Thanks - I’ll try to find the documentary - it’s sad that “Night of the Hunter” is the only film Laughton ever directed - I would like to have seen what else he might have come up with - supposedly he was disappointed with how poorly the movie did at the box office, thinking the public didn’t like it, and vowed never to make another film - ironic if my own experience is any indication of what happened - after seeing the previews which played on the dark, scary elements of the movie, I was not eager to see it and didn’t brave watching until a few years ago - maybe Laughton did such a good job of directing this as a thriller that he scared people away and did himself out of the credit he deserved for a really enchanting work.....
It’s a very scary movie! Very dark but with distinctly Christian overtones. Laughton used to tour the country using readings from the Bible, Shakespeare, of course, and Jack Kerouac. I have a record of his performance.
Mitchum’s most frightening performance. Brilliant. Thanks to Miss Gish, the movie redeems itself. We abide and we endure.