The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

The nightmarish story of psychotic bogus preacher Harry Powell (Mitchum) who has the words H-A-T-E tattooed on the knuckles of his left hand and L-O-V-E on his right. He marries lonely widow Willa Harper (Winters), who has two children, in the hopes of finding the cache of money her thieving husband (Graves) had stashed. Gish plays Rachel, the shotgun-wielding, Bible-reading old lady who defends the kids when Harry threatens them. A dark, terrifying tale, completely unique in Hollywood's history. Mitchum is terrific. From novel by Davis Grubb and, sadly, Laughton's only directorial effort.