MovieChat Forums > Cape Fear (1962) Discussion > a hitchcock feel to it

a hitchcock feel to it

posted 20 years ago by moviechic19
12 replies | jump to latest

firstly, I have to agree with the other poster about the score to this film. you're right, it definitely has that 'psycho' quality to it, and I cant help thinking that this film would have been perfect for Hitchcock. Anyway, why are there no other messages posted for this film?! In my opinion, its way better than the remake, although De Niro put in a breath taking performance as usual. This original though has style and subtlety which the remake lacks, and doesnt have to resort to swearing or graphic violence to scare its audience. Mitchum is disturbingly sexy as the menacing Cady, while Peck is the loving father, husband and all-round good guy. I've only seen this film twice, but it is such a classic that you never tire from it. A must see film!
Does anyone know if Mitchum collected an Acadamy Award or something for his role?

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jetman516 20 years ago

A cartoonish remake ? Maybe I wasn't paying attention but the 1991 film establishes WHY these two men are at odds w/ each other. And the back story is very compelling. I found the original to be excellent, but bland w/o that back story. Moreover, Nick Nolte's infidelity makes him that much more vulnerable than Peck's Bowden, adding to the overall tension.

[–] wolfefan 19 years ago

WHY is established in the original!. Prosecutor sends man up (reason irrelevant as guilty rarely think they're guilty of anything), family leaves him, 8 years down the drain in prison, whose at fault?, Prosecutor, get revenge, Directly?, NO in a more personally painful way - go after his family. No offense, but I've seen people talking about "back stories" in other posts. If you're looking too much for a "back story", then maybe you'd rather be watching another movie. Background is just that. Background. Sometimes it's fully explained. Sometimes only partially (that's where the dreaded imagination comes into play - might have to think a bit).

[–] davejc1886 15 years ago

The backstory is somewhat essential in this movie because the lingering question in every viewer's mind is: What makes one man pursue another so relentlessly over something that happened 8, 14 years ago? A minor point: in this version Peck was not the original prosecutor, he was a witness who testified. The back story in the remake may have been fleshed out a little more(Nolte was the defense lawyer and unethically buried crucial evidence). In the original it is never implicitly stated that Peck offered false incriminating testimony, though it would have worked better if it had. The original is over all the better film, especially when one notes the extreme lengths an accomplish actor such as DeNiro had to go just to try and hold a candle to Mitchum's performance in the original.

[–] rossrjensen 20 years ago

Most Hitchcock films used George Tomasini as the editor and so does this film, which is probably why they have the same feel.

[–] ecarle 19 years ago

Indeed. George Tomasini on editing, Hitchcock's composer Bernard Herrmann with a score that sounds like "Psycho" a fair amount of the time (the overture is scary in its own special way.)

Also art direction by Robert Boyle, who did many Hitchcock films, and Alexander Golitizen, who did one.

And: Martin Balsam, the detective Arbogast in "Psycho," along here to play a Southern cop who looks a lot like Arbogast (this movie is only two years after "Psycho.")

"Cape Fear" was made by Universal around the time Hitchcock moved there having made "Psycho" on the Universal lot for Paramount, so some sets and locales may have been similar.

Finally, Hitchcock was offered "Cape Fear" to direct in 1962, and turned it down.

[–] Rupert_Pupkin1 18 years ago

I cant help thinking that this film would have been perfect for Hitchcock

I'm not sure. It lacks many themes that Hitchcock would have incorporated into the script, such as Catholic guilt, redemption and "The Wrong Man" theme that is missing here. Revenge is not a Hitchcock theme. Thompson's directorial style is also less methodical, which in this case works better than Hitchcock's storyboarding preparation, adding to the edgy menace.

Also: Many Hitchcock films were about psychopaths killing men and women suddenly and the subsequent threat or promise of more violence, while "Cape Fear" is about the threat posed by a potential murderer with a more simplistic motive. The mode of suspense and our feelings towards the contrasting men is much different in each film.

This original though has style and subtlety which the remake lacks, and doesnt have to resort to swearing or graphic violence to scare its audience

I think the remake is more stylish and graphic, though lacking the subtlety and brooding menace of the original. The original is tighter, tauter and more claustrophobic than Scorsese's version. I don't know what 'style' you are referring to.

Does anyone know if Mitchum collected an Acadamy Award or something for his role?

Ironically, Gregory Peck won that year for To Kill a Mockinbird. Cape Fear received no acting nominations.

[–] SeanJoyce 16 years ago

The film is very Hitchcockian.

Aside from all the similarities already mentioned, what reverberates with me most strongly is the resemblance Mitchum as Cady has with Robert Walker from Strangers on a Train. Not only are they almost physically identical, but they absolutely stole each film with their creepy, sinister, psychopathic stalkers. I would not doubt it if Mitchum studied Walker's performance for this film and Night of the Hunter.

And then there's Gregory Peck, the likeable everyman (what else is new) driven to desperation to protect himself and his family.

It lacked many of Hitchcock's universal themes, but it may be the most Hitchcockian non-Hitch film ever.

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

[–] Cello1949-2 15 years ago

Wonderful comments here about the "Hitchcock" feel to this movie. To begin with, this is a Bernard Herrmann score; he was Hitchcock's favorite and scored nearly all his movies. In the remake, Elmer Bernstein uses elements of the original score in order to maintain the flavor.

In the style of Hitchcock, there is the ordinary, day-to-day element which feels snuggly safe and secure, but is somehow invaded by the sinister and evil. Fear is generated in places one would least expect -- at home in Cape Fear. With Hitchcock, it's in a train: "Strangers on a Train," a favorite uncle in "Shadow of a Doubt," a motel in "Psycho," a charming husband in "Suspicion," birdies in "The Birds" -- well, you get it.

And also, I just read that the place where Mitchem's Cady takes his pick-up was the old Bates' house, a'la "Psycho."

But yes, there's a definate "Hitchcochian" feel here.

[–] joekeck7 15 years ago

It's so fascinating to me that the women all think Mitchum is so sexy. Tells something about the female!

[–] TheGunman 15 years ago

Hitchcock would have ruined this film. The man ruins every ending and all his macguffins are just cheap.

[–] joekeck7 15 years ago

(This is from another's post, but I think it fits here with moviechis19's "disturbingly sexy" comment)

I think you guys have a bit to learn about women. It is BEAUSE he was dangerous that she went with him! There's something in women that get them sizzling at guys like that. With guys, it's the trashy girl. With women, it's the dangerous guy. This was expressed by a woman I knew who said, "I want a man that I'm just a little bit afraid of." That pretty much tells it all. Even women who say they would never go for a guy like that and really mean it (or so they think). They may be gifted with enough wisdom to refrain from getting involved with such a man, but they are definitely intrigued.

Yes scaper67, you're right. He's smokin' hot, but it ain't 'cause he's pretty!

As far as Diane Taylor, I think the movie well implies he did some unspeakable things to her in the motel. THAT is why she was scared. It was a bit Pavlovian, I think.

And yes, it does have a Hitchcock feel to it.

joekeck.com