Artist The Night Of The Hunter 1955

The single greatest directorial one-off in movie history, Charles Laughton's The Night Of The Hunterwas such a flop that Laughton—an actor best known for his hearty turns in films like Island Of Lost Soulsand Witness For The Prosecution, and his Oscar-winning role in The Private Life Of Henry VIII—never stepped behind the camera again. But it's come to be deservedly regarded as one of noir's finest moments, a Biblical struggle between good and evil soaked in the dread-filled atmosphere of a Southern gothic. And then there's Robert Mitchum, the most dangerously seductive of actors, as a gold-digging preacher whose charisma masks the blackest of hearts.

Updated 11/24/2009