Saturday     19:30
Městské divadlo Mariánské Lázně
1955, 92 min, English with Czech subtitles

Director: Charles Laughton
Based on: Davis Grubb (novel)
Screenplay: James Agee
Cinematography: Stanley Cortez
Music: Walter Schumann
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason, Evelyn Varden, Peter Graves, Corey Allen, James Griffith, Gloria Castillo, Don Beddoe (more)
Producer: Paul Gregory
Casting: Mildred Gusse
Editing: Robert Golden
Sound: Stanford Houghton
Production Design: Hilyard M. Brown, Alfred E. Spencer
Makeup: Don L. Cash

Actor Charles Laughton's directorial debut, a cult film noir that celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, was not met with much critical or audience acclaim in its day, and so Laughton sadly never got around to directing again. The film follows Evil in the character of fake pastor and serial killer Harry Powell. When Powell is put in jail for stealing a car, he discovers from fellow inmate Harper, on death row, that he has hidden $10,000 from the robbery at home. Powell leaves prison on a treasure hunt. The secret of the hidden money is guarded by Harper's two innocent children, and the Hunter is on his way...

Charles Laughton (1899–1962) was a British actor, director, and Academy Award winner. Born into a wealthy family in Scarborough, England, he pursued acting from an early age and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after World War I. He began his professional stage career in 1926 and gained fame as the first actor to portray Hercule Poirot on stage, performing in both the US and France.
He made his film debut in the late 1920s and rose to prominence in Hollywood, winning the Oscar for Best Actor in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). His most notable roles include Mutiny on the Bounty, Rembrandt, Witness for the Prosecution, and Spartacus. The Night of the Hunter was his only solo directorial work, which, despite its later cult status, was a commercial failure at the time.