NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

Sunday, April 18th at 1:00 p.m.
and Tuesday, April 20th at 7:00 p.m.
ADMISSION: FREE
**Suggested donation: $5.00**

All ESSENTIAL CINEMA films screen Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., and admission is FREE!
See classic art films the way they were meant to be seen - with an audience and on the big screen in 35 mm!

“One of the greatest of all American films. An expressionistic oddity… what a compelling, frightening and beautiful film it is.” – Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN TIMES

“Haunting and highly personal...clearly the work of a master.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

"A masterpiece: a disturbing and unforgettable Southern-Gothic horror film. One of the major tragedies of film history is that Laughton directed only one picture." – TIME OUT NEW YORK

"Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms" sings both shotgun-toting child protector Lillian Gish and lurking psycho preacher Robert Mitchum (in one of the screen's greatest renditions of pure evil), who sports a pocket switchblade, as well as fingers tattooed "Love" and "Hate." (Director Charles Laughton reportedly told him "this character I want you to play is a diabolical shit," to which Mitchum replied, "Present.").
Fairy tale and nightmare combine as young orphans Sally Bruce and Billy Chapin odyssey through the American heartland (after being shockingly separated from their lonely mother, played by Shelly Winters) in this spellbinding folk tale adapted from the Davis Grubb novel by legendary film critic and scenarist (The African Queen) James Agee (though Laughton purportedly completely rewrote his 350-page draft).
Laughton's sole directorial effort (following memorable acting turns in such classics as Mutiny on the Bounty and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, among many others) is a true original - a feverish phantasmagoria and a hypnotic tribute to the visuals of D.W. Griffith, with memorable images including a startling A-frame ceiling above a timorous victim; the undulations of an underwater corpse's hair; and the childrens' nightmarish downriver trip; all stunningly photographed by famed cinematographer Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons).