Navigating "Cape Fear"

Cape Fear (1962), screened and discussed two days ago at CineVerse, proved to be a fantastic study in suspense. For those who wanted to learn more about what makes this film tick (and your nerves pop), peruse these talking points:

HOW WOULD “CAPE FEAR” HAVE PUSHED THE ENVELOPE FOR A 1962 FILM IN TERMS OF VIOLENCE AND ADULT CONTENT?

• Although the term “rape” is never used (“attack” is the substitute word), it’s essentially what the entire revenge plot is all about
• The implication is that Cady is going to sexually assault both the wife and young daughter of the protagonist: that would have been shocking for early 1960s audiences
• The censors wanted many things cut, including shots featuring Mitchum’s naked chest; his quotes that “Nancy is getting to be almost as juicy as your wife” and “I kept her busy for 3 days”; and a scene where Cady intentionally knees a man in the groin
• Cady even kills a dog, which would have upset many viewers
• According to one critic, it was the first of a subgenre of movies that attacked the nuclear family and “values of ordinary American decency”
• It was also the first of a class of films that exposed the pitfalls and failings of a liberal justice system where criminals get off too easy—a theme that would be repeated in pictures like Dirty Harry, Straw Dogs, Fatal Attraction, Pacific Heights, Ricochet, Unlawful Entry, and Just Cause.

CAPE FEAR HAS BEEN CALLED A HITCHCOCKIAN FILM. HOW DOES THIS MOVIE LOOK AND FEEL LIKE AN ALFRED HITCHCOCK PICTURE?

• Director J. Lee Thompson worked under Hitchcock himself earlier
• The suspenseful pacing of this movie is patterned after successful Hitchcock formulas for suspense
• Like Hitch, Thompson builds tension and fear by concentrating on the actors’ facial and physical reactions to stimuli, by utilizing shadow and light properly, by implying things instead of overtly expressing them (to engage the viewer’s imagination more), and by creating a false sense of relief before tightening the knot again
• The score of this film is by Bernard Herrmann, a frequent Hitchcock collaborator, and the tense string arrangements are reminiscent of Psycho, Vertigo and other Hitch masterpieces
• Martin Balsam plays a police chief here and a detective in Psycho for Hitch

WHY ARE ROBERT MITCHUM AND GREGORY PECK WELL CAST IN THEIR ROLES?

• Mitchum imbues a strong, intimidating physical presence and creeping menace with his smirking facial expressions
• Mitchum had been associated with one of the big screen’s all-time great villains in Night of the Hunter prior to this movie
• Mitchum had also been arrested for vagrancy previously in Savannah, Georgia, where some of this film was shot, and was sentenced to a chain gain: it’s ironic that he’s playing an ex-con
• Peck is also playing against type—he’s typically known for playing characters with the moral high ground, like Atticus Finch; in this film, he resorts to animalistic, primal urges to kill

HOW ARE CADY AND BOWDEN SYMMETRICALLY PARALLEL CHARACTERS?

• Cady is a lawbreaker who becomes a lawyer of sorts (in that he learns the law enough to know the loopholes); Bowden is a lawyer who transforms into a lawbreaker
• Contrast the upscale Southern property Bowden lives in with Cady’s fleabag hotel rooms and streetwalking life
• Cady is a vigilante, while Bowden enlists the aid of others
• Cady has dysfunctional and abusive relationships with women, while Bowden has a positive, healthy relationship with his daughter and wife

THEMES EXPLORED IN THIS MOVIE

• Taking the law into your own hands: how far are you willing to go to protect you and your loved ones when the law cannot protect you?
• The failings of the legal system
• The de-evolution of man: the human being’s capability of acting like an inhumane, primordial animal
• Beware that when fighting a monster, you don’t yourself become a monster, as Nietzsche said

OTHER FILMS BY J. LEE THOMPSON

• The Guns of Navarone
• McKenna’s Gold
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes