541 The Night of the Hunter

[Yojimbo]

As far as his mise en scene is concerned, I see a wildly unique cartoonlike recipe that registers less Murnau to me than a crazy concoction of Griffith, Jacques Tourneur, and maybe someone like sound era pabst (think latalantide or 3Penny) or maybe even late era Lang.. but all blended in equal parts for something hitherto unseen, verging on comicbook self reflexivity and wonderfully sinister extravagance. Love love love this film.. and its about time the upgrade is taking place.

Interesting comments Schreck: my brother loves 'Night of the Hunter' and I've decided to introduce him to the delights of Murnau, as for me, even though its almost 20 years since I last saw it, NOTH just has to be Murnau-inspired.
There's Griffith, certainly, also: interesting both major influences on Ford, also.

btw, there's a certain type of 'sky' , that I always associate as having originated with Murnau.
(although it may just be that he perfected it)
Ford, Laughton, Mizoguchi, - in Sansho, Ugetsu, etc, etc.,and Lean in 'Great Expectations', to name but four I believe would have been inspired by it

[brendanjc]

It looks like the MGM disc is back in stock on Amazon, does this mean the Collector's Edition is dead or does this sometimes happen with long OOP titles?

[domino harvey]

Exodus came briefly back in print earlier this summer-- I think it just means they found a box of them somewhere

[swo17]

It could be coming from Criterion, depending on your definition of 100%.

[dad1153]

Caught "NOTH" for the first time over the weekend on the High-Definition version of TCM (which isn't supposed to be showing HD movies yet but "NOTH" was in high-def and its original 1:66:1 aspect ratio). I'll confess that the only reason I watched it was because (a) TCM happened to be showing it in HD last Friday night (10/24) and (b) I was impressed by the number/quality of submissions this movie got in the 'Fake Criterion Covers' thread in the site's 'Rumors' section. If a movie I've never even heard of can have such an impact on a jaded group of cinephiles like those that frequent this site then it must be good (I told to myself in the first person ).

In short: HOOOO...LY S***. This is one of the most intense, hardcore and fun 'noir' thrillers I've seen in my life. I can picture scenes/moments on repeat viewing becoming funny (the useless drunk Uncle by the river is a riot out of the gate) but on first viewing I was holding my breath too much to do any smiling, let alone laughing. Cortez's good-looking cinematography is freaking gorgeous just to gawk at. Dozens of memorable images permanently etched in my brain: Winters' hair flowing underwater, the floating raft with the forced-perspective shots, Powell in the bedroom, etc. Great (and unusual for the genre) use of aerial photography, shadows, forced perspective and even sound (any scene where a character sings) to establish one hell of an oppressive mood. Imagine what Laughton might have been able to accomplish had he stuck to directing. Great performances too (the little kid was a little iffy but he sure was a dead ringer for Peter Graves' character!) but even Lillian Gish brandishing a shotgun can compete with Robert Mitchum's pitch-perfect portrayal of a money-hungry and sadistic religious nut. It's been years since I've been so engaged into a movie's narrative that I was (mentally and physically) kicking, punching and strangling Harry Powell (his neck around my hands in front of the TV, "Kids in the Hall"-ish 'I'm-crushing-your-head' style) for being such an evil bastard to those poor children. I was cheering wildly when the children escaped into the river, and mocked Mitchum with a 'Nanananaaaa' and flipped him the bird when he let out that animal scream. I live alone in my apartment. I never do this with any of the movies I watch, but with "NOTH" I couldn't control myself.

Other than the slightly preachy ending (which actually came as a relief after the intense 90 minutes that preceded it) and the fact the movie doesn't take place over a single night ("Prey/Chase of the Hunter" would have been a more appropriate title) "Night of the Hunter" is perfect. And you know what that means? An inevitable Hollywood remake must be in the works somewhere starring Will Smith's son. #-o

[nsps]

I just watched some of "Night of the Hunter" on MGM HD and it looked great. I think it's scheduled to be on again in the next week or so. Obviously it won't be as high a bitrate as a Blu-ray, but still very nice quality.

I just tried to watch this off my dvr from the recent MGM HD showing, and, it may LOOK good (although the 1:85 ratio bothers me), but what really bothered me was the sound, which was a complete disaster! Every musical cue and sound effect has been given some bizarre kind of echo effect, kind of like a really bad phony stereo hatched job, but then folded back to mono. So, every musical attack is heard twice in rapid succession. I surely HOPE this is not a sign of what the eventual DVD/BD remaster will be like. Yet another MGM HD disaster.....they recently aired "The Red Shoes" in a 1:85 cropped version. Will someone please step up and broadcast the major studios' "classic" film library in HD? Bad as the "Voom" channels were (which Dish told us we didn't really want, rather than urge them to improve), nothing has stepped up to give us non-mainstream film in HD.

I'll have to see if I still have this on a DVR, as I didn't notice the sound issues—it was definitely processing and not a broadcast error? I've experienced several sound issues with HD broadcasts.

I was terrified by the cropping when I tried to watch The Red Shoes and basically stopped watching MGM-HD after that. HDNet Movies is much more committed to showing films in the proper AR, and sometimes shows some of the MGM titles as well. (I know I saw Blimp in the proper AR, but am not positive which channels.) The Voom channels had their problems, but they were showing HD transfers that no one else had any interest in showing, and showing them in OAR. Take out the annoying animated slug that popped up every hour and the two or three movies replaying repeatedly for the day, and it was pretty perfect.

[Jameson281]

I was terrified by the cropping when I tried to watch The Red Shoes and basically stopped watching MGM-HD after that.

THE RED SHOES was a mistake where someone requested the wrong master. The error has been brought to MGM HD's attention, and any future airings of THE RED SHOES will be in the correct 1.33:1.

[unclehulot]

I was terrified by the cropping when I tried to watch The Red Shoes and basically stopped watching MGM-HD after that.

THE RED SHOES was a mistake where someone requested the wrong master. The error has been brought to MGM HD's attention, and any future airings of THE RED SHOES will be in the correct 1.33:1.

Hmm....I called it to their attention months ago, and even got an email reply acknowledging the issue, and it's aired at least 2 different subsequent months with the same incorrect version. I'd like to know why there even IS a 1.85 master. Despite this huge gaffe, in the vast majority of cases, MGM-HD airs stuff in the correct ratio, unlike the abysmal Universal HD, which zooms 2:35 stuff to fill the whole screen (ditto Encore HD, for what it's worth, which ain't much).

[Jameson281]

You were probably speaking to some P.R. idiot who didn't even understand the issue; I spoke to people directly involved in the tech side of the channel.

The studios create 1.78 HD transfers of films for the same reason they create pan-and-scan versions of films in standard def: some stations that are licensing films want to make sure the viewer's TV screen is filled without any of those pesky black bars. For standard def, that means airing in 1.33:1, no matter what the original aspect ratio; for HD, that means showing everything in 1.78:1. (The cropped RED SHOES was 1.78, not 1.85.)

[THX1378]

Night of the Hunter on blu! My god dreams do come true! Lets hope that Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of the Hunter", the two hour look at rushes and outtakes that were part of almost 8 hours worth of footage that were donated by Elsa Lanchester to the AFI, and then UCLA helped restored, will be a part of the package.

[Dr Amicus]

Fuck it, I'm going to have to upgrade to Region Free...

[cdnchris]

Excellent! I was actually afraid that since Criterion didn't release The Fugitive Kind on BD that they were unable to release the MGM titles on the format.

[matrixschmatrix]

God damn, I am really glad I held off buying the crap dvd now

[Feego]

I wonder if there's any chance of Criterion reprinting the novel for this release.

[Tom Hagen]

I was thinking December would be fitting.

If they get it out by December, I promise to buy five copies as various gifts.

Also: bring on the Mitchum supplements we didn't get on Eddie Coyle!

[matrixschmatrix]

I wonder if there's any chance of Criterion reprinting the novel for this release.

I would guess not, based on the way they've been cutting the novels out of the releases that had them before.

[Napier]

The novels take up too much shelf space. If they want to sell books, sell them separately. ^ that's what I'm doing right now.

[matrixschmatrix]

I like it either way, but if the novel is out of print, it's invaluable- if there was ever a Criterion release of Mabuse der Spieler that included the book, I'd buy it even though i already have the MoC.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

THANK YOU, CRITERION!!! This has got to be one of their best releases ever.

Also, to anyone who hasn't read it, Simon Callow brisk read from the BFI about The Night of the Hunter is one of the best in the whole BFI Film Classics series.

Don't forget Heaven And Hell To Play With, a great oral history of the film.

[Tom Hagen]

What!? That long Rolling Stones article is one of the best pieces I've read about about Mitchum!

It was a terrific portrait of Mitchum in the '70s (and an even better portrait of a particular golden era of American journalism), but it's time for the goods on this one.

[jsteffe]

I just saw the UCLA Film and Television Archive restoration of NIGHT OF THE HUNTER on 35mm. This film has the potential to look really dazzling on Blu-ray. Very exciting news!

[MoonlitKnight]

I WANT THEM KIDS.

I still break out laughing every time I hear that line.

[Jeff]

Lets hope that Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of the Hunter"...will be a part of the package.

I've heard that it is -- I think that Criterion even responded to that effect on Facebook at one point. I never got a chance to see it. Is there narration in the documentary, or did Robert Gitt present the outtakes and narrate them live at all of his presentations? He could always just do an optional commentary over the outtakes. There are supposedly eight hours of outtakes and footage of Laughton directing, with only two hours included in the official documentary. Here is a great piece that Gitt wrote for The Guardian, telling about discovering the footage, and spending 20 years going through it. I'm hoping that Gitt is heavily involved with the transfer and supplements, and that the film is correctly presented at 1.66. The Criterion laserdisc and MGM DVD were unfortunately opened up (and occasionally cropped) to 1.33.

Criterion is also absolutely nuts if they don't include a commentary and other contributions from Preston Neal Jones, author of the indispensable Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter. He must have hours of recorded interviews with the cast and crew that could be excerpted in his commentary. Simon Callow might be a candidate for inclusion too. He wrote the BFI monograph on the film and a biography of Laughton. Criterion previously interviewed him for Mr. Arkadin. Then, there is Columbia/Fordham professor Jeffrey Couchman, who wrote the essay "Credit Where Credit is Due," declaring authorship of the screenplay as truly belonging to James Agee. He has read Agee's massive first draft of the script. He also wrote the book The Night of the Hunter: A Biography of a Film, which came out last year. This has the potential to be one of your most well-appointed, Stagecoach-level discs, Criterion. Don't blow it.

[matrixschmatrix]

There's a Callow movie in the collection, too- or at least, one under the Merchant Ivory imprint. I'd love to have him participate in an extra, he has one of the most soothing voices of any film scholar.

[Jonathan S]

Besides his book on Laughton, Callow made a superb one-hour documentary, Callow's Laughton, for Yorkshire TV/Channel 4 in 1987. It's far better than the Barry Norman programme on Laughton that Criterion included with Hobson's Choice.