4. The Night of the Hunter
Not only is The Night of the Hunter one of the greatest debut films of all time, it is also one of the greatest final films ever made as well. Famous actor Charles Laughton directed this extremely unique horror/thriller film in 1955 and the reviews were so negative that he never made another film. However, the following decades have been kinder to the film and it is now regarded as one of the best American films of its era. The Night of the Hunter revolves around the attempts of Robert Mitchum's iconic preacher to find and steal a fortune hidden by two children of a man he shared a jail cell with. Mitchum creates one of the all-time great screen villains, but equally impressive is the film's style, reminiscent of the German expressionist films of the 1920s. Although parts of the film haven't aged particularly well, the child actors being one, the one-two-three punch of Robert Mitchum, incredible visuals, and the third act introduction of a great character played by silent film legend Lillian Gish, make The Night of the Hunter an extremely watchable movie. Even if it was the only movie Laughton ever directed, it still stands as one of the most impressive feats in Hollywood history. Not only was it a debut film, but it was an incredibly bold one that pushed the limits of acceptable cinema for the time, and one that managed to be extremely entertaining as well.