Editing Charles Laughton (section)

===''The Night of the Hunter'' and other projects===
{{main|The Night of the Hunter (film)}}
In 1955, Laughton directed ''[[The Night of the Hunter (film)|The Night of the Hunter]]'', starring [[Robert Mitchum]], [[Shelley Winters]] and [[Lillian Gish]], and produced by his friend [[Paul Gregory (producer)|Paul Gregory]]. The film has been cited among critics as one of the best of the 1950s,<ref name=Ebert1996>{{Cite journal|last=Ebert|first=Roger|year=1996|title=Review: Night of the Hunter|journal=Chicago Sun-Times|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19961124/REVIEWS08/401010344/1023|access-date=3 December 2008|archive-date=7 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207070242/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19961124%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010344%2F1023|url-status=dead}}</ref> and has been selected by the United States [[National Film Registry]] for preservation in the Library of Congress. At the time of its original release it was a critical and box-office failure, and Laughton never directed again. The documentary ''Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter'' by Robert Gitt (2002) features preserved rushes and outtakes with Laughton's audible off-camera direction.<ref>Robert Gitt in ''The Guardian'', 6 June 2003 [https://archive.today/20120709094338/http://film.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4684207-3181,00.html "Charles Laughton directs The Night of the Hunter."] Retrieved 25 October 2008.</ref>

Laughton had intended to follow up ''The Night of the Hunter'' with an adaptation of [[Norman Mailer]]'s ''[[The Naked and the Dead]]''. [[Terry Sanders|Terry]] and [[Denis Sanders|Dennis Sanders]] were hired as writers, and press releases announced that Robert Mitchum was to star and that [[Walter Schumann]] would compose the score.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Tale of Two Brothers|journal=Point of View Magazine|date=Spring 2007|page=20|url=http://www.americanfilmfoundation.com/AFFTwoBrothers.pdf|access-date=11 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/806/the-naked-and-the-dead |title=The Naked and the Dead (1958) – Overview |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=14 June 2014}}</ref> Following the box-office failure of ''The Night of the Hunter'', Laughton was replaced by [[Raoul Walsh]] as director on [[The Naked and the Dead (film)|the film]] and recruited an uncredited writer to rewrite the Sanders brothers' screenplay.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanlegends.com/Interviews/paul_gregory_natd.html |title=American Legends Interviews Paul Gregory on making: The Naked and The Dead |publisher=Americanlegends.com |access-date=14 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/recalling_the_past_and_the_future_with_terry_sanders2/ |title=Recalling The Past (And The Future) With Terry Sanders&#124;Filmmakers, Film Industry, Film Festivals, Awards & Movie Reviews |date=13 February 1998 |publisher=Indiewire |access-date=14 June 2014}}</ref>

Laughton also developed a remake of the 1927 [[silent film]] ''[[White Gold (1927 film)|White Gold]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/unproduced-and-unfinished-films-l-through-z-a-ongoing-film-comment-project/|title=Unproduced and Unfinished Films: An Ongoing Film Comment project|website=[[Film Comment]]|date=May 2012|access-date=9 July 2023}}</ref>