The Chills #4: “There was a pretty fly…”
Simon Kane nominates a sequence for our occasional series, “The Chills,” in which we catalogue the moments that make your BACK HAIR stand on end (or, if you have a hairless girl’s back, I dunno, nipples?).
“The escape by boat in “Night of the Hunter”.
To my mind another pretty-much-perfect movie. Suddenly, finally, here with the image of Mitchum stuck in the water and the kids heading off into the top right hand corner we’re out of the spiky German shadows and into a children’s story. Everything is made to look as simultaneously fake and as life-like as possible. I can’t explain. I first saw this picture late at night when I was about seventeen and it was as the boat set off that I went from loving it to being in love. I can think of many examples in film of a violent mood-jolt from peace to horror, but no other example of this, a scream that lingers as a lullaby.
“…completely unconcerned with any tradition that I’m aware of. They just go: Hey we can do whatever we like. And then they do it.”
Beautifully phrased! I guess the only film tradition that applies would be one stemming from the silent cinema, from D.W. Griffith (via Lillian Gish) and from German Expressionism, maybe. Plus literary and theatrical influences. The key thing is that they merge together to create something that’s never been seen before or since.
EVERY FILM really should be this kind of hybrid, bringing together whatever disparate influences suit the needs of the makers. Instead we get the FASHION, which is fortunately adaptable and can lead to great work in the right hands — I can’t complain about the fashion for film noir in the ’40s or slapstick in the ’20s. But it should be part of the real film artist’s job to reinvent the medium with every movie. With every shot.
I dunno, am I asking too much?
shadowplay 
March 27, 2008 at 10:01 pm
No you’re not. This is the only filmCharles Laughton ever directed — and it’s the greatest American film ever made.
Period.
All the rushes were saved and Elsa Lanchester gave them to the UCLA film archive. A couple of years back about a hour’s worth of rushes were screened to the public. They’re absolutely fascinating as you can see and hear Laughton in them, directing the actors with great care, consideration (especially for the children) and passion. I hope they will eventually be made available on home video for all to see.
March 27, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Yes, we saw a selection of the rushes here with a nice professor type talking about them. All you would need to do is record him as a commentary and that set of outtakes would make a brilliant DVD extra. But the FOOLS at the DVD company haven’t bitten.
Yes, Laughton plays all the parts when he’s interacting with his cast, and it’s a brilliant technique — he can control what he gets from his actors by controlling what they’re given. This is why it helps if directors can act!