West Virginia, the Great Depression. An enigmatic man claiming to be a preacher is released from prison. After learning from his bank robber cellmate that a young boy and girl are the only living souls who know where a loot of $10,000 is hidden, the preacher sets out in pursuit of the children.

Charles Laughton’s tenebrous Southern Gothic fable achieves a rarely seen perfection of vision—remarkable for being the sole(!) directorial effort by the erstwhile actor. Amid the cold, obsidian beauty of Laughton’s direction, a petrifying Robert Mitchum burns with fire-and-brimstone malice.