Cape Fear Details

Menacing!

Attorney Sam Bowden (Peck) finds his happy life with lovely wife and daughter suddenly shattered by the appearance of ex con Max Cady (Mitchum) - Bowden's evidence put him in prison and now he's out for revenge. Mitchum is wonderfully sinister as the violent psychopath who gets away with continually terrorising the family by keeping it all nice and legal. Peck is brilliant as the mild mannered family man pushed to breaking point. There's tension in abundance and some genuinely nasty moments. The infamous and oft-parodied house boat denouement doesn't dissapoint.

Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) is a successful lawyer, complete with happy family;

wife Peggy (Polly Bergen) & daughter Nancy. All is going well until Max Cady (Robert Mitchum), a violent criminal, whom Sam prosecuted & helped imprison for 8 years is released. The story then revolves around the Bowden family trying to escape the misdirected wrath of Cady.

I enjoyed this movie but felt the conclusion came too early, especially

as the build up had been very good. The supporting cast including Martin

Balsam as Sam's police chief friend & Telly Savalas as a private detective

hired by Sam are used well. This is a first-rate B-movie, as directed by

J. Lee Thompson, aided by the menacing, brooding Bernard Herrmann score.

Herrmann's (a long time Hitch collaborator) score is the unheralded

third supporting character.

The dvd extras include interviews with Thompson & Peck & also include

references to the 1992 Scorsese remake, starring De Niro, Lange, Lewis &

Nolte.

Personally, and rather unusually, I prefer the remake but the original

is well worth a watch.