I Read That Movie @ the Library: THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

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Program Type:

Book Clubs, Movies

Age Group:

Teens, Adults

Program Description

Event Details

For October, our "page-to-screen" book club, I Read That Movie @ the Library, continues its Halloween tradition of seasonably appropriate selections for the holiday!

This year, we are reading the 1953 Southern Gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter, by Davis Grubb. A finalist for the National Book Award, the Depression era-set book centers around Willa, a widow, and her two children, young Jack and younger Pearl, whose husband and father has been captured and executed for murdering two bank employees during an armed robbery. However, the tainted loot from the heist, approximately $10,000, was never recovered. Into this situation walks the nefarious Harry "Preacher" Powell, who is convinced that Jack knows where his father hid the money and will stop at nothing to get his hands on the fortune.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Memphis Library Foundation, we have a limited number of copies to give to participants, so please come to the Humanities Desk on the 2nd Floor of the Central Library to claim your copy of The Night of the Hunter while supplies last. We will also gather as many circulating library copies of the book as possible for readers to borrow after the other copies are given away.

Participants are invited to read the the book during October, then come for a screening of the noir classic 1955 film adaptation, directed by James Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish. Notably, when originally released, the film was banned from Memphis cinemas by the Censor Board, still led at that time by Lloyd Binford who was known for banning numerous films during his lengthy career in that role. 

The screening (including popcorn, drinks, and Halloween treats!) will take place on Halloween afternoon, October 31, at 2:00 p.m. in Room L-56, followed by a conversation about the movie and book. Prior to the screening, Wayne Dowdy, Memphis historian and Senior Manager of the History Dept. at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, will lead a short discussion about Lloyd Binford and the history of the Memphis Censor Board.

Everyone is encouraged to get into the Halloween spirit and come in costume!

And as always, even if you don't have the opportunity to read the book, you are welcome to join us to watch the movie and participate in the conversation!

Special Notes

Friends of the Library

This event made possible by the Friends of the Library.

Friends of the Library logo

Memphis Library Foundation

This event made possible by the Memphis Library Foundation.