A fantastic thriller with Peck and Mitchum stealing the show in every scene. This one keeps you on your toes as few movies did back in 1962.

Cape Fear (1962) is a good film. I do prefer the 1991 remake but seeing the original is worth it. A good film that's well worth checking out.

If youve seen the Robert DeNiro film but not this original film- do check it out. Pure class and let OTT than the Scorsese film (which I do enjoy) Robert Mitchum is fantastically scary as Max Cady. If you make a list of classic films you should see, Cape Fear (1961) has to be on it.

More straightforward but less psychologically complex than the Scorsese remake, Peck and Mitchum excel in this tense thriller.

Mitchum is pretty strong, and the camerawork is very good. Ultimately, this hasn't aged very well though and, until the finale, mostly comes across as stilted, terse and a bit flat.

Muy buena película, gran thriller psicológico que te mantiene tenso en muchos momentos. Esta es una cinta bastante antigua, lo que puede parecer que se quedo en el tiempo o envejeció mal, sin embargo esto no es así ya que a pesar del paso del tiempo sigue logrando causar el mismo impacto que causaba cuando salió. Es una cinta con una muy buena historia, la cual es entretenida a pesar de que por momentos a mi parecer tiene un ritmo algo lento, pero esto no es problema para semejante obra. El personaje de Max Cady me parece brillante, un loco maniaco que logra imponer miedo y tensión con solo verlo y el actor lo hace espectacular. Tiene muchas escenas tensas y de suspenso que están muy bien logradas, junto a un soundtrack que ayuda mucho a lograr eso. Por otro lado, las actuaciones es otra cosa que destacar ya que son geniales, principalmente las de Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Lori Martin y Polly Bergen. El tono en blanco y negro es algo que si bien no es de mis cosas favoritas en una película, la verdad es que con esta no me quejo y me parece que queda muy bien. Por ultimo, debería ver si el remake es superior a esta cinta, lo cual es complicado pero tengo fe que puede superarla. En conclusión, una muy buena película, con una historia excelente y entretenida, con personajes memorables que no vas a olvidar y escenas tensas que te van a mantener enganchado a la película. Muy recomendada.

Just meh old movie nothing to see

I have seen Cape Fear several times although it was the 1991 remake starting Nick Nolte, Robert de Niro, and Jessica Lange. This film, however, is the original Cape Fear, made in black and white in 1962. The first, and most striking, feature that stands out to me in this version is the strong cast of Gregory Peck as the male lead and Robert Michum as his adversary; two very different characters but both of equal screen presence. Secondly, I was intrigued as to how some of the more darker, taboo elements of the remake would work. After all, 1962 moviegoers were probably not prepared for, or used to, characters driven to commit all manner of violence against innocent, upstanding citizens, women, or children. But it worked. And I prefer this film in its entirety - from the scenery to the slow pace, and the cinematography to the lack of gratuitous violence. This film is daring and ahead of its time, (along with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho) and I would have liked to have seen it before the remake because I would probably be more critical of the remake, and rightly so, as this film deserves the fame that, unfortunately the gritty 1991 Scorsese version received. The director, J. Lee Thompson, apparently took influence from Alfred Hitchcock's work, and even hired two long-term Hitchcock collaborators: editor George Tomasini, and composer, Bernard Hermann. I think this influence is apparent in the finished movie: the heavy use of shadows, unnerving score, and preoccupation on narrative over character. A brief synopsis: Cape Fear (1962) begins outside a courthouse in Georgia, where injury lawyer, Sam Bowden, is confronted by recently released criminal, Max Cady. Cady blames Bowden for his imprisonment eight years earlier when Bowden testified against Cady after witnessing him publicly assault a woman. Cady is eager for revenge, and soon begins a campaign of terror and brutality against Bowden and his family.

A frightening antagonist featuring a great Robert Mitchum, along with a crisp script makes this original a tense, riveting film you won't soon forget. Superior to the 1991 over-the-top remake.

I came into this film with the expectations that it would be a good film that would be slightly more limited in themes then its 1991 remake. That Scorsese had likely taken what was a good idea and expanded on it. What I found was a film that was much deeper than I expected. The two are fundamentally different in a couple of ways, Scorsese does choose to add in new themes/elements to the film but I do not know if that makes it per-say better. This film by focusing on a smaller amount of elements is able to focus in on its ideas, and spend more time on its subject matter. On top of that it focuses in on what are fundamentally in my mind the most interest themes of the film. In some ways one could say that Scorsese adds unnecessary fluff. Yet, that is not to say this film does not have its deficiencies. Sometimes it can be a bit too direct instead of letting the thoughts and ideas leak out through the telling of the story. In the end though this is a classic thriller, one of my favorites of its generation, and I recommend it to any thriller lover.

Mitchum play big scary rough smart creep.

Mitchum is brilliant playing a similar role to the sinister faux-preacher of Night of the Hunter, but there's nothing else here that quite matches up to his performance. In some ways it seems to approve of vigilanteism, but some of Peck's dialogue seems to pull back from this.

After seeing Mitchum listed in this cast, and enjoying his performance in The Night of the Hunter recently, I was finally amply motivated to watch this. Aside from a solid score, which creates and drives the tension and emotion for much of the film, this was all about Mitchum's performance for me. He really nails the sociopathic creepiness I can't remember seeing portrayed so well again until Hopkins takes up the Dr. Lecter role.

Quite good in almost all respects. Soundtrack is one of the all-time best, which is probably why it was reused for the remake. My biggest complaint is that Robert Mitchum is a difficult sale as the heavy. He has some moments, but overall he just doesn't have the demeanor of someone as evil as he is painted.

I really like Robert Mitchum. He always seems to be picking very interesting roles. And I don't know what it is about him, but his roles as evil malicious characters are always very believable. He played one in Night of the Hunter and now again in this movie. Then cut to Gregory Peck. Handsome guy, clean cut. Wow, Mitchum's character is a piece of shit, human scum. They should have named this movie, ‘Evil Comes to Town'. The way Max is trying to get under Sam's skin by stalking him and his family. This movie highlights how there's gray spots in our countries law. So odd how the girl looks like she's both 13 and 35 at the same time lol. But his wife is looking real nice. The way he kept toying and tormenting Sam was his way at getting back at him for putting him away for 8 years. He wasn't no dumb ex convict, he was smart, calculated, clever and worst of all patient. Also the way he stalks his prey just like an animal. He looks like a roasted pig with his shirt off and all that sweat glistening off him. But man he's built like a rhino and moves like a crocodile. Great suspense thriller. There were actually some pretty tense and scary moments that the lighting and atmosphere definitely heightened. It was actually pretty terrifying especially towards the last couple of minutes. Very striking and stark story that reminds us that humans can turn into relentless ruthless animals given the right circumstances and nightmarish experiences. I'd only watch this movie again to take notes from the way lighting and atmosphere was used.

To think that in the same year, Peck played two lawyers so far apart as Atticus Finch, steadfast in his faith that the legal system works to a (color) blind fault, and Sam Bowden, who doesn't even trust the law as far as he can throw (or bend) it.

I’ve always enjoyed movies that manage to create the kind of fear and tension that you’d expect from a horror film, but without needing the gore or supernatural nonsense that horror films embrace. I suppose that’s just a long-hand way of saying I really like thrillers. Cape Fear fits right into that genre and had me on the edge of my seat for the full runtime. It’s a film that seems to be all about the power of intimidation. Robert Mitchum is such a powerful presence in this film, and many times he manages it without needing to do anything that is blatantly threatening. Yet, from the first conversation he has with Gregory Peck, we are confident that danger could lurk around every corner. He controls that family before he even lays a finger on one of them. It’s impressive because Peck isn’t the type of guy you’d picture being easily intimidated, as his demeanor is so measured and controlled, but I could always sense his underlying fear of what Mitchum might do. I love how Cape Fear slowly escalates the tension. There is a time early in the film when it seems that Peck might have made false assumptions, and that there’s not much to worry about. But by the end we have gunshots, people dying, and every character’s life is at risk. The biggest problem I had with this film was how things were set up at the end. For one thing, it felt like the plan relied much too heavily on assumptions and coincidence. Out of nowhere, our protagonist suddenly knows exactly what his nemesis will do and how to trick him into falling into their trap. Then there’s just the stupidity involved in the plan because of how far the helpers position themselves from the bait. There’s no reason for this kind of risk, even if that is what makes the final sequence work dramatically. I still think Cape Fear is an excellent film. While I might have nitpicks about the way the finale was constructed, I was barely breathing through the whole thing, because I was so invested in the story.

Powerful action film that has aged beautifully.

There are very few plot holes in the original Cape Fear, except for the Diane Taylor and Max Candy scene. The remake's two main leads are better than the original because Robert De Niro is far scarier than Robert Mitchum and Nick Nolte is far more stressed out than Gregory Peck. I wish I saw the original before the remake. Overall, the original is one of the greatest horror films of the 1960's.

Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's (Peck) life becomes torturous when Max Cady (Mitchum) re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family. Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to stalk the Bowdens. The making of Cape Fear was put into motion by Gregory Peck, who also acted as producer through his motion picture company, Melville Productions. Cape Fear's origin was pulp ; the touchstone of film noir screenplays. Peck assigned himself the role of Sam Bowden and handed Cady's reigns over to drinking partner Robert Mitchum. Peck looked no further than his last director, J. Lee Thompson who had earned himself an Academy Award nomination with The Guns of Navarone. Cape Fear would be Thompson's sole expedition into noir territory, but he was enthusiastic about conveying the film's sense of threat and carnal undertones. Mitchum plays the villain with the cheekiest, wickedest arrogance and the most relentless aura of sadism that he has ever managed to generate. Mr. Peck is taut and tenacious, Polly Bergen is jittery as his wife and Lori Martin does some admirable racing through a couple of real displays of screaming terror as the child. Director of Photography Samuel Leavitt elevates Cape Fear from thriller to noir with his careful attention to shadows and light. Draw a line in the sand, because the debate for Mitchum's best villainous role is about to begin. Mitchum's accolades for his work in Charles Laughton's delirious The Night of the Hunter are deserved, but his character is not as authentically depraved as Max Cady. In 'Cape Fear' Mitchum is just plain terrifying , he plays it straight, as a brutally ice-cold psycho, and his scenes in the swamp linger in the memory. Cape Fear is ageless; still unapologetic, still chilling, still raising relevant questions. Watch this one at night with the lights turned low and raise the volume for Bernard Herrmann's disconcerting hymn to depravity. 9/10