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Special Features
- Making Of
- Production Stills with Score by Bernard Hermann
- Poster Gallery
Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
"Cape Fear" from 1962 is a terrific example of great film noir. Filmed in black and white, director J.Lee Thompson uses shadows and light, and the art of suggestion(the censors were pretty tough back in the 60's), to bring us this bone-chilling and suspenseful classic that over fourty years later, still, has not lost it's draw. Not unlike many of Hitchcock's films, Thompson has the audience on the edge of their seats,our hearts in our throats, and in fear for the hero.
It's good vs. evil, as Greogory Peck and Robert Mitchum, put their immense talents together for this spine tingler. Max Cady(Mitchum) has just been released from 8 long years in prison. From the moment we meet him, we KNOW this is one bad hombre. He is bent on revenge, and Sam Bowden(Peck) is the man who must pay. Sam's young daughter and beautiful wife are the targets of Max's obssession. He is slick and devious and will stop at nothing to get even. Sam does everything in his power legally to try and stop him, but must take matters into his own hands to protect his family.
Mitchum is simply powerful in his performance of this menacing threat, and Peck as always is perfect in his portrayal of the family man whose life has just turned into one big nightmare!
The film is also helped by the wonderful talents of Telly Savalas and Martin Balsam. Polly Bergen and Lori Martin are magnificent as the terrified wife and daughter.The talent doesn't end there though, the haunting music was scored by Bernard Hermann(who worked with Hitch on several films), and Sam Leavitt does a fabulous job with the black and white cinematography.
The transfer to DVD is crisp and sharp. It is presented in anamorphic widescreen(1.
... Read more ›No two actors were better suited than these two. Their characters are a definite study in contrast. Peck's Sam Bowden is a civilized intellectual forced to resort to some underhanded means to protect his family and himself from the treacherous taunts of Mitchum's crude, rude antagonist. Tension builds as the two men make a final confrontation at the location of the film's title.
Polly Bergen and Lorie Martin as Peck's respective wife and daughter are quite good a show a strength of character rare for women in the early 60's. They are not just "screaming Mimi's".
Martin Balsam, Jack Krushen and a pre-Kojak Telly Savalas round out a superlative cast; Barrie Chase is also quite memorable as a woman that runs afoul of the Mitchum's sadistic Max Cady.
Southern locations and crisp cinematography provide a picturesque yet menacing background and look.
To top off the film off is another remarkable score from Bernard Herrmann. Music by the late composer elevates this already superior thriller to a higher level.
Here, Mitchum plays Max Cady, a menacing figure with a perpetual lit cigar and Panama Hat. He has come to town after being released from jail to visit and wreak revenge on the man who put him there, enter Sam, played by Gregory Peck. From their initial reunion in the town parking lot, Cady lets Peck have a peek at what's on his mind. From that moment on, there are grippingly suspenseful encounters between the two men and even worse, threats to his wife played by Polly Bergen, and his daughter, in a rather ineffectual role considering what she goes through when encountering Cady. Particularly amusing is a scene in the beginning of the film. Cady casually watches the family bowl, while harrassing a waitress and having a beer. The expression on Pecks face as his Sam character looks up, and spots those sinister leering eyes peering from a nearby table at his family, is classic.
What needs to be mentioned more than the great direction, pacing and script, is the believabilty of the sociopath depicted, that Mitchum brings to startling low-life on the screen. He is truly mesmerizing in his sleepy-eyed evil countenance. His gaze, cigar in mouth, hat pulled low, will raise your hair as you watch him. He moves toward his victims in a slow and deliberate manner, and speaks his lines with that commanding voice that he was so famous for. When picked up for questioning, he hilariously mocks Pecks' Sam, calling him casually by name, "Why, Say-im..." and then as "counselor" refering to his lawyer status. My favorite Mitchum line here?... Read more ›
The above words were spoken by a bloodied "Max Cady" in the original (1962) version of "Cape Fear", which is a suspense-filled masterpiece that remains one of my favorite movies of this genre. The film, which was known as "The Executioners" during the actual shooting of the picture (the title of the 1957 John D. MacDonald novel on which the movie was based), first appeared on American theater screens on April 12th, 1962.
That Max Cady is one scary dude! No doubt about that. Portrayed to perfection by 44-year-old Robert Mitchum, Cady is presented with full intensity in "Cape". We get the impression, and rightly so, that Mr. Cady is relentless in his pursuit of "Sam Bowden" and his family. Nothing is going to stop him. And Sam (Gregory Peck) knows this too.
Therefore, drastic measures are needed to fight this awesome menace. Watch and see how it suspensefully unfolds. Many memorable scenes await the viewer here -- scenes that look all the greater thanks to the handsome Anamorphic Widescreen print of the movie that has been encoded onto this DVD. The black-and-white photography looks solid as a rock on this disc.
As the film opens, we see a cigar-smoking Max Cady walking toward the courthouse to meet his "prey" (Bowden). Cady's self-assured gait and somewhat cocky manner, as we watch him leisurely making his way down the street, give us a good indication as to the kind of man Cady is.... Read more ›
Never the less, it was entertaining.
