Cape Fear (1962)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

John D. MacDonald (novel)
James R. Webb (screenplay)

Release Date:

1962 (Norway)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Original Masterpiece Of Revenge, Confrontation And Murder!

Plot:

A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Dog | Father Daughter Relationship | Police Chief | Strip Search

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Sam Bowden
Robert Mitchum	...	Max Cady
Polly Bergen	...	Peggy Bowden
Lori Martin	...	Nancy Bowden
Martin Balsam	...	Police Chief Mark Dutton
Jack Kruschen	...	Attorney Dave Grafton
Telly Savalas	...	Private Detective Charles Sievers
Barrie Chase	...	Diane Taylor
Paul Comi	...	George Garner
John McKee	...	Officer Marconi
Page Slattery	...	Deputy Kersek
Ward Ramsey	...	Officer Brown
Edward Platt	...	Judge
Will Wright	...	Dr. Pearsall
Joan Staley	...	Waitress
Norma Yost	...	Ticket clerk
Mack Williams	...	Dr. Lowney, Veterinarian
Thomas Newman	...	Lt. Pete Gervasi
Alan Reynolds	...	Attorney Vernon
Herb Armstrong	...	Waiter
Bunny Rhea	...	Pianist
Cindy Carol	...	Betty (as Carol Sydes)
Alan Wells	...	Young blade
Allan Ray	...	Young blade
Paul Levitt	...	Police operator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Elkins	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Joseph Jenkins	...	Janitor (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Extra at Bar / Table Extra at Bar (uncredited)
Marion Landers	...	Cross (uncredited)
Bob Noble	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Jack Richardson	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Al Silvani	...	Man (uncredited)
Josephine Smith	...	Librarian (uncredited)
Hal Taggart	...	Juror (uncredited)

Directed by
J. Lee Thompson

Writing credits
John D. MacDonald		(novel "The Executioners")
James R. Webb		(screenplay)

Produced by
Sy Bartlett	....	producer

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography by
Sam Leavitt		(as Samuel Leavitt)

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Art Direction by
Robert F. Boyle		(as Robert Boyle)
Alexander Golitzen

Set Decoration by
Oliver Emert

Costume Design by
Mary Wills

Makeup Department
Virginia Darcy	....	hair stylist (as Virginia D'Arcy)
Franz Prehoda	....	makeup artist
Thomas Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ernest B. Wehmeyer	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Gosnell Jr.	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Corson Jowett	....	sound
Waldon O. Watson	....	sound

Stunts
John McKee	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Léo L. Fuchs	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Melville-Talbot Productions

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1991) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Universal Home Video (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles

Also Known As:

The Executioners (USA) (working title)
2 gigantes sygrouontai (Greece) [el]
Círculo do Medo (Brazil) [pt]
Cabo de miedo (Venezuela) [es]
Ein Köder für die Bestie (West Germany) [de]
El cabo del terror (Spain) [es]
Farlig främling (Sweden) [sv]
Frygtens terror (Denmark) [da]
Il promontorio della paura (Italy) [it]
Le cap de la terreur (France) (literal title) [fr]
Les nerfs à vif (France) [fr]
Rt straha (Serbia) [sr]
Tuomitun kosto (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1962) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1969) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (1992) (uncut) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Germany:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Chile:18 | Norway:16 (1962) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:Approved (Certificate #20038)

Filming Locations:

Savannah, Georgia, USA

Company:

Melville-Talbot Productions

Trivia:

The financial failure of Cape Fear (1962) ended Gregory Peck's company, Melville Productions.

Goofs:

Continuity: The launch in which the Bowden family travels to the houseboat has a full windshield. Later, when Sam leaves by himself, only the windshield's frame is present; the glass is gone.

Quotes:

Sam Bowden: [tries to pay Cady to leave town; Cady wants revenge] You shocking degenerate. I've seen the worst - the dregs - but you... you are the lowest. Makes me sick to breathe the same air.
[leaves the bar]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Scorsese on Scorsese (2004) (TV)

"You're Just An Animal!"

One perverse individual can exploit his freedom by using it to encroach on someone else's. That is the problem with a society which cherishes personal liberty. The community has the dilemma of deciding whose freedom it ought to protect. At what point should the state intervene?

Today, modern democracies have anti-harrassment laws which carry criminal penalties, and there is also the civil remedy of an injunction with power of arrest, but back in the early 1960's a man who chose to make a nuisance of himself enjoyed wide latitude. It was difficult for the law to step in without infringing his civil and constitutional rights.

Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) is a small-town attorney in the south-eastern United States. He has a lovely family and a nice home, and is well thought of by neighbours and colleagues alike. This American idyll is destroyed when a newly-released convict shows up, intent on harrassing Bowden. Some years back, the lawyer had appeared as a witness at this man's trial, and the convict bears an irrational grudge.

Max Cady is one of the cinema's great villains. Mitchum is irresistible as the heavy-eyed smart alec seething with sexual energy. Cady's sharp but warped intelligence is disturbing to behold (the way he obtains Bowden's vacation address is chillingly impressive). He begins to show up wherever Bowden goes, an ominous sarcastic presence to which no objection can be made, so long as he stays within the law. Cady's salient traits are placed before us right from the start of the film. He is completely callous (ignoring the girl who drops her books on the stairs) and a nasty sexual predator (picking up the waitress in the bowling alley).

"Cape Fear" is a taut, absorbing thriller. Mitchum's charisma fills the screen, and the dark eerie look (by Director of Photography Sam Leavitt) compounds the feeling of menace. The incidental music is excellent.

However, the film has some implausible ingredients. Why would a woman who has just been sexually degraded, and is clearly traumatised, be handed over by the police to the care of a private eye? (Charlie Sievers the gumshoe is played by Telly Savalas - with hair!) Would a criminal attorney really - no matter what the provocation - hire waterfront thugs to beat up a stalker? How come Sam's gun is still effective after being immersed in the river? Why doesn't Nancy's phone work? It is preposterous to suggest that Cady would waste time on the elaborate feint towards Peggy instead of pursuing his real victim. And how can it be that Cady can defeat three ruffians single-handed, overwhelm a police bodyguard with ease, yet fail to defeat Sam, even when armed with a stick?

Verdict - Allowing for the improbabilities, this is a well-made thriller with a magnificent performance by Mitchum.