#61: CAPE FEAR (1962)

TW: Sexual Violence

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

The confrontation between Cady and Sam's wife on the houseboat, followed by the confrontation between Cady and Sam himself (so, basically, the last 15 minutes of the movie)

BEST LINE

"You shocking degenerate. I've seen the worst - the dregs - but you... you are the lowest. Makes me sick to breathe the same air." - Sam, to Cady

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

96%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"An exemplary thriller powered by Robert Mitchum's chilling performance and Bernard Herrmann's sinister score, Cape Fear seethes with perfectly modulated tension."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

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

DIRECTOR

J. Lee Thompson

MAIN CAST

Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin

THOUGHTS

• This might be a hard one for people to read about because the antagonist's primary threat is not just violence, but specifically sexual violence. As usual, I'm not going to be too graphic, and please don't mistake me treating this movie as a form of entertainment for any sort of levity towards the real subject matter
• For a movie made in 1962, it's interesting how clear they were able to make the villain's intentions, despite never once using the word "rape". Max Cady, played by Robert Mitchum, is evil and single-minded, with a leering, half-lidded gaze. His goal is not just to destroy Gregory Peck's Sam Bowden, but to do so through the people closest to him. It's a memorable performance by Mitchum, and I love his southern drawl, especially on words like "counsellah". Also, is it just me, or is Max Cady a great fictional character name
• I do believe this is the first appearance of Robert Mitchum in these movies, but not the last. He'll be appearing again in The Night of the Hunter, ranked quite high at #34, in a not dissimilar role (at least from what I recall; I only saw it once years ago)
• On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that this is the last we'll see of Gregory Peck. He was in The Guns of Navarone and The Omen as well, and I liked his performances in all of them, including Cape Fear, but I think it's fair to mention that he played essentially the same character in each movie - the stoic and brave leading man. This is not to say that this is a flaw with these movies, or even a flaw with Peck's acting. He plays this character well, and this character was what these movies required. But I'd be interested to see a Peck performance with a little more range. I feel like even Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, the role for which he won the Best Actor Oscar, would fit in pretty snugly with all these other performances in more thrilling movies. And speaking of which, I only just realized this, it turns out To Kill a Mockingbird and Cape Fear came out in the same year
• If one wants to approach Cape Fear from this angle, I saw it as a bit of a critique of due process and the presumption of innocence, or at least a manipulation of the audience's fears about the situations in which the law may not be enough to protect them. Sam knows what Cady has planned for him and his family, but he has no legal way to prevent it, so he needs to wait for Cady to strike before he's able to retaliate. This depiction of vigilantism isn't the sort of thing I cheer for or endorse, but it is a very effective hook for the movie, enhanced by the fact that Sam is a lawyer and well aware of the legal quandary he's in
• The climax is as thrilling as it is harrowing, ending with a pretty visceral fight between Sam and Cady. I also noticed, especially earlier in the movie, there was something reminiscent of a Slasher villain in the depiction of Cady, especially in the way he shows up when he's least expected

MINI REVIEW: CAPE FEAR (1991)

Our first time talking about director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, who will be popping up a few more times (although fewer than I would have thought; I think a movie like Goodfellas, for example, definitely belongs on this list. Maybe I'll add it at some point). This is a good movie, different enough from the original to be worth watching, but I don't think it's better than the original, and maybe not even as good. The 30 years in between films allowed for the remake to be much more blunt and graphic with its violence and subject matter, but there's still something to be said about the more restrained approach. It's interesting to see De Niro as a full-on villain, not just an anti-hero, and there's something uncanny about hearing his southern accent, considering his normal voice is so recognizable. The original was largely a cat-and-mouse game between Sam and Cady, while the remake fleshes out more of the supporting characters, giving them more connections and backstory, and more agency for Sam's wife and daughter, played by Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis, respectively. And as Sam I liked Nick Nolte's on-edge performance. While watching I realized I haven't seen Nolte in anything else, but I quite liked him in this. Finally, Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis were both nominated for Oscars. They're good performances, but it's interesting to see a pretty pulpy thriller like this get some Oscar love. And again, perhaps this owes something to the 30-year time difference - the original movie didn't get any nominations in any category.

MINI REVIEW: THE SIMPSONS: "CAPE FEARE" (1993)

Perfect. No notes.

Up Next: And with that, we've made our way through another 20-movie block of the AFI list, so it gives me great pleasure to announce that we'll be jumping back into the readers' poll! Here are the next ten movies, in order:

Annihilation

Us

The Warriors

The Babadook

Paranormal Activity

Donnie Darko

It

Pet Sematary

Gone Girl

Robocop

And so, up next, Annihilation from 2018!