Amazon.com Essentials:
Superior to Martin Scorsese's punishing 1991 remake, this 1962
thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of
Navarone) stars Robert Mitchum as a creepy ex-con angry at the
attorney (Gregory Peck) whom he believes is responsible for his
incarceration. After Mitchum makes clear his plans to harm Peck's
family, a fascinating game of crisscrossing ethics and morality takes
place. Where the more recent version seemed trapped in its
explicitness, Thompson's film accomplishes a lot with a more
economical and telling use of violence. The result is a richer
character study with some Hitchcockian overtones regarding the nature
of guilt. --Tom Keogh
