginative camera work & set pieces. Very intriguing film. Beautifully shot. As I understand it, its Laughton's only directorial effot, and that's a shame. If anyone knows anything about Laughton, would be curious to know why he didn't direct more.

-Flint.

[Harvey Chartrand]

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER was a big fat flop and put an end to Charles Laughton's career as a director of motion pictures (although he continued to direct for the stage). Robert Mitchum said Laughton was the best director he ever worked with. The upside: Welles' output as a film director is staggering when compared to Laughton's.

[Flint]

Harvey-
I like your point about Welles! Very funny! I guess I understand why he didn't make films after "Hunter" but why not before? It seems that someone with such an affinity for directing would have had the inclination much earlier. Maybe not.

-Flint.

[Glenn Anders]

Dear Flint: Charles Laughton, for all his accomplishments, was a highly unstable personality. He was subject to fits of depression, to suicidal feelings of unworthiness, and of course, he was a homosexual (though married to Elsa Lanchester), in a time in which a scandal, or public revelation of the fact, could have him blacklisted. One can see why the poor reception of the film shut down his further efforts in film directing.

I have never come across details of this production. It must have been an interesting scene: the neurotic Laughton and the slow-moving Cortez (who had produced little of note since 1942, the year he photographed THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS).

Does anyone have any references for, or hard information about, the shooting of NIGHT OF THE HUNTER?

Given the bitter relationship of Cortez and Welles, and the aborted plan for Brecht to have Welles direct Laughton in Galileo, nearly ten years before, it's almost a Category 4 situation!

All the best.

Glenn

[Sir Bygber Brown]

That's incredible - i was just reading Truffaut's book "The Films in my Life" - and there's an article he wrote when Night of the Hunter first came out, and Truffaut predicted correctly that Laughton's first opportunity to direct would be his last.

I give you Truffaut:

"...It must be regarded as cruel farce, or better still as a parable about the relativity of good and evil. All the characters are good, even the apparently evil preacher.
Screenplays such as this are not the way to lauch your career as a Hollywood director. The film runs counter to the rules of commercialism; it will probably be Laughton's single experience as a director. It's a pity, for despite failures of style, The Night of the Hunter is immensely inventive. ...Laughton isnt afraid to knock over a few red lights and some traffic cops in his unusual film. It makes us fall in love again with an experimental cinema that truly experiments, and a cinema of discovery that, in fact, discovers."

In the same collection of articles, Truffaut writes of Touch of Evil: "You could remove Orson Welles' name from the credits and it wouldn't make any difference, because from the first shot, beginning with the credits themselves, it's obvious that Citizen Kane is behind the camera."

In case you haven't got the book, there are three great articles in here on Kane, Touch of Evil and Mr Arkadin.

[Glenn Anders]

Dear Sir Bygaber: Very perceptive of Truffaut.

I haven't read the book. What does he say about MR. ARKADIN?

Regards.

Glenn

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I'll give you some good bits (b.c there's three pages worth):

"Mr Arkadin is an admirable film. It begins badly" ... (Welles' makeup, seedy sets, etc) ... "But then the spell begins to work; we accept the film's seediness and are drawn into the action." Actually, since i haven't yet been able to locate a copy of Arkadin, i won't read the details of plot etc, but near the end he says: "In this gorgeous film, once again we find Welles's inspiration behind every image, that touch of madness and of genius, his power, his brilliant heartiness, his gnarled poetry. There isn't a single scene which isn't based on a new or unusual idea. The film will undoubtedly be thought confusing, but certainly at the same time exciting, stimulating, enriching, a movie one could discuss for hours because it is filled with what we want most to find in any movie - lyricism and creativity."

I thoroughly recommend Truffaut as a critic to you (i'm embarrassed to say i haven't yet seen a film of his - they have poor distribution in Australia, but i have been looking). Its so wonderful reading him - he has such a love of the movies, and can find value in anything. At times he's shockingly realistic, at other times euphorically analytical - but one thing's for sure, he had immense passion for all kinds of movies. I love it!

[Jeff Wilson]

For those interested in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, there are two books you may wish to check out: Simon Callow wrote one for the BFI's Film Classics series, and there's a much lengthier look at the film in Heaven and Hell To Play With: The Filming of Night of the Hunter, by Preston Neal Jones.

[blunted by community]

i read that laughton knew his face looked like an elephant's ass, and was resentful of people that tried to get to know him because they were really just trying to suck up to him.

messed up guy.

[Glenn Anders]

Thanks, Sir Bygaber, for the Truffaut quotes, and thank you for the book titles, Jeff. I'll check them out.

Glenn