Vitals

Robert Mitchum as Harry Powell, self-described preacher and serial-killing swindler

West Virginia, Summer 1930

Film: The Night of the Hunter
Release Date: July 26, 1955
Director: Charles Laughton
Wardrobe Credit: Jerry Bos

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Born 108 years ago today on August 6, 1917, Robert Mitchum delivered arguably the greatest performance of his prolific career in Charles Laughton’s 1955 gothic horror masterpiece The Night of the Hunter, which premiered 70 years ago last month in Des Moines, Iowa. Laughton’s first and only directorial effort was negatively received upon its release, though decades of reassessment have elevated its reputation and it’s now included on lists among the best movies ever made.

Stunningly photographed by cinematographer Stanley Cortez, The Night of the Hunter is also often described as one of the most beautiful films ever made and among the most frightening—a seemingly contradictory pair of sentiments that make sense to those who have seen it, particularly the haunting vignette that tells us we’re watching yet another film where Shelley Winters doesn’t fare well underwater.

Laughton was inspired to direct what he described as “a nightmarish Mother Goose story” after reading the 1953 source novel of the same name by Davis Grubb. Grubb had been inspired by the Dutch-born “lonely hearts killer” Harry Powers, who murdered at least two widows and their children before he was captured and hanged at the West Virginia State Penitentiary in March 1932.

When looking to cast the role of Grubb’s villain-protagonist “Preacher” Harry Powell, Laughton initially considered himself and Gary Cooper—who declined, fearing it would negatively impact his career—until Robert Mitchum read for the part, infusing the role with a dangerous sexuality that had initially frustrated Grubb until Laughton assured him that “if you want to sell God, you have to be sexy.” Laughton recalled being impressed during the audition when he described the character as “a diabolical shit,” to which Mitchum instantly responded: “Present!”

Though other crew members feared moments when Mitchum’s mercurial Leo temperament seemed a little too close to violently volatile Powell (including pissing in a producer’s car after being told he was too drunk to perform that day), Laughton would long describe Mitchum as “one of the best actors in the world,” with a gentler side than his tough and taciturn persona. “He’s a tender man and a very great gentleman,” he summarized of Mitchum in a later Esquire article.

The Night of the Hunter‘s initial failure to perform at the box office contributed to Laughton’s decision to never direct for the screen again, though the classically trained Englishman also stated that he preferred the more fluid nature of directing theater. As the film grew a cult following during its decades-long reevaluation, The Night of the Hunter also reportedly inspired scores of rising filmmakers like Robert Altman, Guillermo Del Toro, Rainer Werner Fassbender, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, and the Coen brothers—who paid a surprising but effective tribute to Lillian Gish’s closing line of “they abide and they endure” via the Dude’s iconic credos in The Big Lebowski.

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What’d He Wear?

Harry Powell embraces his self-described “Preacher” persona by dressing exclusively in the staid black woolen flannel suit of a traveling cleric—and, indeed, contemporary color photography proves that Robert Mitchum’s full costume was just as black and white as it appears on screen.

In Western culture, black has long been a sartorial shorthand for solemnity, authority, and death, worn by judges, undertakers, and priests seeking to project moral gravity and spiritual conviction. In rural America through the early 20th century, the “man in the black suit” was almost always the preacher or the undertaker—and Powell dresses as if ready to play either role.

Powell’s costume weaponizes that iconography of faith, hiding malevolence in the vestments of virtue, simultaneously functioning cinematically as the uniform of the classic black-clad villain, as Powell is as much the black-hat outlaw as he is a fire-and-brimstone charlatan.

The lapels of Powell’s black single-breasted suit jacket have slightly rounded notches, rolling low on the jacket over both buttons and their corresponding buttonholes. Ventless in accordance with the era’s fashions, the jacket has the usual welted breast pocket and straight flapped hip pockets. The sleeves are finished with four-button cuffs. Wide, padded shoulders and roped sleeveheads contribute to the menacing drama of his black-tailored silhouette.

The matching single-breasted waistcoat fastens with six buttons up from the notched bottom to mid-chest. He keeps his gold pocket watch in the lower left of the vest’s four narrowly welted pockets, connected to a gold chain strung “single Albert”-style through the fourth buttonhole, with the fob hanging down a few inches below it. The satin-finished black lining covers the entire back, which does not have a strap to adjust the fit.

The flat-front trousers rise appropriately high to conceal the waistband under the vest, styled with side pockets, jetted back pockets (with a button to close the back-left pocket), and plain-hemmed bottoms.

On his feet, Powell wears black leather Chelsea boots. This style of slip-on ankle boots emerged in the 1830s, when Charles Goodyear’s newly invented vulcanized rubber was used by Queen Victoria’s shoemaker Joseph Sparkes Hall for the now-characteristic side gussets on what became her favorite footwear and a prominent style for men and women through the years leading up to World War I.

His plain white cotton shirt has a front placket and single-button barrel cuffs, all complementing the unfussy humility of his black suit. Under his shirt’s semi-spread collar, Powell adds a flourish of homespun charm with a black silk Western string bow tie—the accessory of a Southern gentleman, or a Southern con man, depending on if you’re peddling fried chicken or damnation.

Powell completes his look with a distinctive all-black hat that maintains his courtly yet sinister presentation. The shape is reminiscent of a “Boss of the Plains” hat with its rounded, uncreased crown and stiff brim. But whereas traditional Boss hats have flat brims, Powell’s is curled at the self-edge, adding just enough flourish to echo his theatrical brand of menace.

5 Card Stud

Though an entirely different costume, Mitchum would visually reference the look of an itinerant clergyman in a black three-piece suit, white shirt, black string tie, and black hat as Baptist preacher Rev. Jonathan Rudd in Henry Hathaway’s 1968 Western mystery 5 Card Stud.

Rudd clearly wears different clothing—evident by the shape of the hat, the cut of the jacket with its cran necker lapels, the lapeled waistcoat, and more—but his costume is a noteworthy parallel to the last time Mitchum had played a murderous holy man.

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How to Get the Look

Preachers wear black suits because it represents humility, seriousness, and moral authority—values that Harry Powell weaponizes with calculated menace in his traditional black three-piece suit, matching hat, and string tie, prowling Depression-era West Virginia as a wolf in preacher’s clothing.

• Black woolen flannel three-piece suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Single-breasted 5-button waistcoat with four slim-welted pockets
  • Flat-front trousers with side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White cotton shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, and single-button cuffs
• Black satin string tie
• Black leather Chelsea boots
• Black socks
• Black felt modified “Boss of the Plains” hat with a rounded, non-creased crown; black grosgrain band; and wide, curled self-edged brim

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

Ah, little lad, you’re staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand, left-hand? The story of good and evil? H-A-T-E! It was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low. L-O-V-E! You see these fingers, dear hearts? These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends, the hand of love. Now watch, and I’ll show you the story of life. Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t’other. Now watch ’em! Old brother left hand, left hand he’s a fighting, and it looks like love’s a goner. But wait a minute! Hot dog, love’s a winning! Yessirree! It’s love that’s won, and old left hand hate is down for the count!