Dark Pictures Project

Cape Fear, a film about a violent sexual predator, was made at a night when you could not say rape onscreen. The action is clearly implied, but the question is avoided almost to the point of absurdity. The main failures of the film revolve around this issue of censorship that creates a relic of a time rather than a truly involving thriller. Even the attack of the outsider sexual presence is only half effective because there is no sense of reciprocation or curiosity in the family being attacked. Compared to a similar narrative structure like in Shadow of a Doubt, or even the Desperate Hours, because the victims sympathies, or outright love the culprit drama and meaning is heightened. Without having seen Scorsese’s remake, I understand he tried to create this more effective balance in establishing the relationship between attacker and victim.

While these definitely drag the film down, I don’t think it’s entirely ineffective as a thriller, or noir. I would still call it a good film, just a squandered opportunity to break barriers. There are interesting concepts at work, but were better explored in the 1940s by Hitchcock (notably in Shadow of a Doubt), or even in the films of Frank Capra, where the threat of big government and urbanity threatened small town communities and families.

Without Robert Mitchum and a competent director the film would have been utterly useless. Mitchum, as I’ve suggested in the past, has an incredible sexual energy that is often exploited onscreen. He does not have to do much to feel threatening and simultaneously alluring. This works wonderfully here, as he’s a sufficient enough presence and threat that it sustains the mystery and the tension of the rest of the film. The director exploits this in many ways, and most of the more frightening scenes exclude him entirely. Rather they suggest his presence, and really his existence alone is enough to send Peck’s family into a frenzy. The best example of this is Peck’s daughter wandering around after school when she believes she’s being followed. It’s an incredibly effective scene, using sound and careful editing to suggest a threat that actually doesn’t exist at all.

The best scenes have that kind of energy, or else Mitchum is actually present. As I said, I don’t think it’s a bad film, but it’s a far cry from a great one. Watching Bergman’s The Virgin Spring that was made just two years before, the cultural and social gap in terms of social and artistic understanding is phenomenal. Considering the delicate balance of the film industry of the time, this film could have pushed for more and yet it didn’t. Unfortunate.