A spellbinding film and the only one Charles Laughton ever directed. It is a persistent and haunting vision of sanctimonious hypocrisy – and it reveals how any huckster, con-artist, or killer can cloak themselves in the mantle of religion and get away with mayhem… until they run into the likes of steadfast Lillian Gish. Like any classic you can read into it a world of meaning. I leave that to you.
Written by James Agee and Charles Laughton with stunning cinematography by Stanley Cortez:
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Such a great, dark film.
I cued it up last night thinking it was going to be a slow Halloween because it’s a school night — and then I gave away 300 pieces of candy 😉
The river scene is crazy.
The whole thing is like a waking dream state – I LOVE it.
Oh that movie scared the bee Jesus out of me! That and The Haunting! Yikes!
Such a terrific film. And the river scene…!
My favorite scalp tinglers: The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, and Cape Fear… both the 1962 version, which starred Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, and the 1991 version which also had Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum (in different roles), and Robert DeNiro, Jessica Lange, and Nick Nolte.