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Cape Fear (1991 film)
Encyclopedia
Cape Fear is a 1991 thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese
and a remake of the 1962 film of the same name
. It stars Robert De Niro
, Nick Nolte
, Jessica Lange
and Juliette Lewis
and features cameos from Gregory Peck
, Robert Mitchum
and Martin Balsam
, who all appeared in the 1962 original film. The film tells the story of a convicted rapist who seeks vengeance against a former public defender
whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment due to purposefully faulty defense tactics used during his trial.
The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Lewis).
) is a former Atlanta public defender
who is now in private practice
in the quiet town of New Essex, North Carolina. Max Cady
(Robert De Niro
) is a former client whom Bowden had defended 14 years previously in Atlanta. Cady, who was being tried for the rape and battery of a young woman, was illiterate at the time and unable to read a report Bowden had kept hidden from the court, which revealed that the victim was promiscuous. The report might have lightened Cady's sentence or even acquitted him had Bowden brought it to light. Bowden had kept it hidden, contrary to his duty as Cady's defense attorney, because he was appalled by the sheer violence in Cady's crime and wanted him to serve a severe sentence.
After his release from prison, Cady tracks down Bowden. The former convict learned to read in prison and even assumed his own defense, unsuccessfully appealing his conviction several times. Cady hints strongly that he has learned about Bowden burying the report, noting that the judge and prosecutor in his case were trying to do right by their jobs but Cady felt betrayed by his own lawyer. Several incidents involving Cady begin to impact the Bowden family, which consists of Sam's wife Leigh (Jessica Lange
) and their teenage daughter Danielle (Juliette Lewis
). The family dog, Ben, is mysteriously poisoned. Cady is seen at night perched on the wall just outside the Bowden property limits. Sam attempts to have Cady arrested, but local police lieutenant Elgart (Robert Mitchum
) reminds Bowden that there is no evidence Cady has committed any crime.
At a bar, Cady meets Lori Davis (Illeana Douglas
), a female colleague of Bowden with whom Sam may or may not be having a love affair. Later at her house, Cady cuffs her hands behind her back, breaks her arm, bites a chunk of flesh from her cheek and brutally rapes her. Lori refuses to press charges against Cady, fearful that she will be publicly questioned about her sexual history. Cady next approaches Danielle at her school by pretending to be her new drama teacher and goes as far as kissing her.
Bowden, finally having had enough, hires private investigator
Claude Kersek (Joe Don Baker
) to follow Cady. Bowden also approaches Cady in a restaurant and gives him a firm warning to leave him and his family alone or suffer the consequences. Cady refuses to give in, and he secretly tapes the conversation with a recorder hidden under the table. Kersek eventually persuades Bowden to hire three men to beat Cady in an effort to intimidate him but, as Bowden watches from a hiding place, Cady quickly turns the tide on his attackers and viciously beats them. Cady hears Bowden from behind his hiding spot and steadily approaches him, intimidating him with psychotic ramblings and Biblical passages, but decides to leave. Cady uses the recording of Bowden's threat and an exaggerated display of his own injuries to file for a restraining order against Bowden. Cady's new lawyer, Lee Heller (Gregory Peck
), also files a complaint with the North Carolina State Bar, vowing to have Bowden disbarred from practicing law.
Kersek reasons that Cady may try to enter the Bowden house during Sam's appearance at a bar hearing out of town. They fake Bowden's departure and hide in the house, hoping that Cady will break in so that he can be shot and killed with impunity. As they wait, Cady, disguised as the maid, attacks and kills Kersek in the kitchen. Sam, Leigh, and Dani discover his body, as well as that of the Bowdens' house-keeper. Horrified, they flee in their car to their house-boat, which is docked upstate along Cape Fear.
Cady follows them by tying himself to the chassis of the Bowdens' car. That night, he attacks the family on the boat, beating and tying up Sam, and prepares to rape both Leigh and Dani while Sam watches. When Leigh offers herself in Dani's place, Dani sprays Cady with lighter fluid while he lights a cigar, engulfing him in flames and causing him to jump off the boat in order to extinguish the fire. However, Cady clings to a rope tied to the boat and pulls himself back on board.
As the boat is rocked by a violent storm, Cady ferociously confronts Bowden with a mock trial. Bowden finally admits to having buried the potentially exculpatory report but counters that the woman's promiscuity was no justification to defend a rape. An enraged Cady prepares to kill Bowden, but the storm and the river's harsh current knocks Cady off his feet, allowing Bowden to gain the upper hand once the women make it to shore. The two men fight furiously, until Bowden finally manages to use Cady's handcuffs to shackle Cady to the boat. When the boat hits a rock and is destroyed, the fight continues on shore. Bowden almost crushes Cady's head with a large stone, however a raging tide carries Cady away, madly screaming in tongues. Bowden watches as the piece of boat sinks to the bottom of the river, taking the still-shackled Cady with it, and then performs a cathartic washing of his blood from his hands before rejoining his wife and daughter further up the river-bank.
from the original screenplay
by James R. Webb
, which was an adaptation from the novel The Executioners
by John D. MacDonald
.
It was nominated for Academy Awards
for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(Robert De Niro, lost to Anthony Hopkins
for The Silence of the Lambs) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(Juliette Lewis, lost to Mercedes Ruehl
for The Fisher King
).
The film was a box-office success — making $182,291,969 worldwide on a $35 million budget - and received critical acclaim, earning a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes
.
The film expands on the original's themes in some depth, changing relationships (the drifter Cady assaults is now a legal clerk who is close to Bowden) and adding more complex background details. Nolte's Sam Bowden is morally flawed and, therefore, his resorting to violence is less surprising than in the original. Cady is presented as having a justified motive to pursue Bowden, because of Bowden's deliberate negligence of care during his original trial. In the original film, Cady essentially breaks apart a good, normal family. The Bowdens are portrayed as a family that is already greatly troubled, and Cady simply manipulates their issues to his advantage, most notably in the case of the daughter, Danielle.
In this film, Nick Nolte was clearly taller than Robert De Niro, but Nolte lost weight and De Niro developed muscles until De Niro was clearly the stronger man. De Niro reportedly took his body fat down to a mere four percent.
Although a remake of the original Cape Fear, Scorsese's update is also greatly influenced by another Mitchum film, The Night of the Hunter
, and the work of Alfred Hitchcock
(signaled by the opening credits by regular Hitchcock collaborator Saul Bass
and its score by another, Bernard Herrmann
).
This is also the first film Scorsese shot in the wider 2.39:1 aspect ratio, as opposed to the smaller 1.85:1 ratio in which he had filmed all his previous works (excluding New York, New York, which was shot in 1.66:1).
Gregory Peck
and Robert Mitchum
appear in supporting roles, Peck as Cady's lawyer, and Mitchum as the police detective who suggests to Bowden the possibility of using "alternative" means to stop Cady.
, with an average score of 7.1 out of 10. Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, commenting "Cape Fear is impressive moviemaking, showing Scorsese as a master of a traditional Hollywood genre who is able to mold it to his own themes and obsessions."
The film was parodied
in The Simpsons
episode, "Cape Feare
".
and the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Drama. Juliette Lewis received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear
at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival
.
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
and a remake of the 1962 film of the same name
Cape Fear (1962 film)
Cape Fear is a 1962 film starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen. It was adapted by James R. Webb from the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson, and released on April 12, 1962...
. It stars Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
and Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
and features cameos from Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
and Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
, who all appeared in the 1962 original film. The film tells the story of a convicted rapist who seeks vengeance against a former public defender
Public defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment due to purposefully faulty defense tactics used during his trial.
The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Lewis).
Plot
Sam Bowden (Nick NolteNick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
) is a former Atlanta public defender
Public defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
who is now in private practice
Practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister,...
in the quiet town of New Essex, North Carolina. Max Cady
Max Cady
Max Cady is a fictional character in the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners. The character was portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 film adaptation Cape Fear and by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the same name....
(Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
) is a former client whom Bowden had defended 14 years previously in Atlanta. Cady, who was being tried for the rape and battery of a young woman, was illiterate at the time and unable to read a report Bowden had kept hidden from the court, which revealed that the victim was promiscuous. The report might have lightened Cady's sentence or even acquitted him had Bowden brought it to light. Bowden had kept it hidden, contrary to his duty as Cady's defense attorney, because he was appalled by the sheer violence in Cady's crime and wanted him to serve a severe sentence.
After his release from prison, Cady tracks down Bowden. The former convict learned to read in prison and even assumed his own defense, unsuccessfully appealing his conviction several times. Cady hints strongly that he has learned about Bowden burying the report, noting that the judge and prosecutor in his case were trying to do right by their jobs but Cady felt betrayed by his own lawyer. Several incidents involving Cady begin to impact the Bowden family, which consists of Sam's wife Leigh (Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
) and their teenage daughter Danielle (Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
). The family dog, Ben, is mysteriously poisoned. Cady is seen at night perched on the wall just outside the Bowden property limits. Sam attempts to have Cady arrested, but local police lieutenant Elgart (Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
) reminds Bowden that there is no evidence Cady has committed any crime.
At a bar, Cady meets Lori Davis (Illeana Douglas
Illeana Douglas
Illeana Douglas is an American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer.-Background:Douglas is a granddaughter of the actor Melvyn Douglas and his first wife, artist Rosalind Hightower, and has said that her grandfather's performance in Being There, in particular, was influential on her own...
), a female colleague of Bowden with whom Sam may or may not be having a love affair. Later at her house, Cady cuffs her hands behind her back, breaks her arm, bites a chunk of flesh from her cheek and brutally rapes her. Lori refuses to press charges against Cady, fearful that she will be publicly questioned about her sexual history. Cady next approaches Danielle at her school by pretending to be her new drama teacher and goes as far as kissing her.
Bowden, finally having had enough, hires private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
Claude Kersek (Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...
) to follow Cady. Bowden also approaches Cady in a restaurant and gives him a firm warning to leave him and his family alone or suffer the consequences. Cady refuses to give in, and he secretly tapes the conversation with a recorder hidden under the table. Kersek eventually persuades Bowden to hire three men to beat Cady in an effort to intimidate him but, as Bowden watches from a hiding place, Cady quickly turns the tide on his attackers and viciously beats them. Cady hears Bowden from behind his hiding spot and steadily approaches him, intimidating him with psychotic ramblings and Biblical passages, but decides to leave. Cady uses the recording of Bowden's threat and an exaggerated display of his own injuries to file for a restraining order against Bowden. Cady's new lawyer, Lee Heller (Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
), also files a complaint with the North Carolina State Bar, vowing to have Bowden disbarred from practicing law.
Kersek reasons that Cady may try to enter the Bowden house during Sam's appearance at a bar hearing out of town. They fake Bowden's departure and hide in the house, hoping that Cady will break in so that he can be shot and killed with impunity. As they wait, Cady, disguised as the maid, attacks and kills Kersek in the kitchen. Sam, Leigh, and Dani discover his body, as well as that of the Bowdens' house-keeper. Horrified, they flee in their car to their house-boat, which is docked upstate along Cape Fear.
Cady follows them by tying himself to the chassis of the Bowdens' car. That night, he attacks the family on the boat, beating and tying up Sam, and prepares to rape both Leigh and Dani while Sam watches. When Leigh offers herself in Dani's place, Dani sprays Cady with lighter fluid while he lights a cigar, engulfing him in flames and causing him to jump off the boat in order to extinguish the fire. However, Cady clings to a rope tied to the boat and pulls himself back on board.
As the boat is rocked by a violent storm, Cady ferociously confronts Bowden with a mock trial. Bowden finally admits to having buried the potentially exculpatory report but counters that the woman's promiscuity was no justification to defend a rape. An enraged Cady prepares to kill Bowden, but the storm and the river's harsh current knocks Cady off his feet, allowing Bowden to gain the upper hand once the women make it to shore. The two men fight furiously, until Bowden finally manages to use Cady's handcuffs to shackle Cady to the boat. When the boat hits a rock and is destroyed, the fight continues on shore. Bowden almost crushes Cady's head with a large stone, however a raging tide carries Cady away, madly screaming in tongues. Bowden watches as the piece of boat sinks to the bottom of the river, taking the still-shackled Cady with it, and then performs a cathartic washing of his blood from his hands before rejoining his wife and daughter further up the river-bank.
Cast
- Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
as Max CadyMax CadyMax Cady is a fictional character in the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners. The character was portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 film adaptation Cape Fear and by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the same name.... - Nick NolteNick NolteNicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
as Sam Bowden - Jessica LangeJessica LangeJessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
as Leigh Bowden - Juliette LewisJuliette LewisJuliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
as Danielle Bowden - Joe Don BakerJoe Don BakerJoe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...
as Claude Kersek - Robert MitchumRobert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
as Lt. Elgart - Gregory PeckGregory PeckEldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
as Lee Heller - Martin BalsamMartin BalsamMartin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
as Judge - Illeana DouglasIlleana DouglasIlleana Douglas is an American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer.-Background:Douglas is a granddaughter of the actor Melvyn Douglas and his first wife, artist Rosalind Hightower, and has said that her grandfather's performance in Being There, in particular, was influential on her own...
as Lori Davis - Fred Dalton ThompsonFred Dalton ThompsonFred Dalton Thompson , is an American politician, actor, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, and radio host. He served as a Republican U.S...
as Tom Broadbent - Zully MonteroZully MonteroClara Zully Montero is a Cuban actress who has worked in television, film, and theatre. She is known for her acting skills and her beauty.-Biography:...
as Graciella - Charles ScorseseCharles ScorseseLuciano Charles Scorsese was an American film actor.Scorsese was born in New York City, the son of Teresa and Francesco Scorsese, Italian/Sicilian immigrants from Polizzi Generosa, a small town near Palermo. He married film actress Catherine Scorsese in 1933. He was the father of Academy Award...
as Fruitstand Customer
Background
The film was adapted by Wesley StrickWesley Strick
Wesley Strick is an American screenwriter who has written such films as the comic-horror hit Arachnophobia, the Martin Scorsese remake of Cape Fear and the videogame adaptation Doom.-Life and career:...
from the original screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by James R. Webb
James R. Webb (writer)
James R. Webb was an American writer. He won an Academy Award in 1963 for How the West Was Won.Webb was born in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from Stanford University in 1930...
, which was an adaptation from the novel The Executioners
The Executioners
The Executioners is a classic thriller novel written by John D. MacDonald, published in 1957. It was filmed twice under the title Cape Fear, once in 1962 and again in 1991....
by John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald
John Dann MacDonald was an American crime and suspense novelist and short story writer.MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida...
.
It was nominated for Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Robert De Niro, lost to Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
for The Silence of the Lambs) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Juliette Lewis, lost to Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes J. Ruehl is an American theater, television and film actor.-Personal life:Ruehl was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, the daughter of Mercedes J., a school teacher, and Vincent Ruehl, an FBI agent. She was raised Catholic. Her father was of German and Irish descent and her...
for The Fisher King
The Fisher King (film)
The Fisher King is a 1991 American comedy-drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer and Michael Jeter...
).
The film was a box-office success — making $182,291,969 worldwide on a $35 million budget - and received critical acclaim, earning a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
The film expands on the original's themes in some depth, changing relationships (the drifter Cady assaults is now a legal clerk who is close to Bowden) and adding more complex background details. Nolte's Sam Bowden is morally flawed and, therefore, his resorting to violence is less surprising than in the original. Cady is presented as having a justified motive to pursue Bowden, because of Bowden's deliberate negligence of care during his original trial. In the original film, Cady essentially breaks apart a good, normal family. The Bowdens are portrayed as a family that is already greatly troubled, and Cady simply manipulates their issues to his advantage, most notably in the case of the daughter, Danielle.
In this film, Nick Nolte was clearly taller than Robert De Niro, but Nolte lost weight and De Niro developed muscles until De Niro was clearly the stronger man. De Niro reportedly took his body fat down to a mere four percent.
Although a remake of the original Cape Fear, Scorsese's update is also greatly influenced by another Mitchum film, The Night of the Hunter
The Night of the Hunter (film)
The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 American thriller film directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters. The film is based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Laughton...
, and the work of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
(signaled by the opening credits by regular Hitchcock collaborator Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
and its score by another, Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
).
This is also the first film Scorsese shot in the wider 2.39:1 aspect ratio, as opposed to the smaller 1.85:1 ratio in which he had filmed all his previous works (excluding New York, New York, which was shot in 1.66:1).
Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
and Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
appear in supporting roles, Peck as Cady's lawyer, and Mitchum as the police detective who suggests to Bowden the possibility of using "alternative" means to stop Cady.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews by critics. It currently has a 76% "fresh" rating on the film aggregator website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with an average score of 7.1 out of 10. Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, commenting "Cape Fear is impressive moviemaking, showing Scorsese as a master of a traditional Hollywood genre who is able to mold it to his own themes and obsessions."
The film was parodied
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode, "Cape Feare
Cape Feare
"Cape Feare" is the second episode of the fifth season of American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 7, 1993, and has since been featured on DVD and VHS releases...
".
Awards nominations
Robert DeNiro was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best ActorAcademy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Drama. Juliette Lewis received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival
42nd Berlin International Film Festival
The 42nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 13 to 24, 1992.-Jury:* Annie Girardot * Charles Champlin* Sylvia Chang* Ildikó Enyedi* Irving N...
.
Further reading
- Machura, Stefan and Robson, Peter, eds. Law and Film: Representing Law in Movies (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishing, 2001). Thain, Gerald J., "Cape Fear, Two Versions and Two Visions Separated by Thirty Years." ISBN 0631228160, ISBN 9780631228165 176 pages.