Film Forum

U.S., 1962
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam
Screenplay by James R. Webb
Based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald
DCP. Approx. 106 min.

Stiffly upright lawyer Peck’s got it all — a nice life and loving family (wife Polly Bergen and daughter Lori Martin) — but newly released inmate and sexual psychotic Mitchum has returned from an eight-year stint and plans to seek revenge on the man who locked him up. A tour de force for Mitchum, as his cigar-chomping, straw-fedoraed Max Cady drives decent Peck to audience-alienating, extra-legal lengths, until a bare-chested Bob starts going after the family in a watery bayou climax. Though controversial upon release for its depictions of sexual violence, CAPE FEAR received positive reviews and was later featured on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years… 100 Thrills” list, and Mitchum’s Max Cady remains one of the all-time greatest movie villains (as recognized by the AFI and TIME Magazine). Adapted from John D. MacDonald’s The Executioners, with music by Bernard Herrmann.

Reviews

“The relentlessness of the story and Mitchum’s tangibly sordid presence guarantee
the viewer’s quivering attention.”  
– David Thompson, Time Out