Year: 1962
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Country: US
Language English
Cape Feare (1993) was the second episode of the fifth season of The Simpsons. In this episode Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammar) stalks down his arch nemesis Bart Simpson, only to end in the maniacal Gilbert & Sullivan lover singing the entire score of H.M.S Pinafore. It was a brilliantly written episode that exposed me to a Robert Mitchum classic (albeit the jokes were more suited to the Scorsese remake).
Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's (Gregory Peck) life becomes torturous when Max Cady (Robert 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.
The making of Cape Fear was put into motion by Gregory Peck, who also acted as producer through his motion picture company, Melville Productions. Based of author John D. MacDonald's short bit of pulp, Director J. Lee Thompson was excited about conveying the film’s sense of threat and carnal undertones. Director of Photography Samuel Leavitt elevated Cape Fear from thriller to noir with his careful attention to shadows and light.
A lightweight Director might have shot a mere horror film with this material, but the film goes beyond B-grade horror by doing an effective job of exploring the uneasy introspection of the its hero. Peck's character is a man who always does right by the law, but to defeat this evil in Cady he may have to compromise his morals. The law may not be able to help him this time.
Cape Fear raises some rather interesting questions about the nature of the justice system and its ability to reform criminals, or even to keep criminals from committing further crime. My only complaint is that the picture feels about 30 minutes too long, but then again its length does help in creating the slimy character of Max Cady.
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