Wednesday, October 18, 2023
The Night of the Hunter
- Commentary: Under construction.
This movie was selected by Roger Ebert as one of his Great Movies. In addition, there are several articles at his site written by other admirers of this once-in-Charles-Laughton's-lifetime directorial masterpiece, if you're interested. Just pull a search of the title at Roger Ebert's website.
Curiously enough, it appears, on the surface, anyway, that this movie is the first Classic Film Noir in my collection! I'm so surprised by this that I will, later, be scouring my inventory over there to the left and comparing it to a list (or more) that I hope will give me an idea how many Classic Film Noirs I've collected. Maybe I just missed the category because I wasn't sure about its attributes! Then, again, it could be I'm not attracted to this genre. I know, for instance, that every time I run across Double Indemnity, which is definitely Classic Film Noir, I always reject the possibility of obtaining it, chiefly because I've seen it and it left little impression on me.
So saying, following are some linked lists to get me started:
List of film noir titles
Film Noir - List of Film Titles
Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era 1940-1959
The 100 Best Film Noirs of All Time
I perused one of these lists, the shortest and the last, and discovered that, in fact, there are more than a few films in my collection that "legitimately" (in quotation marks because of the unsettled nature of the "What Is Film Noir" debate) classify as Film Noir, which comes as a surprise to me. The introduction to the first list (from Wikipedia) above mentions the following: "Film noir is not a clearly defined genre ..." and with its first paragraph links to another Wikipedia article which provides a (long) definition of Film Noir, admitting, at the outset, that, "The questions of what defines film noir, and what sort of category it is, provoke continuing debate."
So, it seems, it's not that I don't like or collect Film Noir, I am placed squarely in the middle of film enthusiasts the world over who aren't quite sure what Film Noir is! That's a relief, I guess.
You'll notice, as well, that the two middle lists come from the same source, and contain many of the same movies, although the second is more complete. This is a reminder, for me, that the definition of Film Noir is far from settled.
Anyway, I remain as always, hopeful, and expect to provide more information on this film and the subject of Film Noir and Me later. A film enthusiast's work, it seems, is never done.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Name Role Name Actor Name Role Name Actor Name Role Name Actor Name Role Name Robert Mitchum Harry Powell Shelley Winters Willa Harper Lillian Gish Rachel Cooper Billy Chapin John Harper Sally Jane Bruce Pearl Harper James Gleason Uncle Steptoe Evelyn Varden Icey Spoon Don Beddoe Walt Spoon Peter Graves Ben Harper Gloria Castillo Ruby Cooper Paul Bryar Bart the Hangman Alexander Campbell The Judge
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1953
Directed by Charles Laughton.
Labels: Criterion6, film-noir1
