Cape Fear (1962)

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

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

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

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Garner
John McKee	...	Officer Marconi
Page Slattery	...	Deputy Kersek
Ward Ramsey	...	Officer Brown
Edward Platt	...	Judge
Will Wright	...	Dr. Pearsall
Joan Staley	...	Waitress

Storyline

Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's life becomes torturous when Max Cady re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family, particularly targeting Bowden's daughter, Nancy. Initially, Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to annoy the Bowdens, then poisons the family dog... Who's next ?

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | family in jeopardy | small town | stalking | psychopath | 

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Taglines:

The Original Masterpiece Of Revenge, Confrontation And Murder!

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1962 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Executioners

Filming Locations:

Armstrong Junior College, Savannah, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Melville Productions, Talbot Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Telly Savalas was screen tested for the role of Max Cady, but later played private eye Charlie Sievers.

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Goofs

When Nancy runs into the school, she knocks some papers off a desk. When the man pursuing her follows, the papers are back on the desk.

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Quotes

Police Chief Mark Dutton: [Bowden has told Dutton that he's worried about Max Cady] You have a dog don't you, Sam?
Sam Bowden: She couldn't bite through a doughnut; but she's a good barker.
Police Chief Mark Dutton: Well, that's good enough. I'll call you when they pick him up.

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Connections

Featured in Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann (1992)

User Reviews

Stick With This One: The Original

Boy, this shows that you can still make a scary movie without a lot of blood, profanity and whatever. Hollywood didn't learn that, however, featuring all of it less than a decade after this was made. The Martin Scorcese re-make of this movie is exactly what I'm talking about.

This original Cape Fear was legitimately scary, thanks to the performance of Robert Mitchum, who doesn't need to resort to the f-word to be a tough, sick and really an evil character as he stalks Gregory Peck and his wife (Polly Bergen) and daughter (Lori Martin).

Bergan and Martin are two women I don't see too much in films which is too bad. They did a lot more TV work than movies. Another thing you don't see much anymore - a nice, sympathetic policeman - was also portrayed in here nicely by Martin Balsam.

The ending has some holes in it, to be sure, but overall it offers a good 106- minute suspense story.