I enjoyed watching this movie just as many did, but I don't think that it's the best that it could've been. I felt that this film lacked a cohesive structure and wasn't sure what it was trying to be. Was it "Film Noir"? Was it "Suspense"? A "Melodrama"? A "Comedy" even? Entertaining yet not entirely satisfying. Maybe it was a rushed production. Maybe it was Charles Laughton's direction. Whatever the problem was, it left the movie incomplete.
As far as acting is concerned, Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish are excellent. Shelley Winters and the others were fine but had such awkward characters to work with. Mitchum is unforgettable in the role of the scariest villain I've ever seen. Anybody can play a psychotic preacher, but no one with more believability as he portrayed it. It nearly typecasted him. Only with his preacher character can you understand why so many people are using God's name in the way that they do (cults/hate groups).
The dialogue does have some laughably bad moments but does not take away much from the better ones. My real problem is with the pacing (a plus factor for some, yet another problem for me). There was just not enough time spent on making sure the characters were developed into characters to be appreciated. One hour and thirty minutes is just not enough time to involve the most important part of film... the audience. Maybe this was one of those films that defies classification or genre. Maybe it's supposed to be some kind of unique masterpiece. What ever it is... For what it is it's untapped potential to me.
As far as acting is concerned, Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish are excellent. Shelley Winters and the others were fine but had such awkward characters to work with. Mitchum is unforgettable in the role of the scariest villain I've ever seen. Anybody can play a psychotic preacher, but no one with more believability as he portrayed it. It nearly typecasted him. Only with his preacher character can you understand why so many people are using God's name in the way that they do (cults/hate groups).
The dialogue does have some laughably bad moments but does not take away much from the better ones. My real problem is with the pacing (a plus factor for some, yet another problem for me). There was just not enough time spent on making sure the characters were developed into characters to be appreciated. One hour and thirty minutes is just not enough time to involve the most important part of film... the audience. Maybe this was one of those films that defies classification or genre. Maybe it's supposed to be some kind of unique masterpiece. What ever it is... For what it is it's untapped potential to me.