Bowden manages to reach his gun, which he had dropped, and shoots Cady, wounding and disabling him. The two men engage in a final fight on the riverbank. Bowden realizes what has happened, and also swims ashore. Meanwhile, Cady swims back to shore to attack Nancy. Bowden on the boat, causing Bowden to go to her rescue. Eluding Bowden and setting the houseboat adrift down current, Cady first attacks Mrs. On a dark night, Bowden and local deputy Kersek hide in the swamp nearby, but Cady realizes that Kersek is there and drowns him, leaving no evidence of a struggle. He fully expects Cady to follow his wife and daughter, and he plans on killing Cady to end the battle.

In an attempt to trick Cady, Bowden makes it seem as though he has gone to Atlanta. Cady's lawyer vows to have Bowden disbarred.Īfraid for his wife Peggy and 14-year-old daughter Nancy, Bowden takes them to their houseboat in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina. Bowden hires three men to beat up Cady and coerce him to leave town, but the plan backfires when Cady gets the better of all three. Cady brutally rapes a young woman, Diane Taylor, when he brings her home, but neither the private eye nor Bowden can persuade her to testify. A friend of Bowden, Police Chief Mark Dutton, attempts to intervene on Bowden's behalf, but he cannot prove Cady guilty of any crime.īowden hires private detective Charlie Sievers. He kills the Bowden family dog, though Sam cannot prove Cady did it. Cady begins to stalk and subtly threaten Bowden's family. He promptly tracks down Sam Bowden, a lawyer whom he holds personally responsible for his conviction because Sam interrupted his attack and testified against him. In Southeast Georgia, Max Cady is released from prison after serving an eight-year sentence for rape.

Peck, Mitchum, and Balsam all appeared as different characters in the remake. The supporting cast features Martin Balsam, Telly Savalas and Barrie Chase.Ĭape Fear was remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.

The film concerns an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal he helped to send to jail.

Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock and released on April 12, 1962. Webb from the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. Cape Fear is a 1962 American noir psychological thriller film starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, and Polly Bergen.

Fear and Trembling by Alfred Hitchcock