The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film noir, starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, and the only film Charles Laughton ever directed. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Charles Laughton. The novel and film draw on the true story of Harry Powers, hanged in 1932 for the murders of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia.Ben Harper is sentenced to hang for his part in a robbery in which two men were killed. Before he is caught he hides the stolen money, trusting only his children John and Pearl — about ten and five years old, respectively — with the money's location. Harry Powell, a self-appointed preacher with the word "LOVE" tattooed on the knuckles of his right hand and "HATE" on the knuckles of his left, shares a prison cell with Harper. He tries to get Harper to tell him the hiding place before his execution, but the only clue he gets is a Biblical quotation Harper mutters in his sleep: "And a child shall lead them."
