Nowadays, when an actor branches into the world of directing, we tend to treat them with kid gloves, applauding them for having the courage and artistic vision to take a step behind the camera. But that was not the case back in 1955, when famed English actor Charles Laughton made the Southern Gothic Night of the Hunter. Although today the often disturbing but beautifully shot film is considered among the best ever made, when it initially came out it was beset by negative reviews and poor box office returns. Embarrassed by what he perceived as a failure, Laughton never directed another film. And tragically, he didn’t live long enough to see it become a classic.
A denizen of the British stage, Charles Laughton began his film career in the late 1920s, and quickly developed a reputation as a talented, classically trained performer. He shot to fame with his performance as King Henry VIII in The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won his first and only Academy Award (he was nominated twice more, in 1935 for Mutiny on the Bounty and in 1957 for Witness for the Prosecution, respectively). From the 1930s onward, he was a go-to figure in both American and English films.
In 1954, Laughton began pre-production on the cinematic adaptation of the 1953 novel The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb. The unsettling story revolves around a serial killer posing as a preacher (Robert Mitchum) who marries a widow (Shelley Winters) with two children in order to steal a large sum of money her former husband supposedly hid on their property. But when the children become suspicious of his intentions and refuse to cooperate, things take a dark turn, leading them to flee their home in a desperate bid to escape the clutches of their murderous stepfather. Modern audiences find much to appreciate in the malevolent performance of Mitchum in the lead role, the foreboding, expressionistic cinematography of life in rural West Virginia, and the choice to cast Lillian Gish as the children’s forthright protector, harking back to the silent film era.
But back in 1955, audiences didn’t know what to make of it. And as it turns out, neither did United Artists, who struggled to come up with a promotional strategy that would accurately capture the essence of the film that made it so haunting. Their original trailer made The Night of the Hunter look cheap, generic, and honestly, a little bit cheesy. Producer Paul Gregory complained in an interview featured in a 1995 episode of Moving Pictures that “absolutely no money was spent on promotion … United Artists didn’t have the muscle, desire, or intelligence to handle the picture.” As a result of this botched promotional campaign, audiences failed to turn out, making it an undisputed box office disappointment. It certainly didn’t help matters that it was roundly criticized by several religious organizations in the United States for its objectionable content, at a time when a condemnation from a major diocese could drive a boycott that would depress audience turnout.
What’s even more disheartening, though, is that many critics were unable to see the film’s merits. Harrison’s Reports wrote disparagingly, “The picture might have some appeal for those who patronize art houses in search of the unusual in movie fare, but the great majority of those who see it will look upon it as a choppily-edited, foggy melodrama peopled with foggy characters.” Gene Arnell of Variety bemoaned what he refers to as “camera flourishes” that take away from the effectiveness of the story, and although Life’s review had more positive comments, it still complained that the film was “often too busy being arty to be scary.” Overall, many contemporary reviews seem to either misunderstand the intention of the film or resent Laughton’s efforts to experiment visually in creating a new interpretation of the Southern Gothic, which is now considered one of its strongest and most unique elements.
In the decades since its release, as art house cinema took a few tentative steps into the mainstream and film-loving audiences began venturing into revival theaters, The Night of the Hunter underwent a massive critical reevaluation. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader wrote in 1985 that, “Charles Laughton’s first and only film as a director is an enduring masterpiece — dark, deep, beautiful, aglow… The source of its style and power is mysterious—it is a film without precedent and without any real equals.” Although Laughton was devastated by the failure of his only foray into directing, refusing to helm another movie after having his creative efforts so thoroughly misunderstood, it comes as some comfort to know that his groundbreaking aesthetic choices would be appreciated by a new generation of viewers.
“The Night of the Hunter” is streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi, and is available for digital rental or purchase. It is also available on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.
