'A self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.'
I've always loved horror movies, even when they scared the shit of out me as a kid. Lately however, some of my favorites have been classics. Although horror flicks from the 70's tend to be my favorites, I love the dark and gothic feel, regardless of the decade, a great scare is timeless. Over the last few years, I've loved watching Mario Cantone and Ben Mankiewicz and their creepy cinema series on TCM.
Last year, I caught part of 1955's The Night of the Hunter, and made a point to find and watch the full movie. It's interesting to me how many classic films I love feature the same actors. The Night of the Hunter includes two actors, Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, who seem to appear in many of my favorite older films. I really didn't know much about Mitchum, but crushed hard after seeing him on TCM in th Christmas film, A Holiday Affair. (which I featured HERE:) Shelley Winters has popped up in many films, some with scenes of male skin, that I've featured on FH. (HERE:)
Mitchum, much like he was in Cape Fear, is pure evil in this flick. Terrorizing and murdering widows for whatever cash they might have hidden in their cookie jars. Shelley Winters doesn't have any cash, but her kids do. Their father gave them money to hide after a robbery, and Mitchum's Harry Powell know it. He finds the family, marries his way in, then stalks and terrorizes them looking for the cash.
Mitchum is sinisterly sexy, and the entire cast is great. Child actor Billy Chapin, who plays young John Harper, is especially good. Although I'd heard of Lillian Gish, from her silent screen days, I'd never seen her in a film before. She is a stand out as Rachel Cooper, the woman who comes to the children's rescue, never backing down from Mitchum's Harry, regardless of how far he's willing to go.
There are no scenes of male skin in the film, but I still recommend you watch. It's more of a thriller than horror, but there is some incredibly haunting imagery and the cinematography is outstanding. It also inspired me to look for a little Mitchum skin, and although he never had a nude scene, he does have that classic chiseled chest, with an emphases on upper chest more than today's focus on the abs.
Although Robert Mitchum didn't do any nudity, his actor son Christopher supposedly did a nude scene in 1973's Once. Unfortunately, despite my attempts, I haven't been able to find the movie anywhere. If anyone has an idea where it can be found, let me kow.
El Dorado (1966)
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