JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentonCape Fear (1962) - Footage Included
January 15th 2007 03:14
Cape Fear
DVD Covers
Writer: James R Webb
Cinematography: Samuel Leavitt
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, Telly Savalas
“Six months! And after that... When he walked out of this room he said... he said to consider this only a sample. And from my limited knowledge of human nature, Max Cady isn't a man who makes idle threats.” – Diane
A benchmark thriller, Cape Fear is an unnerving exercise in raising tension, maintaining suspense and keenly observing the dangers of a justice system that protects criminal rights at the expense of innocent citizens.
"You just put the law in my hands and Im going to break your heart" - Max Cady
Skilfully avoiding the censor’s scissors of the time, this original version shocked audiences upon release and still manages to surprise with its handling of the more confronting aspects of the subject matter.
Deliberately shot in moody B&W, opening to the strains of composer Bernard Hermann’s menacing score, this tale of revenge wastes no time in setting up the core conflict.
Cold Blooded sociopath Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) has just finished serving an 8 year stretch in prison and blames one man for it, a small town Lawyer named Sam Bowden. (Gregory Peck)
A calculating criminal Cady torments his prey, psychologically inflicting the threat of sexual violence against Sam’s beautiful wife Peggy (Polly Bergen) and nubile teen daughter Nancy (Lori Martin)
“I got somethin' planned for your wife and kid that they ain't never gonna forget. They ain't never gonna forget it... and neither will you, Counselor! Never!” – Max Cady
learning quickly that the police are powerless to do anything unless Max follows through on his words. A good man is pushed to his limits by a criminal who knows the rules of the game, Sam must protect his family at all costs.
“You shocking degenerate. I've seen the worst - the dregs - but you... you are the lowest. Makes me sick to breathe the same air.” – Sam
Unforgiving, each scene is deliberately paced and structured to build a house of cards that will inevitably crumble in a frenzy of violence and horror.
Dont look so frightened, I just want to say hello to De Niro
John Doe says:
It is impossible to critique this classic original without acknowledging Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake. Both are very different takes on the same story, the original is down to earth and truly frightens because of its believable performances, gritty staging and relentless atmosphere. The remake is much looser, more of a fun ride, inconsistent in tone with a cartoon villain that entertains rather than scares.
Director J Lee Thompson (The Guns Of Navarone, St Ives, Tiger Bay, Happy Birthday To Me) and editor George Tomasini (Psycho, the Time Machine, Vertigo) expertly pace the film. Gradually comfort zones are pushed and with each successive scene, like a Chinese water torture the audience becomes more and more distressed.
Synchronized with well thought out camera set ups, the cinematography serves to keep the subconscious off balance.
James R Webb’s (The Big Country) subversive screenplay knowingly infers social taboos of the time, subtly saying more with less.
Unstable, with unspeakable evil lurking beneath the surface Robert Mitchum’s (Night of the Hunter, Friends of Eddie Coyle, Out Of the Past, the Yakuza) Max Cady reeks of restrained violence and cerebral manipulation. A thug, who is intelligent and charismatic, able to stand toe to toe with the stoic Co-star.
“This man is a drunk, a rapist and a violent man. And I live my parts” – Actor Mitchum warns Director J Lee Thompson of his dedication to the part
Gregory Peck (Boys From Brazil, Big Country, Guns of Navarone, the Omen, On The Beach) is tailor suited to the role of a small town lawyer pushed to his limits. Taking his famous Atticus Finch impersonation into a more fallible and physical incarnation.
Polly Bergen as the dutiful wife makes the transition to terrified victim with bloodcurdling fear. Suffering for her art in the vicious finale, she was acidentally slammed through locked doors and ended up cut and bruised by the forceful Robert Mitchum.
Look out for a pre-Kojak Telly Savalas (The Dirty Dozen) who turns up as a private eye with his hair intact!
I had not watched this version of the film for sometime and when I slid the DVD into the player on Friday night I was not prepared for the terrifying power of the story I thought I knew. For the record John Doe enjoyed the remake, but it doesn’t compare to this more accomplished Hitchcockian original, with personal fave Robert Mitchum in a career defining role.
The DVD:
Transfer: Widescreen 1:85:1/Dolby Digital 2.0
Extras: 30 Minutes retrospective making of that is a must for fans.
See the trailer by clicking here
Click below to see comparison shots between the original and the remake set to the chilling Bernard Hermann Score
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Comment by David my David
Fantastic Post!
Don't want to spoil it. Not adding anything more.
David ...
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
You are partly responsible for the post because I dug this out of my collection after our amusing little chat the other day.
Do you prefer the remake or the original?
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
The bottle and the maize papers ... what else?
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Film & TV on DVD
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
The only remakes that may appear are the ones that were on par with th original (eg: 39 Steps, Man Who Knew Too Much, The Thing, Solaris etc) may do a post on them at some time.
Cape Fear has been a favourite of mine since I was a teen. Have you seen it?
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Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
It is definetly a nailbiter and immensely watchable.....hope you dig it
Comment by David my David
Funnily enough, I much prefer the remake. (That being written, it's a long time since I saw the original).
I was driving taxis in Adelaide when Scorcese's Cape Fear hit the big screen. Me? I had a business card for my cab. A graphic designer used an Image of DeNiro as Travis Bickle with his mohawk. All it had on the card? Anywhere. Anytime. (and my phone no. of course) It helps. * Customers used to steal ten at a time. The graphic designed did a wild job. B&W and bled in NY taxi-cab yellow.
Why I love Scorcese's version so much? it's so bloody memorable. The scripwriting it brilliant. I've got a filmic script-editing buddy. He's a filmic genius. He runs the Australian School of Screenwriting. We often write or speak to each other in film speak. "For all intents and purposes, we're just two screenwriters, talking shoP!"
"Were you a screenwriter, or were you not good enough to be a screenwriter? Cos that's the impression I'm getting here."
Why I don't watch the (2) Cape Fears much? Don't need to ... "Already seen em." (accompanied by menacing, threatening run at the camera and head-butt it, IN YOUR FACE! style)...
"I could be the big bad wolf, Dan-YELL!"
Smoking a cigar here, pissing myself laughing, blowing big clouds of passive smoke all over the computer screen just to annoy myself ...
"I'll teach you about loss ... I'll teach you about losing a bog!" ***
Yep. Memorable. My writing teacher? He used to say, when you write something (he was mainly referring to poetry ... but it can be cross-genderised and apllied to other mediums) ... He said, Make it memorable and meaty ... Well DeNiro beefed up ... that's a meaty performance ... (not quite Raging Bull Jake La Motta beefy ... that's a whole bloody roast ... * ... And memorable. I remember nearly every line from that film ... that qualifies as memorable in my book ...
"Marty I love your fucking movies man. I want to bite your cheek off and spit it out ... "
Scorcese? Filmic Genius ... God related to God Lynch ... Don't get me started on Blue Velvet ... No, do ... Let's get into the rich, sick underbelly of American white picket fence exterior morality .... cos ... "Baby wants to fuck mummy."
Love your posts ... Keep em coming Doe ...
Might call you ... 7 Doe ...?
So 7, keep em coming man ... You're easy to write to ... It's like having a chat ...
David ...
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
On the topic of screenwriting I am actualy stock piling before assualting the cinema world with my work....
Im not sure wether its an insult that you think I was not good enough to write screenplays, even if I wasnt I would never quit it.
Have 8 screenplays, which are also going to be 8 graphic novels....once there all in the bag then i will be banging down producers doors.
Screenwriting is my passion, film journalism and advertising copywriting pay the bills.
I co wrote a screenplay with a director buddy of mine, we shot the film and now we are editing, but its his story not mine.
My stories are all socially relevant head fucks designed to challenge and inflict ideas upon the unsuspecting masses.. (Think Cronenburg, Aronofsky etc)........presented in genre storylines like Sci fi and horror.
David Lynch be the man and Blue Velvet is a masterpiece although Lost Highway is my favourite of his films, Eraserhead is a handful too.
Always fun chatting and in the immortal words of Jeffrey "See that clock on teh wall, in 5 minutes you are not going to believe what I just told you"
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I really think that Soderburg made it his own while still providing jaw dropping visuals and a complex, textured emotional journey.....a quality mind fuck for a whole new age of existential procrastination..
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I think I said the other day that Im not a Clooney fan but I do like Clooney movies.....he chooses excellent scripts and filmmakers to collaborate with.
(Warning: Cliched adjectives to follow)- I I was dazzled by the realistic, low key FX and spellbinding cinematography.......emotionally invested in the characters (yep, I shed a tear) and pondered for weeks later on the rich, complex screenplays myriad of ideas....tackling amongst other issues grief, loss, love etc
Give it a go though be warned you must limber up your mind before entering, a film that truly transported me to another plain of existence.......much like the Russian original.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile