The Night of the Hunter was a critical and financial failure on its release in 1955; director Charles Laughton never made another film. But it has since been embraced as a masterpiece thanks in large part to Stanley Cortez’s moody black-and-white cinematography and Robert Mitchum’s sleepy-eyed menace as a decidedly unorthodox preacher. While his L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E knuckle tattoos have become iconic, it’s Mitchum’s pure glee in being evil that makes Reverend Harry Powell one of our great screen villains.

Submitted by Jason Persse, Editorial Manager, Creative Team