Making of Charles Laughton’s 1955 Masterpiece
Literary agent Harold Matson sent a copy of Davis Grubb’s 1953 novel “The Night of the Hunter” to Paul Gregory. Laughton immediately embraced it, describing the novel as a “nightmarish Mother Goose story.”
Laughton traveled to Philadelphia, where Grubb lived, to discuss his ideas. Grubb, who had studied art in college, offered to draw sketches, and many of his drawings were used in the film’s storyboard.
Grubb was considered to write the screenplay himself, but the studio wanted to hire someone more experienced. Thus, James Agee was hired as scribe; hailing from the South, Agee also had experience writing about the Depression.
Agee’s script was much too long for a feature–293 pages. Laughton made significant rewrites, but he insisted that Agee be credited as the sole writer.
Agee’s script ended with a shot of children’s faces floating among the stars, an idea that was eventually moved to the opening of the film.
Gregory worked with the Production Code Administration (PCA) to meet its strict guidelines: There was concern about depicting a preacher as an evil person. Eventually. the script was approved, but Protestant groups continued to object to the production.
Wishing to “restore the power of silent films to talkies, Laughton studied silents by viewing their nitrate prints, including The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The budget of the film was a little under $600,000, of which $75,000 was allocated for the rights to the novel.
Laughton’s initially thought to cast himself as the preacher, but no studio would finance the film without a major star. He considered casting Gary Cooper as Harry Powell, but Cooper feared it might be detrimental to his career.
Olivier expressed interest in the role, but his schedule was not free. Mitchum, eager for the part, rendered an impressive audition, concurring with the director that his role was that of “a diabolical shit.” Laughton liked Mitchum due to his sexual persona. When Grubb showed concern about a preacher being sexual, Laughton told him, “If you want to sell God, you have to be sexy.”
Agnes Moorehead, Grace Kelly, and Betty Grable were considered for the role of Willa Harper. Laughton chose Shelley Winters because she had vulnerable quality and was more of a serious actor than a movie star; she committed to the role only two weeks before filming began.
In her 1989 memoir, Winters described this as “probably the most thoughtful and reserved performance I ever gave”.
Laughton’s first choice for Rachel Cooper was his own wife Elsa Lanchester; Oscar winner Jane Darwell also was considered. But Lanchester turned down the role, instead suggesting silent movie star Lillian Gish.
Laughton watched Gish work in shorts and features she had made with D. W. Griffith. Curious to know why, Laughton told Gish: “When I first went to the movies, they sat in their seats straight and leaned forward. Now they slump down, with their heads back, and eat candy and popcorn. I want them to sit up straight again.”
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Principal photography of The Night of the Hunter began on August 15 and ended on October 7, 1954, a total of 36 days of shooting. Laughton kept the editor and musical composer on set during filming, which was very uncommon at the time.
Mitchum originally suggested that Laughton shoot in the Appalachian locations, but the budget could not afford it. Besides, he wanted to create the a unique look on Hollywood sound stages– Republic Studios were used, as well as Rowland V. Lee ranch in the San Fernando Valley. Some cutaways and compositing shots were shot in West Virginia.
Laughton hired Terry Sanders as second unit director to scout and shoot the river scenes because he had recently directed the Oscar-winning short film “A Time Out of War,” which took place on a river.
Laughton had the crew only slate at the beginning of each reel, and let the camera roll continuously until the reel ran out. He wished to direct the actors without waiting to reset the camera and sound equipment.
Shelley Winters had this image of Willa as “a fly fascinated by a spider, and she very willingly walks into this web.” Laughton then told her to channel that into the performance. A stylized spider and web are seen as the children make their way along the riverbank while fleeing Mitchum.
Laughton’s directing style was respectful of the actors’ input; Shelley Winters later said it was one of her favorite professional experiences.
Director of photography Stanley Cortez had shot Orson Welles’ superb 1942 film The Magnificent Ambersons. Cortez explained to Laughton various concepts of camera lenses, camera heights, etc.
Cortez had experimented with a new black-and-white film Kodak Tri-X on a previous production, with great results. He shot certain scenes on Tri-X because it had a sharp contrast. For commercial reasons, the studio however, tried to convince them to shoot on color film, but Gregory fought to keep it black-and-white: “I could not see this film being in color.” Cortez also brought back the iris shot as homage to silent films.
The cinematography was split up: the first crew shot the scenes in and around the Harpers’ home, which were dark, whereas the second unit shot the scenes along the river, designed to look more like images from the children’s perspective.
In one scene, set in the bedroom, Willa overhears Powell threatening the children. Cortez lit this scene with a halo of light surrounding Willa’s head on the pillow, foreshadowing that her death is imminent.
Laughton drew on the harsh, angular look of German Expressionism of the 1920s, manifest in Hilyard Brown’s art direction. He felt that the children should notice only certain details of their surroundings. This is the reason why some set pieces are abstract and minimal: neon lights that are not attached to a particular store, white picket fences that are not surrounding any house, the barn along the river that looks like a painting, and the “chapel-like” parents’ bedroom. The river scenes with the children were all shot on a sound stage.
The shot of John looking out of the barn window and seeing Powell’s silhouette on the horizon used a little person and miniature horse.
The underwater scene showing Willa’s dead body was shot in a studio using mannequin with custom mask to make it look like Winters. The film’s score, composed and arranged by Walter Schumann, used orchestral Passages.
The film contains two original songs by Schumann, “Lullaby” (sung by Kitty White, whom Schumann discovered in a nightclub) and “Pretty Fly” (originally sung by Sally Jane Bruce as Pearl, but later dubbed by an actress named Betty Benson).
A recurring musical motif involves the preacher announcing his presence by singing the traditional hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.”
Editor Robert Golden recalled that after screening the film to United Artists executives for the first time, one exec said, “It’s too arty.”
And the rest is film history!
