Film Review: CAPE FEAR (1991, Martin Scorsese)

Stars: 4 of 5.

Running Time: 128 minutes.

Notable Cast or Crew:  Nick Nolte (EXTREME PREJUDICE, FAREWELL TO THE KING), Jessica Lange (THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE '81, TITUS), Robert De Niro (RAGING BULL, THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE), Joe Don Baker (THE OUTFIT, THE NATURAL, WALKING TALL), Juliette Lewis (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, STRANGE DAYS), Illeana Douglas (GOODFELLAS, GHOST WORLD), and Fred Dalton Thompson (real-life failed presidential candidate, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER).  Cameo appearances by Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, and Martin Balsam (PSYCHO, DEATH WISH 3).  New screenplay by Wesley Strick (ARACHNOPHOBIA, WOLF).  Cinematography by Freddie Francis (THE ELEPHANT MAN, DUNE).  Non-original music by Bernard Herrmann.  Herrmann score adapted by Elmer Bernstein (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, GHOSTBUSTERS). Credits sequence by Saul Bass.  Uncredited executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall. 

Tag-line: "There is nothing in the dark that isn't in the light.  Except fear.  Cape Fear."  (emphasis added)

Best one-liner:  "Counselor!"

Alright, folks.  CAPE FEAR '91 has kind of a bad reputation.  Now, Scorsese went all out:  I think he thought this was going to be his "Hitchcock" film.  He even updated the Bernard Herrmann soundtrack and had Saul Bass (!) do the credits sequence.

As it turns out, it ain't Hitchcock, but let me put it in perspective.  You know that clichéd high school yearbook quote, "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars?"  I think a slightly modified version of that can apply here.  I surmise:  "Shoot for Hitchcock('s moon-shaped belly), even if you miss, you'll land among the De Palmas."  And that's exactly what this feels like– a mid-range De Palma film!  And there are much worse things to be– because I happen to love mid-range De Palma (BODY DOUBLE, DRESSED TO KILL, RAISING CAIN, etc.) .

So without further adieu, and though I do prefer the original, here are seven quick reasons why CAPE FEAR '91 is a place worth visiting:

#1.  The inverse cameos.  CAPE FEAR '91 brings back three of the principals from CAPE FEAR '62, and in strange bizarro versions.
 
First, we have 'ol Rumple Eyes himself, Bob Mitchum, helping the Nick Nolte character protect himself from De Niro's version of the original Mitchum role.  Whew.


Then, we have Gregory Peck as an apparently evil version of Atticus Finch, defending De Niro from Nick Nolte's version of the original Peck role.  Damn!

Finally, we have Martin Balsam playing the judge who sides with De Niro, because he hates "vigilante justice."  Now, I know that's not true– given that I've seen him mow down legions of gang members with WWII-era machine gun in DEATH WISH 3.

#2.  Joe Don Baker drinking a combination of Pepto-Bismol and Jim Beam for the duration of the film.

If that doesn't warm your heart, then I personally forbid you from ever again watching a Joe Don Baker movie.

#3.  De Niro makin' creepy phone calls in gravity boots. 

Because... 1991.

#4.  The "clinging to the underbelly of a rapidly moving vehicle for several hours" plot twist, which feels EXACTLY like something that'd be in a De Palma film. 
  

#5.  Ditto on "murderous De Niro in drag."
 
It's really one of those strange performances where you can't quite tell if he's phoning it in or not.  There's often a fine line between "bad" acting and "genius" acting (see: the career of Steve Railsback, for example), and I kinda can't tell if this is a performance of nuanced intensity, or if it's a practical joke on the audience.  Either way, I love it.

#6.  Continuing in this vein:  in 1991, nearly one hundred years of motion picture history culminated in the subtle beauty of Robert De Niro singing a line of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now"

while offering a joint to orthodonitia-encrusted teenage Juliette Lewis:

Truly fantastic.

#7.  Nick Nolte crazy-face!

I've discussed this in-depth before, but there are few things more frighteningly exhilarating than seeing a crazy-faced Nick Nolte in his native habitat.

SWEET DREAMS, KIDDIES!


P.S.  It always struck me as bizarre that the theatrical poster's placement (see above) of the torn photo and De Niro's creepy gaze build a subliminal image of a keyhole, especially since I can't recall keyholes being relevant to the plot whatsoever.  Thoughts?

–Sean Gill

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Film Review: CAPE FEAR (1962, J. Lee Thompson)

Stars: 5 of 5.

Running Time: 105 minutes.

Notable Cast or Crew:  Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam (PSYCHO, DEATH WISH 3), Telly Savalas (KOJAK, VIOLENT CITY), Polly Bergen (THE WINDS OF WAR, CRY-BABY), Lori Martin (THE CHASE, NATIONAL VELVET the TV series), directed by J. Lee Thompson (THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN).  Screenplay by James R. Webb (HOW THE WEST WAS WON, THE BIG COUNTRY), and adapted from the novel by John D. MacDonald.

Tag-line: "Their ordeal of terror triggers the screen's most savage war of nerves!"

Best one-liner:  "I got somethin' planned for your wife and kid that they ain't nevah gonna forget.  They ain't nevah gonna forget it, and neither are you, counselor.  Nevah!"

If you haven't seen CAPE FEAR (the '62 original), then by all means, see it immediately.  It's a brutal, Hitchockian thriller (with a nightmarishly evocative Bernard Herrmann soundtrack) that contains one of filmdom's great villains and possesses a jaw-dropping mean streak that's somehow only amplified by the production code's constraints against explicit sex or violence.  Now, today's review is going to mostly be a screen capture tribute dedicated to the sleaze and sadism of super-scary Bob Mitchum, but I have a little housekeeping to do first.  

First, a note about the director:  J. Lee Thompson was an English playwright and filmmaker-craftsman whose most respected productions are probably CAPE FEAR and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, both from the early 60s.  He went on to direct the latter two of the five original PLANET OF THE APES films, and in 1976, with ST. IVES, began a treasured nine-film collaboration with the one and only Charles Bronson.  His career ended with a stint as a resident director at Cannon Films, and eight out of his nine final films were released under the glorious Cannon banner.  He went out with the bang that was KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS.

Second, I have to point out the wonderful piece of trivia that Ernest Borgnine was the first choice for the role (the villainous Max Cady) which would ultimately go to Mitchum.   We totally could've been looking at this:

(as seen in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY)

instead of this.  Now, I think Mitchum is the right choice, but make no mistake– I'd watch the hell out of a Borgnine CAPE FEAR.

Third, there's a conversation between newly-sprung convict Mitchum and the lawyer who testified against him (Gregory Peck) whereupon Mitchum begins to muse about exactly how much money each incarcerated year of his life might be worth.  Fans of the first season of TWIN PEAKS will recognize it as near-verbatim inspiration for a similar scene between Hank Jennings (Chris Mulkey) and Josie Packard (Joan Chen) as they discuss his post-prison future.

But that's enough talk– onward to a pictorial collage of Bob Mitchum guaranteed to curdle your blood and curl your hair.  I call it, "THINGS ABOUT WHICH BOB MITCHUM GIVES A DAMN AND THINGS ABOUT WHICH BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ."

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN IF HE WRECKS YOUR BOWLING SCORE

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN IF YOU ARE MARRIED

AND BOB MITCHUM  DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT INSINUATING THAT YOU ARE A PROSTITUTE


BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SECOND-HAND SMOKE

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN IF HE MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE BY WEARING NOTHING BUT GIANT OLD MAN UNDIES AND A PANAMA HAT

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT KILLING YOU WITH HIS BARE HANDS, SLOW

AND HE DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR PRETENTIOUS INSULTS

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT PERFECTING HIS BAR SLOUCH

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT LYING TO AIRLINE EMPLOYEES



BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT CHECKING OUT YOUR TEENAGE DAUGHTER


AND BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN THAT HIS BEER IS WARMER THAN ROOM TEMPERATURE

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN IF YOU DON'T LIKE BEING DROWNED

AND HE DEFINITELY DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT GETTING WET

BOB MITCHUM DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN, IN GENERAL

 HE JUST DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN.

Interesting. Oh, so I guess my title was a bit of a misnomer, since Bob Mitchum does not appear to give a damn about anythin–

BOB MITCHUM GIVES A DAMN ABOUT PEANUTS

Five stars.  And I'll grab some salted peanuts for you, Bob– in the shell.

-Sean Gill

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Film Review: HANGOVER SQUARE (1945, John Brahm)

Stars: 5 of 5.
Running Time: 77 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Laird Cregar (I WAKE UP SCREAMING, THE LODGER, Satan in HEAVEN CAN WAIT), Alan Napier (MY FAIR LADY, MARNIE, Alfred from the 60's BATMAN series), Linda Darnell (MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, UNFAITHFULLY YOURS), George Sanders (ALL ABOUT EVE, REBECCA), Glenn Langan (DRAGONWYCK, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN). Music by Bernard Herrmann. Cinematography by Joseph LaShelle (THE APARTMENT, LAURA, Pilot episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, Cassavetes' A CHILD IS WAITING). Written by Barré Lyndon (THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS) and based on the novel by Patrick Hamilton (writer of the plays from which ROPE and GASLIGHT are both adapted).
Tag-line: "THE SCREEN'S MOST Terrifying LOVE STORY! EXCITING MYSTERY AND STRANGE EMOTION!"
Best one-liner: "'All for you. There's not a thing I wouldn't or that I couldn't do.' You wrote that for me, George. But you've never really tried to find out, have you!?"

Welcome to Hangover Square. Population: YOU.

"All my life I've had black little moods..."

And so we enter a shadowy, off-kilter world of wet cobblestone and encroaching fog, shining gaslights and miserable lunatics, raging bonfires and downtrodden masses, discordant tones and eerie echoes- it's all here in HANGOVER SQUARE. Often referred to as a film noir, I have to disagree: HANGOVER SQUARE is expressionistic horror at its finest– every canted angle, inharmonious sound, and bulging eyeball taking you closer and closer to the very edge of sanity. Your head spins with the stupor of a blackout, your breathing becomes labored from the stifling claustrophobia, your hands grow clammy with perspiration, your ears ring from the pandemonium in the streets!


I'd prefer not to give too much away with this review, so I'll limit my spoilers only to what's apparent from the film's very start. As the composer George Harvey Bone, the inimitable Laird Cregar is a man cut in two: any screeching, cacophonous noise divides his personae- and often sends him into a murderous frenzy of which the 'sane Bone' has no recollection.

Sometimes accompanied by proto-Argento POV killings!

To say that the ex-bouncer Cregar delivers an 'intense fucking performance' would be something of an understatement. He takes things so far– to such levels of commitment– that by the end of the film, you feel like collapsing. Graced with a sinister, velvet-tongued voice (shockingly similar to Vincent Price's- and more on him in a minute!) and the ability to convey sympathy, depravity, pitiability, and malevolence with ease...and generally all at once(!), Cregar was one of Hollywood's greatest up-and-coming character actors in 1944.

Generally confined to roles of villainy (I was still rooting for him), Cregar pined to play a romantic lead. A crash-diet lost him one-hundred pounds, but he succumbed to a heart attack shortly after filming on HANGOVER SQUARE was completed. He was thirty-one. At his mother's request, he was eulogized by close friend Vincent Price, who many have theorized (due to their similar vocal intonations and comparable roles in which they were cast at Twentieth Century Fox) went on to experience a career that surely would have resembled Cregar's, had he lived.

But back to the film– it's brilliant. It's the CITIZEN KANE of 1940's Hollywood horror flicks, and I say that not as an obnoxious prig, but as someone actually making the comparison–


beautiful, lavish, intricate sets; innovative, immersive, and roaming camera work from Joseph LaShelle; striking, tragic, intimate imagery; and another mind-blowing score from Bernard Herrmann. Acknowledged by Stephen Sondheim as his inspiration for SWEENEY TODD (and Sondheim borrowed certain elements of the plot as well), Herrmann's score- particularly the "Concerto Macabre" which becomes the centerpiece of the film– is in turns sweepingly majestic and horrifically unsettling. It's certainly a contender for being his greatest score, and I say that even having recently listened to his scores for CITIZEN KANE, VERTIGO, TAXI DRIVER, FAHRENHEIT 451, PSYCHO, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Because his work in HANGOVER SQUARE is actually meant to be the work of our unhinged composer-hero, I think Herrmann was able to delve deeply into the mind of the character, as well– and he emerges with some of the finest music ever composed for film.

Before I gush to the point of embarassment, here are a few more things worth watching for–

•Netta (Linda Darnell), a sleazy turn-of-the-century Rita Hayworth-type who loves a good gravy train, makes her first appearance doing a call-and-response number to a phalanx of sweaty drunks in a bar so crowded, it's gotta be in violation of some sort of fire code.

Later, she's headlining a show called "I'm A Bad Little Girlie."



•A Thuggee-knotted strangling device makes an appearance. I'm not too proud to admit that I'll always associate the Thuggee immediately with INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

•Laird Cregar's character orders up some Benedictine at one point- I heartily approve. Whatever zany nutballs out there require the idea of drinking game in order to watch HANGOVER SQUARE...take note. I pity you, but take note.

•Alan Napier. You probably know him as Alfred the Butler from the 60's BATMAN series, and here, he's just as classy, if not more so.


In the end, it's a work of tortured genius about a tortured genius, and it's a clear influence on everything from Ken Russell's 'composeramas' to Guy Maddin's THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD. I hate to hand out too many five star ratings, but HANGOVER SQUARE- you earned it. R.I.P., Laird.

-Sean Gill

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