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Charles Laughton (1899-1962) was born in Scarborough, England, and was one of the great screen actors, winning the Best Actor Oscar for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). He directed only one film, The Night of the Hunter (1955), from a screenplay by James Agee based on Davis Grubb's novel, with Robert Mitchum as the murderous preacher Harry Powell. It was a commercial failure and he never directed again, but it is now regarded as one of the most original American films of its decade, with a dreamlike look borrowed from German Expressionism.
Filmography
- The Night of the Hunter (1955)