Police Chief Mark Dutton: “Has he threatened you?”
Sam Bowden: “No, nothing that would hold in court. You have to know him to feel the threat.”
Sometimes, even the immediacy of a mesmeric score setting the mood for what is to come tells the viewer that they are likely in for something really special. Case in point, Bernard Herrmann’s intense opening composition for 1962’s Cape Fear, directed by J. Lee Thompson (Happy Birthday to Me).
Produced by and starring Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird; On the Beach), he plays small town attorney Sam Bowden – a well respected family man within the quaint community in Georgia. Soon to be met with a harbinger of much danger, Max Cady (Robert Mitchum – Out of the Past; Where Danger Lives) – who was put behind bars by the soft spoken lawyer eight years ago after he testified at his trial, has made it quite clear that Sam’s wife Peggy (Polly Bergen) and daughter Nancy (Lori Martin) are in just as much danger, if not more.
Akin to a wily animal stalking its scared prey, this feature, along with many other classics (just think of the film noir Act of Violence as well as the also Mitchum starring The Night of the Hunter), can be seen as key influences on the later slasher genre – with some very striking similarities to a movie like John Carpenter’s Halloween.
Always in his shadows, wherever Sam turns, Cady’s grimacing visage isn’t far away. Much like the Michael Myers character, he is similar to a driven force with only one thing on his mind – torturing the Bowden family.
With Sam contacting local police chief Mark Dutton (Martin Balsam – 12 Angry Men; The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), it soon becomes clear that Cady is surprisingly crafty in his tense torture techniques. Promptly hiring attorney Dave Grafton (Jack Kruschen) to back the cops off of their rather harassing behaviour, it does not bode well for them.
Forced to hire private detective Charles Sievers (Telly Savalas – Horror Express; Faceless), unfortunately that doesn’t seem to work either, even after he more than traumatizes drifting bad girl Diane Taylor (Barrie Chase) – fun fact: the hotel he brings her to is actually the infamous Psycho house set. Will the Bowden family be able to survive the psychological terror and very real threats the menacing man keeps placing upon them? Is there any help from such a terror? Might some vacation time at Cape Fear be all too ominous?
Filmed in a very Hitchcockian way – both Psycho and Shadow of a Doubt most definitely come to mind, Thompson utilizes staircases, camera placements (closeups), unorthodox lighting angles, provides the audience with tidbits before our protagonists know better, had Hitch’s own editor (George Tomasini – Vertigo; Rear Window), as well as his regular composer in Herrmann to help build the tension much like The Master of Suspense.
Executed quite subtly (solely through implications) but with enough getting through the censors to make things utterly tense, it is quite clear what perverse and graphic conclusion Cady wants. . . despite never truly coming right out and saying it – a type of torture for the audiences’ brains. Instead, it ratchets things up, a growing fear at every cut, camera pan, or follow-up scene. It must also be said that the egg sequence is quite memorable for obvious reasons.
Also beautifully lit, cinematographer Sam Leavitt (Seven Thieves) left nothing to chance. . . the shadows seemingly growing larger and more menacing the deeper into the story we journey. As if the blackness is further encroaching upon them. . . after all, in a sense it is, the narrative grows ever darker, both literally and figuratively, as it draws to the climax.
Having a massive impact on the annals of film history, not only did Cape Fear make an impact in the ways mentioned above, but it also spawned a remake by Martin Scorsese in 1991 (look for a review of this version later this year). . . which itself got a memorable spoof in The Simpsons “Cape Feare” in 1993, while many of you might not even know that a new rendition will be coming to Apple TV+ later this year starring Amy Adams, Javier Bardem, and Patrick Wilson. To turn things back to the original for a few final notes, it is also worth watching for a small role from Edward Platt as a Judge (yes, the Chief from Get Smart). Also, for sharp eyed viewers who are fans of the Don Knotts horror comedy classic The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, try to notice female lead Joan Staley in a quick bit as a ‘highly tipped’ waitress at the bowling alley. And lastly, it was Gregory Peck who came up with the title, as the novel it is based upon, John D. MacDonald’s “The Executioners”, wasn’t to his liking, so he simply found Cape Fear on a map of North Carolina and the rest is history. So, catch up on the original before the rest, it certainly won’t let you off too easy.