The Night of the Hunter (1955) is an American horror film directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, it was adapted for the screen by James Agee and Laughton. The plot focuses on a corrupt reverend-turned-serial killer who attempts to charm an unsuspecting widow and steal $10,000 hidden by her executed husband.
In the 1930s West Virginia, along the Ohio River, Reverend Harry Powell, a serial killer, flees the scene of his latest victim. Powell is a self-anointed preacher with a penchant for switchblade knives; a misogynist who is both attracted to and repulsed by women. He travels rural roads, preaching in small towns, and seems to believe he is doing God's work. The letters "L-O-V-E" are tattooed on one hand and the letters "H-A-T-E" on the other, which Powell uses as symbols in impromptu sermons. In one small town, police arrest Powell for driving a stolen car and sentence him to jail, unaware that he is a murderer.
Meanwhile, a local family man named Ben Harper ends up killing two people in a bank robbery. Before his arrest, he arrives home to his two young children, John and Pearl. Ben convinces them to keep the secret of where he has hidden the money: inside Pearl's rag doll. Immediately afterwards the police arrive and arrest Ben, and John is shocked by the way the police roughly pin down and overpower his father.
Clasificación [ CM DVD 00626] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)