Cape Fear (1962 film)

Cape Fear
Film poster
Directed byJ. Lee Thompson
Screenplay byJames R. Webb
Based onThe Executioners
1957 novel
by John D. MacDonald
Produced bySy Bartlett
StarringGregory Peck
Robert Mitchum
Polly Bergen
Lori Martin
Martin Balsam
Jack Kruschen
Telly Savalas
Barrie Chase
CinematographySam Leavitt
Edited byGeorge Tomasini
Music byBernard Herrmann
Production
companies
Melville Productions
Talbot Productions
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • June 15, 1962 (1962-06-15)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.8 million (US/Canada)[1]

Cape Fear is a 1962 American psychological thriller film noir directed by J. Lee Thompson, from a screenplay by James R. Webb, adapting the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. It stars Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden, an attorney and family man who is stalked by a violent psychopath and ex-con named Max Cady (played by Robert Mitchum), who is bent on revenge for Bowden's role in his conviction. The film co-stars Polly Bergen and features Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, and Telly Savalas in supporting roles.

Produced by Peck's company Melville Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film includes several key cast and crew who had previously worked with director Alfred Hitchcock, including editor George Tomasini and composer Bernard Herrmann. J. Lee Thompson's direction was also strongly influenced by Hitchcock.

The film was released on June 15, 1962. It received positive reviews from critics, who highlighted Peck and Mitchum's performances. A remake of the same name was released in 1991, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro in the lead roles. Peck, Mitchum, and Balsam all appeared as different characters in the remake.[2]

  1. ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1962". Variety. January 9, 1963. p. 13. Please note these are rentals and not gross figures
  2. ^ Kirsten Thompson, Cape Fear and Trembling: Familial Dread; In Literature and Film: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Film Adaptation, Edited by Robert Stam, Alessandra Raengo, Blackwell Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0631230556 (pp.126-147)

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