Cape Fear (1962)

[Scott]

CAPE FEAR (1962) - Another great one tonight on TCM. Robert Mitchum plays another sicko like in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) and he is well cast along with Gregory Peck in this suspense thriller. Super directing on par with PSYCHO (1960) two years earlier. The music helps greatly as Bernard Herrmann created the music for both CAPE FEAR and PSYCHO.

[dean]

Whilst I like the remake better, this version is still pretty damn good, and with Night of the Hunter lurking in the back of my mind whilst watching this [that little story about Love and Hate] it's even better for it's casting.

And yes, Bernard Herrmann is always great with his scores, and this is no exception.

[Scott]

CAPE FEAR is a good one for sure and it has Telly Savalas in it when he had hair. I couldn't help thinking about the earlier Telly Savalas post how nobody had seen his pre GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD films. Well, Telly Savalas has hair in this film. This makes 14 Telly Savalas films for me now. If I see the 2 Westerns that will put up to 16.

Martin Balsam who also stars in PSYCHO also has a big role as the Chief of Police IN CAPE FEAR.

Dean we have this channel here called TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Do you get it in Australia? I watched 3 films last night they all had their famous remakes. The showed the originals last night.

Scarface (1932)
Cape Fear (1962)
Oceans Eleven (1960)

Just think one day they will be showing GIGLI on TCM...............

[dean]

Scott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Just think one day they will be showing GIGLI on
> TCM...............


And thus the world quaked in terror as the words 'classic' were uttered in the same context as Gigli, prompting the four horsemen of the Apocalypse to ride the eternal night's sky, creating panic and fear across the world as they slowly erased all language except for that one fateful 'G' word.

Oh and we do have TCM on cable, but since I don't have it, I don't watch it.  But that's ok, everynow and then the normal TV stations pop on a classic movie here and there, depending on the time of night and channel [Citizen Kane and Donnie Darko are two that were on this week for example]

[Scott]

It is a film of biblical proportions and just think Dean you only saw the trailer thus far. Oh my, I'm so excited for you.

Hurry now and place "it" in your nearest playing device.

[dean]

I was vaguely flipping through scenes as I was typing the last few posts, you really gotta love the 'snappy' dialogue.  I never knew bathroom products could make for such exciting bedtime stories.  Boy things have changed since I grew up.

But alas, I have to save it for another day, it is now 1:20am here and I think that my mind needs strength to withstand this flick, and as such sleep will do me good.  If I get the time I'll watch Gigli, followed by the Machinist tomorrow, hopefully the latter will be enough of a good film for me to recover properly.  

If you don't hear from me again, you'll know what happened...and no, you're not going to get my stereo should I 'pass from this world.'  After all, you're the nutter who inspired me to rent it, and now that I've paid money to watch it, I'm morally obliged to watch it.  Bastard...
 

[odinn7]

DON'T DO IT MAN!!!!

[Scott]

Only GIGLI could bring out such raw emotion. People are really so split on this film, they eithier put it in their top 10 list or for some reason they can't hardly bare the light of inspiration behind it, but then again that's GIGLI...............

Hush Odinn7. You interloper you. Your nothing but trouble. Depriving Dean of a fine fine movie experience. Sure he'll be forever different, but then again that's GIGLI..........Surely it's changed the lives of many movie goers. Stay clear and let our friend Dean be the judge. I'm not entirely sure how this will play in Australia. I admit it may have a reverse effect on him. Being from the other side of the world and all. He may react badly due to geography, but this shouldn't sway others away from viewing GIGLI.

Let the movie speak for itself.

[trekgeezer]

Meanwhile back to talking about Cape Fear. I saw Polly Bergen on TCM and she was talking about how intense Mitchum would get during a scene. She said she was actually afraid of him, but they became friends on that movie and remained so until he died.

Kinda funny about Robert Mitchum, I watched his bio once and they said he remained an actor because it paid good. He never  really enjoyed  it.

I remember the first time I ever saw Night of the Hunter. I was about 12 and spending the night with a friend. We liked to watch the late show and do the MST3K thing to the old movies (this was long before that show came about). We went around for days singing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms in that creepy tone. I never viewed the hymn the same way after that.  

[ThadC]

I still can't figure out if I like the remake better... Both are great movies, and both have a great cast. I guess with a story like this it is hard to mess it up.

[Scott]

Both are definately good. Enjoyed both the original and the remake.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I'm a bit more fond of the original than I am of the remake.  Cape Fear is a film where you can use the word "classic" without any confusion.  The story, acting, and the film overall still holds up nicely today.

I think the biggest reason why I like the original better is Robert Mitchum.  I love De Niro, but Mitchum is and always will be Max Cady for me.  

[Just Plain Horse]

I tend to agree... Deniro's had his moments, but I've never seen a performance by Mitchum I didn't enjoy. I always loved the "mean-ness" (most people would say "intensity") he brought to his roles in films like Night of the Hunter. People like him could project menace without using violence to emphasize their point... which I always felt made him a better actor than Deniro. Not that I didn't think what was shown in either version was excessive... I felt both versions did a good job showing what "Max" was capable of and why he was more than willing to go there.

Ironically, the most overlooked performance in the remake was- I felt- Nick Nolte's: he really does a good job conveying a man with regret who still has to try to dig himself out of a hole he himself helped make. Illeana Douglas also deserves a mention for her role... I frankly wished there had been more of her in the film, but it wouldn't have helped to forward the plot much. This is a movie in which no character can find "an easy way out". I tend to hate remakes, but Cape Fear is a rare exception.