Robert Mitchum "grew up" in the movies playing the bad guy in Hopalong Cassidy and Johnny Mack Brown cowboy flicks. The sinister personna he developed plays perfectly in the "Hunter". Charles Laughton created this movie as a visual fantasy and the "excesses" in the staging and acting were purposeful. The IMDB includes "Hunter" on its top 250 list and Roger Ebert gave it four stars - good enough for me!
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The Night of the Hunter