The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter | 1955 | 12 | Dir. Charles Laughton | 92 mins | IMDb 8 | 

It's the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl's favourite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death. But before he is executed, Ben is in the state penitentiary with a cell mate, a man by the name of Harry Powell, a self-professed man of the cloth, who is really a con man and murderer, swindling lonely women, primarily rich widows, of their money before he kills them. Harry does whatever he can, unsuccessfully, to find out the location of the $10,000 from Ben. 

After Ben's execution, Harry decides that Willa will be his next mark, figuring that someone in the family knows where the money is hidden. Despite vowing not to remarry, Willa ends up being prey for Harry's outward evangelicalism; she is a pious woman who feels she needs to atone for her sins which led to Ben doing what he did, especially as Harry presents himself as the preacher who worked at the prison and provided salvation to Ben before his death. Harry quickly figures out that John and Pearl know where the money is. 

John doesn't trust Harry. John tries not to show Harry that he indeed does know where the money is, and then has to constantly remind a more-trusting Pearl of their promise to their now-deceased father. With Willa devoted to her new husband, John and Pearl become more desperate in evading Harry's veiled threats.

Our classic cinema (season 2) will be offered initially as a package for all four films before individual tickets are made available in early January. With introductions from Dave and Mandy before each film.

Details of the remaining Classic Cinema Season 2 films will be added to the website but only packages are available NOT individual tickets until 6th January.

• Seating limited to 70 so we recommend you book in advance.

• Screen 3.

• One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com

• Doors open at 7pm and the film will start after the introduction.  

• All seating is unreserved so grab a seat wherever you like.

• Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon staff.

• Finally, don't forget to put all the dates in your calendar!