In the indelible classic Cape Fear, Robert Mitchum takes sleaze to the level of artistry with his performance as paroled rapist Max Cady, who launches on a vengeance streak against the witness who put him away, upstanding lawyer and family man (Gregory Peck). The law can only do so much as Cady carefully toes its line, while still stalking and subtly threatening the family, focusing lecherously on the teenage daughter. Peck’s driven to implosive paranoia and hatches an elaborate plan, using his daughter as bait. A brilliantly loaded Cold War-era thriller, quite provocative then as now, it boasts not only one of the most memorable villains of all time, but also an electrifying Bernard Herrmann score.
“A cold-blooded, calculated build-up of sadistic menace and shivering dread is accomplished with frightening adroitness in J. Lee Thompson’s melodrama Cape Fear” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times
“This supremely nasty thriller boasts great credentials: a source in John D MacDonald’s novel The Executioners, Mitchum as the sadistic villain, Peck as the epitome of threatened righteousness, seedy locations in the Southern bayous, and whooping music by Bernard Herrmann.” – Time Out
Marc Edward Heuck writes about Cape Fear on the New Beverly blog.
Chris D explores director J. Lee Thompson’s extensive career on the New Beverly blog.
