After watching "The Night of the Hunter" (1955; Charles Laughton) I thought that Robert Mitchum could never scare me that way again. How wrong I was! This afternoon I saw Cape Fear (1962; J. Lee Thompson) and I was like "oh, no, not again".
Even when his character from the only movie directed by Laughton was creepy as...I don't know, he was so creepy that I don't have a comparison, I mean he was trying to kill two innocent kiddies...the one from "Cape Fear", Max Cady, is almost as scary, because his evilness is spreading in an environment that feels real, without songs in the middle or a dark fantasy touch and he's just as unstoppable. He wants to take revenge of Gregory Peck, a counselor that testified against him and finally led him to be 8 years in prison.
Now free, Mitchum starts stalking Gregory. He let him know that he's going to hurt his wife and young daughter. He beats and abuses a random woman just to prove what he's capable of. At that point you're at the edge of your seat, biting your nails. Or covered with a blanket like me. What in the name of Cinema is he going to do next?
You start freaking out each time one of the women is left alone. And Mitchum, playing his character just like the animal some secondary characters call him, shows his shiny, tanned and worked torso in several scenes...a display of his strength and the wild menace he is. The police can do anything before something happens, Gregory is practically left alone trying to keep his family safe.
This movie is obviously a successful psychological thriller. The family starts to succumb little by little. The final part of the movie, oh my gosh, is so tense that I had to scream in several parts just to release some of the contained emotions. Mitchum had done it again.
Oh, this movie was the freakiest one in that Gregory Peck collection that I saw! It was my first experience with Robert Mitchum, so I was VERY scared to watch him in anything else. (But I've since seen The Sundowners, and he was quite roguish and charming it that role.)
ReplyDeleteI've heard that this film was such a box-office failure that it ruined Darling Greg's production company. 'Tis sad. :(
Robert Mitchum scares me in all the movies I've seen him in. Cape Fear, Night of the Hunter, and River of No Return. Well, not so much in River of No Return, except for one scene. He acted so crazy!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I love your new banner too! The photo of Carole and Clark really expresses your "A blog about life and old movies" tagline.
ReplyDeleteahhhh i really love that movie.... that's when i could see that Bob could be reallyyy scary and he's damn good at it too :O it very much intrigued me all through it.... and scared me too. i want to see it now.
ReplyDeleteEmm: yes, that fact about the box office failure it's really sad, but anyway, it gained appreciation later. About Robert, yeah, he can be a darling in other movies. One of my favorites is "Heaven knows Mr. Allison" with Deborah Kerr, even when in one scene he gets drunk and violent..Oh, and thank u very much, took my hours deciding for that banner picture :)
ReplyDeleteKalli: I haven't seen "River of no return", I'm gonna check it. Thanks for stopping by :)
Desiree: He's just great, he TOTALLY freaked me out ^^
ahhhh i really love that movie.... that's when i could see that Bob could be reallyyy scary and he's damn good at it too :O it very much intrigued me all through it.... and scared me too. i want to see it now.
ReplyDeleteOh, this movie was the freakiest one in that Gregory Peck collection that I saw! It was my first experience with Robert Mitchum, so I was VERY scared to watch him in anything else. (But I've since seen The Sundowners, and he was quite roguish and charming it that role.)
ReplyDeleteI've heard that this film was such a box-office failure that it ruined Darling Greg's production company. 'Tis sad. :(