Cape Fear

In my reviews since I started the blog in January, I've covered a handful of movies with Robert Mitchum in a starring role. He's always been an actor I appreciated, but the more I watch with him the higher he climbs into the list of my all-time favorite actors. But as much as he's known for being the smooth, often laid back anti-hero, two of his most well-known roles are of villains possibly bordering on insane.

In Night of the Hunter, he plays a religious fanatic, a preacher on the trail of a stash of money in the deep South. And in the other part in 1962's Cape Fear, Mitchum stars as Max Cady, an ex-con looking for revenge. Where Mitchum stands out from many actors of his generation is his physical presence on-screen. Like Marlon Brando, he just had an animalistic quality to him, an intensity brewing that was just waiting to explode. He could handle the dramatic scenes easily, delivering dialogue in a smooth, cool manner, but it's his presence that draws the eye, or at least mine when he's onscreen.

On the Cape Fear DVD, co-star Gregory Peck admits that as casting was being done he told the director that the meatier part was the supporting role, the part that went to Mitchum. Peck seems content in the movie to sit back and let Mitchum do his thing. If it was a comedy, oh the possibililties, Peck is the straight man to Mitchum's crazy antics. The two differing styles have a nice way of balancing each other out in the movie.

Living in Savannah with his wife, Peggy (Polly Bergen), and young teenage daughter, Nancy (Lori Martin), lawyer Sam Bowden (Peck) has a good life until one day a violent man from his past arrives in town. The man is Max Cady, a convict fresh out of jail after serving an 8-year sentence for physically assaulting a woman. Bowden's testimony put Cady away, and now the ex-con is looking for some revenge. Because of his time in jail, Max's wife divorced him and took their son with so Cady intends to even things up.

But even aware of the threat that's always there, Sam has little recourse about what to do. Max has not done anything that's against the law, and as Martin Balsam's Chief Dutton says 'You can't arrest a man for something he's thought about.' So waiting for Cady to strike in one way or another, Sam and his family live with the constant fear that some sort of attack is coming their way. Finally pushed to the breaking point when he finds out Cady intends to rape his young daughter, Sam puts together a desperate plan in hopes of baiting the ex-con to attack.

Filmed in black and white and shot on location in Savannah for some nice-looking shots, Cape Fear is the definition of what a good psychological thriller can be. Max Cady is a villain not because we've seen what he'll do, instead it's what he is capable of that can be scary. And with that, Mitchum is the ideal actor for the part. One look, one evil little grin, and you know what's on his mind. He plays mind games with Sam and his family, driving them insane slowly but surely. In the B&W, there's a film noir edge to the story.

Cady is often shot in the shadows, whether it be in brush observing the Bowdens or just sitting in a bar oggling a woman nursing her drink. The character is a ticking time bomb, and it's just a matter of time before that bomb goes off. With a score from composer Bernard Herrmann and dealing with a story that seems very Hitchcock, it's easy to see why fans could think this was an Alfred Hitchcock suspense/thriller. Parts are very similar to 1960's Psycho, both in terms of storytelling and then the actual shooting with the black and white.

It's Mitchum's movie from start to finish including a satisfying ending, but the cast is superb all around. Peck has the less flashy role, but going against a nut like Cady, he's just a father trying to protect the life he has built for his family. Bergen presents a strong female character as Peck's wife, a woman terrified of what may come but who's able to put up a brave front in hopes of saving her daughter. Playing Sam's daughter, 15-year old Martin is shot in a strange way as if from Max's POV. The camera holds on her a little longer than you'd think necessary, but it gest the point across. Max is going after her and nothing's going to stop him. From the rest of the cast, Telly Savalas has a good part as a hard-edged private detective and Barrie Chase plays Diane, a young woman who is attracted to Max's pure animal edge but comes to regret it.

But overall, I thought the movie was only 'OK.' The build-up is good as Cady starts to follow the Bowdens around, but Sam's plan just seems too farfetched. I haven't read the book so I don't know if the movie stayed true to the source material, but after a while I knew how the story was going to play out and it loses some steam. The finale itself works, but I had some trouble getting there, especially the last 30 minutes or so. Still, Cape Fear is a must-see for movie fans. Robert Mitchum carries the movie in a terrifying and real performance as an ex-con with a mind for revenge.

Cape Fear <---- trailer (1962): ** 1/2 /****