Robert Mitchum is at his creepy best here, playing a villain than can easily rival his antagonist in "The Night of the Hunter". Mitchum is memorable as Max Cady, an ex-con who has never forgiven lawyer Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) for helping to put him behind bars for eight years. Now the ex-con is back, and is determined to constantly harass Sam & his family (Polly Bergen as wife Peggy, Lori Martin as daughter Nancy). Cady has something especially insidious planned for the females. It isn't long before Sam believes that his nemesis is capable of anything, and is resorting to desperate measures to remove this threat from his life.
"Cape Fear" is one of the all-time great black & white thrillers to come out of Hollywood, boasting a sharp script by James R. Webb, that is based on the novel "The Executioners" by John D. MacDonald. It may indeed lack the explicitness of later Hollywood films, but that actually adds to its power. What it suggests is already pretty powerful.
Overall, it has a very Hitchcockian feel, and in fact was scored by frequent Hitch collaborator Bernard Herrmann (one of the composers' most haunting and unforgettable soundtracks) and cut by George Tomasini, who'd edited "Psycho". It marks one of the absolute best efforts for the director J. Lee Thompson ("The Guns of Navarone").
It's clear early on that Cady is the more interesting role. As vile as he is, he has an unpleasantly sly, savvy quality about him, only enhanced by the fact that he's spent his time in stir studying up on the law. Now he knows just how much he can get away with in the name of making Sams' life a living Hell. And he has a man in his corner, a grandstanding attorney played by the great character actor Jack Kruschen.
In comparison, Sam is an ideal role for Peck, what with his All-American, model of decency type of character. And he becomes more intriguing as he relents and starts taking those desperate measures, like hiring some local toughs to try to gang up on Cady.
Not much is done with the wife and daughter roles; they're mostly just required to be stand around and be scared. But Bergen and Martin are appealing in their performances.
In addition to Kruschen, other notable cast members include Balsam (who, of course, played Arbogast in "Psycho"), Telly Savalas, Barrie Chase, Paul Comi, Page Slattery, and Edward Platt. But Mitchum towers over everybody with a performance of pure smarm and menace.
The finale is genuinely gripping stuff: it's quite tense and very atmospheric.
Famously remade by Martin Scorsese in 1991, with interesting new layers to the story, but an ultimately more over the top nature, with Robert De Niro's version of Cady coming off like a cartoon bogeyman.
Eight out of 10.
"Cape Fear" is one of the all-time great black & white thrillers to come out of Hollywood, boasting a sharp script by James R. Webb, that is based on the novel "The Executioners" by John D. MacDonald. It may indeed lack the explicitness of later Hollywood films, but that actually adds to its power. What it suggests is already pretty powerful.
Overall, it has a very Hitchcockian feel, and in fact was scored by frequent Hitch collaborator Bernard Herrmann (one of the composers' most haunting and unforgettable soundtracks) and cut by George Tomasini, who'd edited "Psycho". It marks one of the absolute best efforts for the director J. Lee Thompson ("The Guns of Navarone").
It's clear early on that Cady is the more interesting role. As vile as he is, he has an unpleasantly sly, savvy quality about him, only enhanced by the fact that he's spent his time in stir studying up on the law. Now he knows just how much he can get away with in the name of making Sams' life a living Hell. And he has a man in his corner, a grandstanding attorney played by the great character actor Jack Kruschen.
In comparison, Sam is an ideal role for Peck, what with his All-American, model of decency type of character. And he becomes more intriguing as he relents and starts taking those desperate measures, like hiring some local toughs to try to gang up on Cady.
Not much is done with the wife and daughter roles; they're mostly just required to be stand around and be scared. But Bergen and Martin are appealing in their performances.
In addition to Kruschen, other notable cast members include Balsam (who, of course, played Arbogast in "Psycho"), Telly Savalas, Barrie Chase, Paul Comi, Page Slattery, and Edward Platt. But Mitchum towers over everybody with a performance of pure smarm and menace.
The finale is genuinely gripping stuff: it's quite tense and very atmospheric.
Famously remade by Martin Scorsese in 1991, with interesting new layers to the story, but an ultimately more over the top nature, with Robert De Niro's version of Cady coming off like a cartoon bogeyman.
Eight out of 10.