The Night of the Hunter (1955) [Criterion Collection]

Director: Charles Laughton
Writers: James Agee (screenplay), Davis Grubb (based on the novel by)
Stars: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish

It's the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his adolescent son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl's favorite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death. But before he is executed, Ben is in the state penitentiary with a cell mate, a man by the name of Harry Powell, a self-professed man of the cloth, who is really a con man and murderer, swindling lonely women, primarily rich widows, of their money before he kills them. Harry does whatever he can, unsuccessfully, to find out the location of the $10,000 from Ben. After Ben's execution, Harry decides that Willa will be his next mark, figuring that someone in the family knows where the money is hidden. Despite vowing not to remarry, Willa ends up being easy prey for Harry's outward …





Extras DVD1:
- Commentary - a very informative commentary in which second-unit director Terry Sanders, film archivist Robert Gitt, film critic F.X. Feeney, and Preston Neal Jones, author of Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of "The Night of the Hunter" discuss the production history of The Night of the Hunter, its reception and restoration, the film's message, Charles Laughton's fascinating life and career, etc.
- The Making of "The Night of the Hunter - an informative documentary that explores the production history of The Night of the Hunter. With the participation of producer Paul Gregory, second-unit director Terry Sanders, and authors reston Neal Jones, F.X. Feeney, and Jeffrey Couchman.
- Moving Pictures - a fifteen-minute documentary on The Night of the Hunter, originally broadcast on February 19, 1995, which features interviews with producer Paul Gregory, actors Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish, editor Robert Golden, art director Hilyard Brown, director of photography Stanley Cortez, and second-unit director Terry Sanders.
- Stanley Cortez - an interview, shot at the American Society of Cinematographers in 1984, in which director of photography Stanley Cortez discusses his work on The Night of the Hunter.
- Theatrical Trailer - the original trailer for The Night of the Hunter.
- Simon Callow on Charles Laughton - in this exclusive interview, shot in 2010 in London, Simon Callow, author of Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor, discusses Charles Laughton's life and career.
- The Ed Sullivan Show - an excerpt from an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, from September 25, 1955, in which Peter Graves and Shelley Winters perform a scene that does not appear in the final version of The Night of the Hunter.
- Davis Grubb Sketches - a collection of sketches.






Extras DVD2:
- Introduction - a wonderful and illuminating conversation, recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2010, with film archivist Robert Gitt and film critic Leonard Maltin. The two gentlemen discuss the discovery and preservation of the material used to make Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of the Hunter", as well as their first impression of the film when they first saw it years ago.