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Cape Fear (1962 film)
Encyclopedia
Cape Fear is a 1962 film starring Gregory Peck
, Robert Mitchum
and Polly Bergen
. It was adapted by James R. Webb
from the novel The Executioners
by John D. MacDonald
. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson
, and released on April 12, 1962. The movie concerns an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal he helped to send to jail
Cape Fear was remade in 1991
by Martin Scorsese
. Peck, Mitchum and Martin Balsam
all appeared in the remake.
, Max Cady
(Robert Mitchum
) is released. He promptly tracks down Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck
), a Georgia
lawyer whom he holds personally responsible for his conviction because Sam interrupted his attack and also testified. Cady begins to stalk and subtly threaten Bowden's family. He murders the Bowden family dog, though Sam cannot prove this. A friend of Bowden's, police chief Mark Dutton (Martin Balsam
), attempts to intervene on his behalf, but he cannot prove Cady guilty of any actual crime, including vagrancy
.
Bowden hires Charlie Sievers (Telly Savalas
), a private detective. Cady brutally attacks a young, promiscuous woman named Diane Taylor when she brings him home (Barrie Chase), but neither the private eye nor Bowden can persuade her to testify. Bowden hires three thugs to beat up Cady and persuade him to leave town, but the plan backfires when Cady gets the better of all three. Cady's lawyer vows to have Bowden disbarred. (In the original novel, Bowden's connection is never revealed and he is already negotiating with Sievers for another beating when the detective is transferred out of town).
Afraid for his wife Peggy (Polly Bergen
) and 14-year-old daughter Nancy (Lori Martin
), Bowden takes them to their houseboat in Cape Fear
. In an attempt to trick Cady, Bowden makes it seem as though he has gone to a completely different location. He fully expects Cady to follow his wife and daughter, and he plans on killing Cady to end the battle. He and a local deputy hide nearby, but Cady realizes the deputy is there and kills him. Eluding Bowden, Cady first attacks Mrs. Bowden on the boat, causing Bowden to go to her rescue. Meanwhile, Cady swims back to shore to attack the daughter. Bowden realizes what has happened and also swims back.
It leads to a final violent fight on the riverbank between the two men. Bowden overpowers Cady but decides not to kill him, preferring to let him spend the rest of his life in jail. The film ends with the Bowden family sitting together on a boat the next morning.
Thompson had always envisioned the film in black and white prior to production. Being an Alfred Hitchcock
fan, he wanted to have Hitchcockian
elements in the film, such as unusual lighting angles, an eerie musical score, closeups and subtle hints rather than graphic depictions of the violence that Cady has in mind for the family.
The outdoor scenes were filmed on location in Savannah, Georgia
, Stockton, California
and in the Universal Studios Backlot at Universal City, California
. The indoor scenes were done at Universal Studios Soundstage. Mitchum had a real-life aversion to Savannah, where as a teenager, he had been charged with vagrancy and put on a chain gang
. This resulted in a number of the outdoor scenes being shot at Ladd's Marina in Stockton, California, including the culminating conflict on the houseboat at the end of the movie.
This scene where Mitchum attacks Polly Bergen's character on the houseboat was almost completely improvised. Before the scene was filmed, Thompson suddenly told a crew member: "Bring me a dish of eggs!" Mitchum rubbing the eggs on Bergen was not scripted and Bergen's reactions were real. She also suffered back injuries from being knocked around so much. She felt the impact of the "attack" for days.
In the source novel The Executioners
by John D. MacDonald
, Cady was a soldier court-martial
ed and convicted on then Lieutenant Bowden's testimony for the brutal rape of a 14-year-old girl. Again, the censors stepped in, citing that the word "rape" not appear and that having Cady as a soldier reflected adversely on U.S. military personnel.
In April 2007, Newsweek
selected Robert Mitchum's character as one of the ten best villains in cinema history. Cape Fear was also #36 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its famous scene where Max Cady attacks Sam's family.
The Internet Movie Database
rates it as the 65th best trial movie, although there is no courtroom trial in the film.
Max Cady
ranks number 28 on the American Film Institute
's list of the top 50 movie villains of all time.
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
and Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
. It was adapted by James R. Webb
James R. Webb (writer)
James R. Webb was an American writer. He won an Academy Award in 1963 for How the West Was Won.Webb was born in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from Stanford University in 1930...
from the novel The Executioners
The Executioners
The Executioners is a classic thriller novel written by John D. MacDonald, published in 1957. It was filmed twice under the title Cape Fear, once in 1962 and again in 1991....
by John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald
John Dann MacDonald was an American crime and suspense novelist and short story writer.MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida...
. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
, and released on April 12, 1962. The movie concerns an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal he helped to send to jail
Cape Fear was remade in 1991
Cape Fear (1991 film)
Cape Fear is a 1991 thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and a remake of the 1962 film of the same name. It stars Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis and features cameos from Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam, who all appeared in the 1962 original film...
by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
. Peck, Mitchum and Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
all appeared in the remake.
Plot
After spending eight years in prison for rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, Max Cady
Max Cady
Max Cady is a fictional character in the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners. The character was portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 film adaptation Cape Fear and by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the same name....
(Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
) is released. He promptly tracks down Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
), a Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
lawyer whom he holds personally responsible for his conviction because Sam interrupted his attack and also testified. Cady begins to stalk and subtly threaten Bowden's family. He murders the Bowden family dog, though Sam cannot prove this. A friend of Bowden's, police chief Mark Dutton (Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
), attempts to intervene on his behalf, but he cannot prove Cady guilty of any actual crime, including vagrancy
Vagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
.
Bowden hires Charlie Sievers (Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
), a private detective. Cady brutally attacks a young, promiscuous woman named Diane Taylor when she brings him home (Barrie Chase), but neither the private eye nor Bowden can persuade her to testify. Bowden hires three thugs to beat up Cady and persuade him to leave town, but the plan backfires when Cady gets the better of all three. Cady's lawyer vows to have Bowden disbarred. (In the original novel, Bowden's connection is never revealed and he is already negotiating with Sievers for another beating when the detective is transferred out of town).
Afraid for his wife Peggy (Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
) and 14-year-old daughter Nancy (Lori Martin
Lori Martin
Lori Martin was an American actress, born as Dawn Catherine Menzer.-Early career:...
), Bowden takes them to their houseboat in Cape Fear
Cape Fear (region)
Cape Fear is a coastal plain and tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington. The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties into the Atlantic Ocean near the cape...
. In an attempt to trick Cady, Bowden makes it seem as though he has gone to a completely different location. He fully expects Cady to follow his wife and daughter, and he plans on killing Cady to end the battle. He and a local deputy hide nearby, but Cady realizes the deputy is there and kills him. Eluding Bowden, Cady first attacks Mrs. Bowden on the boat, causing Bowden to go to her rescue. Meanwhile, Cady swims back to shore to attack the daughter. Bowden realizes what has happened and also swims back.
It leads to a final violent fight on the riverbank between the two men. Bowden overpowers Cady but decides not to kill him, preferring to let him spend the rest of his life in jail. The film ends with the Bowden family sitting together on a boat the next morning.
Cast
- Gregory PeckGregory PeckEldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
as Sam Bowden - Robert MitchumRobert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
as Max CadyMax CadyMax Cady is a fictional character in the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners. The character was portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 film adaptation Cape Fear and by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the same name.... - Polly BergenPolly BergenPolly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
as Peggy Bowden - Lori MartinLori MartinLori Martin was an American actress, born as Dawn Catherine Menzer.-Early career:...
as Nancy Bowden - Martin BalsamMartin BalsamMartin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
as Mark Dutton - Jack KruschenJack KruschenJack Kruschen was a Canadian-born character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio.-Radio:...
as Dave Grafton - Telly SavalasTelly SavalasAristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
as Charlie Sievers - Barrie Chase as Diane Taylor
- Paul ComiPaul ComiPaul Domingo Comi is an American film and television actor. Mr. Comi was invited to join and is active voting member of the Actor's Branch of the :Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.- Biography :...
as George Garner
Filming
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
fan, he wanted to have Hitchcockian
Hitchcockian
Hitchcockian is a general term used to describe film styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock's films.-Characteristics:Elements considered Hitchcockian include:*The cool platinum blonde....
elements in the film, such as unusual lighting angles, an eerie musical score, closeups and subtle hints rather than graphic depictions of the violence that Cady has in mind for the family.
The outdoor scenes were filmed on location in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
and in the Universal Studios Backlot at Universal City, California
Universal City, California
Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
. The indoor scenes were done at Universal Studios Soundstage. Mitchum had a real-life aversion to Savannah, where as a teenager, he had been charged with vagrancy and put on a chain gang
Chain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
. This resulted in a number of the outdoor scenes being shot at Ladd's Marina in Stockton, California, including the culminating conflict on the houseboat at the end of the movie.
This scene where Mitchum attacks Polly Bergen's character on the houseboat was almost completely improvised. Before the scene was filmed, Thompson suddenly told a crew member: "Bring me a dish of eggs!" Mitchum rubbing the eggs on Bergen was not scripted and Bergen's reactions were real. She also suffered back injuries from being knocked around so much. She felt the impact of the "attack" for days.
In the source novel The Executioners
The Executioners
The Executioners is a classic thriller novel written by John D. MacDonald, published in 1957. It was filmed twice under the title Cape Fear, once in 1962 and again in 1991....
by John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald
John Dann MacDonald was an American crime and suspense novelist and short story writer.MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida...
, Cady was a soldier court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
ed and convicted on then Lieutenant Bowden's testimony for the brutal rape of a 14-year-old girl. Again, the censors stepped in, citing that the word "rape" not appear and that having Cady as a soldier reflected adversely on U.S. military personnel.
Release and legacy
Although the word "rape" was entirely removed from the script before shooting, the film still enraged the censors, who were worried that "there was a continuous threat of sexual assault on a child". In order to be accepted, British censors required extensive editing and deleting of specific scenes. After making 161 cuts, it still nearly garnered an X rating (a British X rating meaning at the time; "Suitable for those aged 16 and older", not necessarily anything to do with pornographic content).In April 2007, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
selected Robert Mitchum's character as one of the ten best villains in cinema history. Cape Fear was also #36 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its famous scene where Max Cady attacks Sam's family.
The Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
rates it as the 65th best trial movie, although there is no courtroom trial in the film.
Max Cady
Max Cady
Max Cady is a fictional character in the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners. The character was portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 film adaptation Cape Fear and by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the same name....
ranks number 28 on the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's list of the top 50 movie villains of all time.
Further reading
- Bergman, Paul; Asimow, Michael. (2006) Reel justice: the courtroom goes to the movies (Kansas City : Andrews and McMeel). ISBN 0740754602; ISBN 978-0740754609; ISBN 0836210352; ISBN 978-0836210354.
- Machura, Stefan and Robson, Peter, eds. Law and Film: Representing Law in Movies (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishing, 2001). ISBN 0631228160, ISBN 9780631228165 176 pages.
- Thain, Gerald J., "Cape Fear, Two Versions and Two Visions Separated by Thirty Years." ISBN 0631228160, ISBN 9780631228165 176 pages.