Cape Fear (1962 film)

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This article is about the 1962 film. For other uses, see Cape Fear (disambiguation).

Cape Fear
Cape Fear movie poster
Directed by	J. Lee Thompson
Produced by	Sy Bartlett
Written by	John D. MacDonald (novel The Executioners) James R. Webb
Starring	Gregory Peck Robert Mitchum Polly Bergen
Music by	Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography	Sam Leavitt
Editing by	George Tomasini
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	April 12, 1962 (U.S. release)
Running time	105 min
Language	English

Cape Fear is a 1962 film about an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal whom he helped to send to jail. It stars Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum as Max Cady, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, Jack Kruschen, Telly Savalas, Paul Comi and Barrie Chase. It was adapted by James R. Webb from the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson, and released on April 12, 1962.

Cape Fear was remade in 1991. Peck, Mitchum and Balsam all appeared in the remake.

1 Production
- 1.1 Casting
- 1.2 Filming
2 Release and legacy
3 Notes
- 3.1 Further reading
4 See also
5 External links

Production

Casting

Peck acquired the rights to Cape Fear, originally attached to the project as a producer, not an actor. However, he was sought for the role of antagonist Max Cady by the studios. Peck was so against playing a villain at the time that he steadfastly refused the part. He felt audiences would not accept him playing a ruthless character so he instead sought the role of the hero.^{[citation needed]}

When approached to play the villain, Mitchum also turned down the role. But convinced that Mitchum would make the perfect Cady, director Thompson and producer Peck sent him a bottle of bourbon. A couple of days later, Mitchum sent a telegraph to Thompson, which read: "I've had your bourbon. I'm drunk. I'll do it."^{[citation needed]}

The casting of the two leads has led to some of the biggest criticisms of the movie. At 6'3, Peck is clearly the more physically powerful^{[citation needed]} of two leads, although he plays the less aggressive of the two characters. Mitchum is noticeably smaller in height than Peck but reveals an imposing physique. Mitchum later stated that, in the final fight scene of the movie, Peck once accidentally punched him for real. Mitchum said he felt the impact of the punch for days afterwards.^{[citation needed]}

Hayley Mills was originally considered to play the daughter, but she was on a contract with Disney and was unable to do so. Barrie Chase, who plays a drifter picked up by Cady, was a popular dancer and TV personality of the 1950s, as well as a companion of Fred Astaire. Lori Martin, who plays Bowden's daughter, reported having nightmares for weeks after filming the scenes where she is menaced by Cady at school and when he confronts her in a cabin.^{[citation needed]}

Filming

Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear

Thompson had always envisioned the film in black and white prior to production. Being 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 Cady has in mind for the family.

The outdoor scenes were filmed first on location in Savannah, Georgia. The indoor scenes and the Cape Fear, North Carolina, scenes were done at Universal studios. Mitchum had a real-life aversion to Savannah, where, as a teenager, he had been charged with vagrancy and put on a chain-gang.

The scene where Mitchum attacks Polly Bergen's character on the houseboat was almost completely improvised. Before the scene was filmed, the director suddenly told a crew member: "Bring me a dish of eggs!" Mitchum rubbing the eggs on Bergen was not scripted and Bergen's reactions were real. She also suffered back injuries from being knocked around so much. She felt the impact of the "attack" for days.

Release and legacy

Although the word "rape" was entirely removed from the script before shooting, the film still enraged the censors, who were worried that "there was a continuous threat of sexual assault on a child". In order to be accepted, British censors required extensive editing and deleting of specific scenes. After making 161 cuts, it still nearly garnered an X rating.

In April 2007, Newsweek selected Robert Mitchum's character as one of the ten best villains in cinema history. Cape Fear was also #36 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its famous scene where Max Cady attacks Sam's family.

The Internet Movie Database rates it number 47 of 807 trial movies, although there is no courtroom trial in the film.^[1]