DVD Comparison - Charles Laughton's - The Night of the Hunter - Robert Mitchum DVD Review Charles Laughton The Night of the Hunter Robert Mitchum DVD Review Charles Laughton The Night of the Hunter Robert Mitchum DVD Review Charles Laughto

directed by Charles Laughton
U.S. 1955

The Night of the Hunter is a hidden 1955 classic with the directorial debut and swansong of esteemed actor Charles Laughton. The movie, on DVD just seemed to get better the more I watch it. I just shake my head at how all the cosmic tumblers must have been in alignment for this masterpiece.

From a selfish standpoint I would say that this is definitively MY type of movie; Poor reviews and box office showing, Black and White, many camera angles and techniques and a suspense story. I would credit Charles Laughton for the extensive symbolism using animals and scripture quotations. Lillian Gish and Robert Mitchum were both mesmerizing in their performances, but I must comment on Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce as the two children, who in fact may make this movie. I can only guess that the reason this film did so poorly at the box office was that it was slightly brutal for its time, with a serial killer and children involved ( banned in Finland ! ). The murder aspect being portrayed so innocently and yet brutally and the use of children extensively in the film may contribute to that opinion. This is the type of movie when you see for the 1st time, that you feel you have found a gem ! There is so much depth to this film that you could easily watch it multiple times. I am so glad I saw this movie ! I think I will recommend that ANY true movie buffs need this in their collection. That means YOU… go out and purchase now ! P.S. You might remember a stolen scene by none other then Spike Lee in “Do The Right Thing” with the “love”, “hate” on Mitchum’s knuckles.

From Gary W. Tooze 's Review located HERE

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DVD Comparison:

MGM Region 1 - vs. MGM Region 2 (European version) - PAL

Big thanks to Ole of DVDBasen for the R2 Screen Caps!

(MGM Region 1 Left vs. MGM Region 2/4 - Right)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	MGM Region 2/4 - PAL
Runtime	1:33:09 min	1:28:48 min (PAL 4% Speedup)
Video	Full Screen (Standard) - 1.37:1 Average Bitrate: 5.69 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	Full Screen (Standard) - 1.37:1 Average Bitrate: ? PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: MGM Region 1
Bitrate: MGM Region 2	Not Available
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English, French, German, Italian and Spanish - all Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles	English, French, None	None, Danish, Dutch, English, English for the hearing impaired, Finnish, French, German, German for the hearing impaired, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish
Features	Release Information: Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Theatrical Release Date: February 19, 1955 Aspect Ratio(s): Full Screen (Standard) - 1.37:1 Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 1 Edition Details: • Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) • Color, Black & White • Theatrical trailer (2:08) • 8-Page Booklet DVD Release Date: May 1, 2001 Keep Case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Theatrical Release Date: February 19, 1955 Aspect Ratio(s): Full Screen (Standard) - 1.37:1 Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 2 / 4 Edition Details: • Region 2 encoding (Japan, Europe, Middle East) • Color, Black & White • Theatrical trailer (2:08) • 8-Page Booklet DVD Release Date: May 17th, 2001 Keep Case Chapters 16

Comments:

NOTE: Night of the Hunter is absolutely, unquestionably 1.66. I've run both 35mm and 16mm prints of this film and if you project it 1.37 full-frame, you actually see the top of the soundstage in the sequence where the children land at the barn in the moonlight. The 1.37 DVD carefully crops in several sequences, including that one. It's such a beautifully designed film that it looks perfectly OK when "opened up", except in a few scenes such as the one mentioned.

The R1 is much sharper, more detailed blacks. Other than that the discs are pretty much the same except the R2 has more dubs and sub-title options including for the hearing impaired. The R1 has double the Chapters. The R1's better image quality is the sole reason to stick with the R1 for this piece of classic cinema.

Gary W. Tooze

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER – Like THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, this film was restored by MGM after these DVDs were released, so expect some special edition reissue with the upgraded sound and picture in the near future. I say never soon enough. You can read more details on the restoration UCLA and MGM did in the January 2002 American Cinematographer magazine (pages 86 – 100), including how the original soundtrack was transferred at 96kHz/24bits for digital backup.

Nicholas Sheffo from FulvueDrive-In.com

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Film Noir Reader 4 : The Crucial Films and Themes (Film Noir Reader)
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The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film Noir
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The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir: Quotations from Films of the 40's and 50's
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Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959
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Check out more in "The Library"

DVD Menu (s )
(MGM Region 1 LEFT vs. MGM Region 2 - RIGHT)

Screen Captures