Cape Fear

Sent to jail for a crime he did commit, a newly released felon has some pain he's to inflict, on the witness that sent him away for eight long years, for the scars of internment that he carries and he wears, stalking his prey without cover or disguise, the family of Sam Bowden see their world start to capsize, a vengeance full of hate, a psychopath intent, eight long years of brewing, chewing, digest and ferment.

Robert Mitchum delivers a tremendous performance as Max Cady who leaves you under no illusion of the torture he intends to inflict, psychological and physical, on the family of the man responsible for his incarceration. Gregory Peck plays Gregory Peck, but as elegantly as ever.

Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) is a happily married lawyer with a teenage daughter, a quiet life and little worries to care for until released convict Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) moves near by seeking for revenge against him. Cady blames Bowden for his 8 years imprisonment because the lawyer failed to get him an innocent verdict in Court for a serious crime he was accused of (and he had committed). The man starts by stalking Bowden and his family while he waits for the appropriate moment to make his move. In the meantime, Cady does not hide his intentions and Bowden knows perfectly well they are in big trouble.

The film is tense all along and interest doesn't fall at any moment. There is a correct direction by J. Lee Thompson, a slightly more than average director who probably did here one of his best jobs (the other one "The Guns of Navarone" (1962) a very entertaining World War II adventure). Black and white shooting was a good idea and helps to create some sort of sordid and dark atmosphere when required as well as the musical score.

Casting is very good too. Gregory Peck is correct in one of his many common good guy roles. Polly Bergen is believable as the frightened wife and there is also good acting by Martin Balsam (as Bowden's chief of police friend) and Telly Savalas (as a private detective hired to help the family). But the major credit in this issue goes without doubt to Robert Michum's performance as the dangerous avenger. He looks calm and quiet -with few exceptions- all the way to the final climax sequences but you know perfectly the man is real mean and deadly. This surely was one of Mitchum's best appearances in his long film carrier.

The 1991 Cape Fear version with Robert de Niro -although a watchable movie- is not as good and thrilling as this one where evil doesn't appear clearly till the end but menace is always there.

A very good thriller indeed!

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.

Former convict Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) seeks revenge against Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck), the man whose testimony sent Cady to prison for eight years. But that revenge is not initially physical. Instead, it takes the form of intimidation and psychological terror against Bowden's wife (Polly Bergen) and young daughter, Nancy.

Cady is a low-life who hangs out in seedy bars and treats women badly. He smokes cigars and wears a Panama hat. In contrast, lawyer Bowden and his goody-goody family live in a big house with a manicured lawn.

What's interesting here is that, as criminals go, Cady is quite smart. His intimidation tactics stay well beyond the law's reach. For example, at a boat launch, Cady stares lasciviously at Nancy. Bowden notices, and in disgust tries to engage Cady in a fight. But Cady refuses, noting nearby witnesses who could be called to testify against Bowden, the aggressor. And so it goes, throughout much of the story; wherever Bowden goes, Cady is somewhere nearby. He hovers, like a hawk over its prey, waiting for just the right moment. Cady's terror is what he might do.

The last part of the film takes place on or near a houseboat on the Cape Frear River in North Carolina, where Bowden's wife and daughter are holed up. Here, at night, in the midst of wilderness, Cady pursues his prey. He's a night stalker, or hunter, silent like a snake, sly, ever watchful, cold-blooded and reptilian. Amid the stillness and dark shadows, Cady creeps closer and closer.

Bernard Herrmann's eerie background music reminds me of the music in "Psycho". Filmed in B&W, both films use high contrast lighting. The music/lighting combo exudes a high level of tension and suspense.

Even though Gregory Peck is the film's protagonist, "Cape Fear" really belongs to Mitchum, who gives a very good performance as the villain. Peck's performance is adequate; Polly Bergen tries a tad too hard and comes off as melodramatic, especially toward the end. The always reliable Martin Balsam shows up in this film, as he did in "Psycho", with a very credible performance as a good guy cop.

With great B&W cinematography, appropriately frenetic "Psycho"-like music, effective plot structure, and a fine performance by Robert Mitchum, "Cape Fear" is a highly suspenseful film.

Mitchum was, if anything, even more powerful in "Cape Fear," possibly because his antagonist this time was the perfectly contrasting Gregory Peck…

Mitchum played a sex criminal, freed after eight years in prison, who returned to a sleepy little town to terrorize the witness (Gregory Peck) whom he blamed for his conviction…

The ex-con uttered no threats, used no violence, broke no laws – and the police were therefore helpless… But his very presence, the tone of his voice, the look in his eyes as he turned them lazily on Peck's attractive wife and adolescent daughter showed with unmistakable and cumulative menace that he would surely take his revenge…

Peck planted his wife and daughter on a safely moored houseboat to tempt Mitchum into a trap...