History Film / TheNightOfTheHunter

The setting is rural West Virginia during TheGreatDepression. Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a charismatic but mentally-disturbed itinerant [[SinisterMinister preacher]] and [[SerialKiller serial murderer]] who one day gets married to Willa Harper (Creator/ShelleyWinters), a newly widowed mother of two. Willa's previous husband Ben (Creator/PeterGraves) has just been hanged for robbing a bank and killing two men in the process, and Powell – who'd learned about the robbery while in prison with Ben – is hoping to get his hands on the hidden money. And then it gets really messed-up.

Creator/LillianGish, a huge star from the silent movie days who mostly played character roles after talkies came in, appears as Rachel Cooper, the CoolOldLady who defends the children from Powell.

The setting is rural West Virginia during TheGreatDepression. Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a charismatic but mentally-disturbed itinerant [[SinisterMinister preacher]] and [[SerialKiller serial murderer]] who one day gets married to Willa Harper (Creator/ShelleyWinters), a newly widowed mother of two. Willa's previous husband Ben (Creator/PeterGraves) has just been hanged for robbing a bank and killing two men in the process, and Powell -- who'd learned about the robbery while in prison with Ben -- is hoping to get his hands on the hidden money. And then it gets really messed-up. Creator/LillianGish, a huge star from the silent movie days who mostly played character roles after talkies came in, appears as Rachel Cooper, the CoolOldLady who defends the children from Powell.

''The Night of the Hunter'' is a 1955 American film noir thriller directed by Creator/CharlesLaughton.

Probably Creator/RobertMitchum's best and most iconic performance, and definitely his creepiest (save, possibly, for ''Film/CapeFear''). This is the one where he has "Love" and "Hate" [[KnuckleTattoos tattooed across his knuckles]]. [[TheFilmOfTheBook Based on a novel of the same name]] by Davis Grubb, the film is one of the all-time classics of American cinema and Creator/CharlesLaughton's [[OneBookAuthor sole film as a director]]. Also the inspiration for the ''Music/ThirtySecondsToMars'' song of the same name.

''The Night of the Hunter'' is a 1955 American thriller film directed by Creator/CharlesLaughton.

''The Night of the Hunter'' is a 1955 film directed by Creator/CharlesLaughton.

The setting is rural West Virginia during TheGreatDepression. Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a charismatic, mentally disturbed itinerant [[SinisterMinister preacher]] and [[SerialKiller serial murderer]] who one day gets married to Willa Harper (Creator/ShelleyWinters), a newly widowed mother of two. Willa's previous husband Ben (Creator/PeterGraves) has just been hanged for robbing a bank and killing two men in the process, and Powell -- who'd learned about the robbery while in prison with Ben -- is hoping to get his hands on the hidden money. And then it gets really messed-up. Creator/LillianGish, a huge star in the silent movie days who mostly did character roles after talkies came in, stars as Rachel, the CoolOldLady who defends the children from Powell.

* HeroicVow: John has sworn not to tell anyone where the stolen money is, and has to remind Pearl of this frequently. [[spoiler:The finale reveals this is a pointed subversion: all John had to do all along was return the money to the police and Powell wouldn't have been a threat. Keeping the secret caused the deaths of at least two people, including John's mother.]] The movie seems to be trying to point out just how shitty it was for John's father to put that burden on his young son in the first place, including making him swear, and insisting that he is now the man of the house who has to make the decisions. This is in contrast to Rachel, who knows that if John is allowed to just be a child, he'll be okay.

* SmugSnake: Mrs. Spoon really needs to die. Harry's a smug prick, too.

Probably Creator/RobertMitchum's best and most iconic performance, and definitely his creepiest (save, possibly, for ''Film/CapeFear''), came in this suspense-horror film from 1955. This is the one where he has "Love" and "Hate" [[KnuckleTattoos tattooed across his knuckles]].

[[TheFilmOfTheBook Based on a novel of the same name]] by Davis Grubb, the film is one of the all-time classics of American cinema and Creator/CharlesLaughton's [[OneBookAuthor sole film as a director]]. Also the inspiration for the ''Music/ThirtySecondsToMars'' song of the same name.

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: This movie has some of the starkest, most dramatically contrasted black-and-white photography ever seen outside of GermanExpressionism, symbolizing the contrast between good and evil as Harry Powell darkens the lives of the children. See [[https://i1.wp.com/culturised.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Night-fig-7.png?resize=558%2C413&ssl=1 this shot]] right before Harry murders Willa, with the brightly lit bedroom in the darkness, or [[https://i1.wp.com/culturised.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/The-Night-of-the-Hunter-6.jpg?resize=966%2C549&ssl=1 this one]] where Lillian Gish waits for Powell in a darkened house with a shotgun, or [[http://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/posts/1900-d3197eafedc205e9f15d2cbdb9211e9a/Night_of_the_Hunter_Still_original.jpg this incredible shot]] that recalls ''Film/TheExorcist'' two decades later, when Willa comes home and the house is practically glowing.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: They abide, too. Though John is obviously torn with guilt about his father telling him to hide the money, making him swear on it, while society condemns him for his crimes of theft. In the end, when the police arrest Powell, John breaks down and smashes the doll with the money on Powell, crying in tears.
* ChildrenAsPawns: Both in the book and the movie, Harry Powell tries to throw Pearl against her older brother John in order to convince her to tell him where Pearl and John's executed father had concealed the money he stole from a bank. Or to use her as pawn to make John speak, whatever came first. He also flirts with Ruby to make the naive teenage girl tell him if John and Pearl were adopted by Rachel Cooper.

* DidIMentionItsChristmas: The last few minutes take place during the Christmas season.

* FilleFatale: The teenaged Ruby falls madly in love with Harry. She is implied to have some serious psychological problems.

** Also Rachel Cooper to Icey Spoon. Both are resolute women who quote the bible. But Icey is a bully who falls for Powell's charisma and drives Willa into his arms, while Rachel is a mama bear who is not fooled for a moment by Powell and protects the children from him.

* GuessWhoImMarrying: Just about the wickedest stepfather in anything ever, that's who!

* OffscreenTeleportation: With LampshadeHanging

* SouthernGothicSatan: Sinister, charming, and otherworldly, Harry Powell has strong shades of this trope.

* ThinkingOutLoud: Rachel does this frequently.

* YoureNotMyFather: John makes this clear to Harry right from the beginning.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Rachel [[spoiler: in the final scene looks at the camera nd talks to the audience about how the children will abide, and endure.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Harry returns to Rachel's house to confront the children even after Rachel's sternly threatens him with her shotgun. Upon returning, Harry is face to face with Rachel and tries to pull a fast one only to get shot in the arm. Harry seemed to horribly underestimate that Rachel would act on her threat to him.]]

* ConMan: Harry mostly acts as a preacher in order to charm and eventually defraud people. He does indeed have real religious beliefs but it's mostly there to confirm that in his own twisted mind, all his lies, crimes, and killings is justified.

* BittersweetEnding: Harry will be executed and the children have found a new home with Rachel, but they have most likely gone insane (or at least gotten PTSD) and have lost both their parents.

-->'''Icey Spoon:''' When you've been married to a man forty years, you know all that don't amount to a hill of beans. I've been married to my Walt that long, and I swear in all that time I just lie there thinkin' about my canning."

-->''Hing, hang, hung\\

See the robber swing...''

-->"When you've been married to a man forty years, you know all that don't amount to a hill of beans. I've been married to my Walt that long, and I swear in all that time I just lie there thinkin' about my canning."

* KnifeNut: He doesn't like it when you [[VisualInnuendo touch it...]]

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Ever seen this trope acted out before with a ''switchblade''? Didn't think so. But that's [[KnifeNut just the kind of guy]] [[SerialKiller Harry Powell]] is...

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Harry Powell is either this or a DevilInPlainSight, depending on how sensitive your [[DetectEvil Evildar]] is. He seems like a charming and folksy preacher and the best stepfather a KidHero could ever want, but is actually a KnifeNut, TheBluebeard, and a SerialKiller.

* AlphaBitch: Icey Spoon carries this vibe regarding the adults in the community John and Pearl lived in. She may not be a teenager, but socially she has the most dominate personality among her peers due to being so thoroughly obnoxious and domineering. While Powell's also incredibly manipulative, Willa marrying him was half Powell and half Icey nagging Willa about getting a new man in her house.
* TheAtoner: Rachel has stated that she "lost her son's love" a long time before the story started. She seems to be looking after the kids as a way to make up for her previous actions. All in all, this just demonstrates that she's a better person than most of the other adults in the film. She knows she did something wrong and now she's trying to make it right, and she doesn't deny her sins.

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Harry Powell is either this or a DevilInPlainSight, depending on how sensitive your [[DetectEvil Evildar]] is. To all appearances, a charming and folksy preacher and the best stepfather a KidHero could ever want. Actually a KnifeNut TheBluebeard SerialKiller.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms, Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms."'']]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1468679918_047_robert_mitchum_theredlist.jpg]]

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: It rates a 3, because the violence is bloodless, except for a small spot of it on Ben Harper (Peter Graves) after the robbery, yet has a somewhat disturbing, menacing quality to it.

* TheAlcoholic: Uncle Birdie.

* CoolOldGuy: Suberted with "Uncle Birdie" Steptoe. He is an elderly man who likes to spend the day drinking on his boat and is quite friendly to John whenever he stops by. After [[spoiler:Harry kills Willa]], John and Pearl go to him for help, but as he found [[spoiler:Willa]]'s body in the river, he's afraid the town is going to think that he was the killer, causing him to drink himself into a useless stupor. This forces John to take Birdie's boat and head down the river with Pearl alone.

* CoolOldGuy: Suberted with Birdie Steptoe. He is an elderly man who likes to spend the day drinking on his boat and is quite friendly to John whenever he stops by. After [[spoiler:Harry kills Willa]], John and Pearl go to him for help, but as he found [[spoiler:Willa]]'s body in the river, he's afraid the town is going to think that he was the killer, causing him to drink himself into a useless stupor. This forces John to take Birdie's boat and head down the river with Pearl alone.

Based on a novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, the film is one of the all-time classics of American cinema and Creator/CharlesLaughton's [[OneBookAuthor sole film as a director]]. Also the inspiration for the ''Music/ThirtySecondsToMars'' song of the same name.