Robert Mitchum - The Night of the Hunter - River Boat Scene

I love the imagery in this film...it's like watching a child's nightmare, but it is strangely beautiful too.

I can't figure out the sequence to finish the movie but it's a great movie.

Sorry Laughton got disheartned and didn't direct any more. It's a superb portrayal of a psychopath.

the minute she starts to sing i start to cry everytime i see this scence i get emotional

Captivating scene that pulls you in and keeps you there. Its like a dark fairy tale in the way the children escape the villian then are lulled to sleep across the river under the starry night. The animals seem as if they are keeping watch, while Pearl sings that beautiful, yet eerie lullubye. "...one day she flew away...flew away..." That guttural scream? OMG. Then the classic line, "Does he NEVER sleep?" Truly a masterpiece in film.

Fantastic movie. Far ahead of it's time.

What's funny is that the horseback sillohuette is actually a midget on a pony to give the illusion of the preacher being farther away becuse of limited studio space. Wonderful fim, truly terrifying :o

i love trivia like that!

The Night Of The Hunter and
Out Of The Past are my two all time favorite Mitchum films,
nobody could do dark characters
quite like he could.
I remember reading somewhere
Kathrine Hepburn had said to his face that she didn't think he was a good actor compared with Spencer Tracy, LOL
to each their own.

One thing I don't understand; if Charles Laughton disliked children so much (as I keep reading) why did he choose to direct such a child-centric story?

What's truly frightening about Mitchum's preacher is that adults trust him because he says all the things they like to hear.
But the children instinctively don't trust him because they don't listen to what he says-they pick up on his vibe being all wrong.