Night Of The Hunter

The Night of the Hunter—incredibly, the only film the great actor Charles Laughton ever directed—is truly a stand-alone masterwork. A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, it stars a sublimely sinister Robert Mitchum as a traveling preacher named Harry Powell (he of the tattooed knuckles), whose nefarious motives for marrying a fragile widow, played by Shelley Winters, are uncovered by her terrified young children. Graced by images of eerie beauty and a sneaky sense of humor, this ethereal, expressionistic American classic—also featuring the contributions of actress Lillian Gish and writer James Agee—is cinema’s most eccentric rendering of the battle between good and evil. The Night of the Hunter was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in cooperation with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., with funding provided by Robert Sturm and The Film Foundation. Spine #541 TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURESNew digital transfer made from 35 mm film elements restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive in cooperation with MGM Studios, with funding provided by the Film Foundation and Robert Sturm, with uncompressed monaural soundtrackAudio commentary featuring second-unit director Terry Sanders, film critic F. X. Feeney, archivist Robert Gitt, and author Preston Neal JonesCharles Laughton Directs “The Night of the Hunter,” a two-and-a-half-hour treasure trove of outtakes and behind-the-scenes footageNew documentary featuring interviews with producer Paul Gregory, Sanders, Feeney, Jones, and author Jeffrey CouchmanNew video interview with Laughton biographer Simon CallowClip from the The Ed Sullivan Show in which cast members perform a scene deleted from the filmFifteen-minute episode of the BBC show Moving Pictures about the filmArchival interview with cinematographer Stanley CortezGallery of sketches by author Davis Grubb, author of the source novelNew video conversation between Gitt and film critic Leonard Maltin about Charles Laughton DirectsOriginal theatrical trailerEnglish subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingPLUS: New essays by critics Terrence Rafferty and Michael Sragow New cover by Eric Skillman