Cape Fear (1962)

**Cape Fear** is a 1962 American psychological thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson which was released on April 12, 1962 by Universal Pictures.

It is adapted from James R. Webb's 1957 novel, "The Executioners."

## Plot

The film follows lawyer Sam Bowden whose family is stalked by a man that he helped send to prison for rape.

## Cast

* Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden
* Robert Mitchum as Max Cady
* Polly Bergen as Peggy Bowden
* Lori Martin as Nancy Bowden
* Martin Balsam as Mark Dutton
* Jack Kruschen as Dave Grafton
* Telly Savalas as Charlie Sievers
* Barrie Chase as Diane Taylor

## Production

Gregory Peck's production company, Melville Productions purchased the rights to John D. MacDonald's novel, "The Executioners" and planned to make it after "The Guns of Navarone."

Peck was impressed by director J. Lee Thompson's work on that film and hired him to film "Cape Fear." Peck said that his goal was to make *"first class professional entertainment intelligently done."*

In December of 1960, Polly Bergen signed on for the film, making it her first film role in eight years.

Rod Steiger wanted to play the role of Max Cady, but he backed off when he heard that Robert Mitchum was considering taking the role.

At first, Robert Mitchum didn't want to do the film, but he finally relented after Gregory Peck and J. Lee Thompson delivered a case of bourbon to his home. Mitchum's reply was, "Okay, I've drunk your bourbon. I'm drunk. I'll do it."

Telly Savalas was screen-tested for the role of Max Cady, but he was ultimately cast as private investigator Charlie Sievers.

J. Lee Thompson wanted Hayley Mills (whom he had cast in the film, "Tiger Bay") to play Sam Bowden's daughter, Nancy, but Mills was working on a Disney movie at the time and the role was given to Lori Martin.

Principal photography for "Cape Fear" began on April 6, 1961 and ended in June of 1961.

The outdoor scenes were filmed on location in Savannah, Georgia; Stockton, California; and the Universal Studios backlot at Universal City, California. The indoor scenes were done at Universal Studios Soundstage.

Robert Mitchum had a real-life aversion to Savannah, Georgia where he had been charged with vagrancy & placed on a chain gang as a teenager which resulted in a number of the outdoor scenes being shot at Ladd's Marina in Stockton, including the culminating conflict on the houseboat at the end of the movie.

J. Lee Thompson had always envisioned the film in black and white prior to production. As 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 Max Cady has in mind for the family.

The scene in which Robert Mitchum attacks Polly Bergen's character on the houseboat was almost completely improvised. Before the scene was filmed, J. Lee Thompson Thompson suddenly told a crew member: "Bring me a dish of eggs!"

Robert Mitchum's rubbing the eggs on Polly Bergen was not scripted and Bergen's reactions were real. She also suffered back injuries from being knocked around so much and felt the impact of the "attack" for days.

While filming the scene, Robert Mitchum cut open his hand, leading Polly Bergen to recall: *"His hand was covered in blood, my back was covered in blood. We just kept going, caught up in the scene. They came over and physically stopped us."*

In the source novel, "The Executioners", Max Cady was a soldier court-martialed and convicted on then Lieutenant Bowden's testimony for the brutal rape of a 14-year-old girl. The censors stepped in, banned the use of the word "rape" and stated that depicting Cady as a soldier reflected adversely on U.S. military personnel.

According to Robert Mitchum, during the filming of the final fight scene between him and Gregory Peck, Peck once accidentally punched him for real. Mitchum (knowing that Peck didn't mean to and ever the professional) refused to break character and continued filming the scene.

However, upon entering his trailer, Mitchum said that he "literally collapsed" due to the impact of the punch and said that he felt it for days afterwards. Mitchum said, *"I don't feel sorry for anyone dumb enough who picks a fight with him (Peck)."*

J. Lee Thompson complained at the time that UK censor John Trevelyan had ruined the film by making extensive cuts, and the number of edits suggested ranged from 60 to over 100.

Trevelyan later replied that he had made only 15 cuts, totalling around 6 minutes, with edits made to threatening dialogue and assault references, Cady's attack on Peggy, and all shots of him staring longingly at Nancy. All later UK video releases restored the cinema cuts.

Prior to its release, "Cape Fear" was heavily censored with many key elements of the fight scenes removed. Also deleted were numerous implications that Max Cady planned to sexually assault and then tortuously murder both Peggy and Nancy; these deletions were never restored.

## Critical Reception

Upon its release, "Cape Fear" received positive, but cautious feedback from critics due to its content.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 7.8\10. On Metacritic, it has a score of 76 based on 5 reviews.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised the *"tough, tight script"* as well as the film's *"steady and starkly sinister style."* He went on to conclude his review by saying, "This is really one of those shockers that provokes disgust and regret."

Variety magazine reviewed "Cape Fear" as *"competent and visually polished"* while commenting on Robert Mitchum's performance as a *"menacing omnipresence."*

TV Guide Magazine called it *"suspenseful and very frightening, thanks to Robert Mitchum's lethally threatening performance and the frightened reactions of a pro cast."*

Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader said: *"This 1962 thriller is better than the Scorsese remake—above all for Robert Mitchum's chilling performance as a vengeful ex-con and an overall brute force in the crude story line—though it's arguably still some distance from deserving its reputation as a classic."*

## Remake

A remake of "Cape Fear" was made in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.