Night of the Hunter - Oct. 28th film

The Lane Memorial Library is pleased to present another Fall and Winter Film series in our downstairs Lane Room. Each month audiences will enjoy some of the best “classic” movies ever made in a theater setting featuring our digital DVD projection system. These films are free to the public, and those who wish may stay afterwards for a discussion with like-minded enthusiasts. Free popcorn will be provided, and although we will have seats set up, everyone is encouraged to bring their own comfy (portable) chair.

Just in time for Halloween, the film series will kick off Saturday afternoon, October 28th at 1 PM with a showing of Robert Mitchum’s 1955 thriller Night of the Hunter. Directed by the legendary British actor Charles Laughton, scripted by critic James Agee (who co-wrote The African Queen) and also starring Shelly Winters and the redoubtable Lillian Gish, this film ratchets up the suspense as Mitchum’s psychopathic character pursues two innocent children who know where $10,000 was hidden by their bank robber father. Produced during a time when screen violence was intimated rather than shown, Laughton’s expert direction and the haunting black-and-white cinematography of Stanley Cortez nevertheless create a first class nail-biter. Although this film is not rated, parents should be aware that there are scenes of intense peril that could be very troubling to younger children.

Future titles in our film series include Paul Newman’s Hud, Danish filmmaker Carl Dryer’s Ordet, Joseph Manckiewicz’s scintillating All About Eve, Akira Kurosawa’s powerful The Bad Sleep Well, and Robert Duval’s Tender Mercies.

For more information, contact Darrell Eifert at the Lane Memorial Library, (603) 926-3368, email deifert@hampton.lib.nh.us.