History Film / CapeFear

* RageAgainstTheLegalSystem: Cady's vendetta against Bowden is because he was responsible to put him in jail (because he was a key witness in the 1962 version, and because he decided ([[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil somewhat]] [[CompleteMonster justifiably]] morally, if not ''legally'') to commit some slip-ups on the defence in the remake).

* AmoralAttorney: Gregory Peck's cameo as Cady's lawyer.

* DyeingForYourArt: De Niro paid a dentist $20,000 to mess up his teeth to play long-term prison inmate Cady. Afterwards, it cost him $25,000 to have the damage fixed.
** De Niro also had Cady's tattoos done for real (with vegetable dye, which would have faded after shooting was complete) and bulked up until he looked more physically imposing than Nick Nolte.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Inadvertently done, possibly. Disappointed because he couldn't get Hayley Mills for the role of Nancy, the director gave Lori Martin a hard time during filming, which probably resulted in her nailing every scene as the terrified, vulnerable girl.

* ThrowItIn: The scene with the egg was added by the director on the day of filming. Bergen's reactions to Mitchum rubbing the eggs on her was real. And the parts where he drags her through the house? That happened because several doors wouldn't open and he had to force his way through in order to keep the scene going. (Too bad it resulted in her incurring some genuine injuries as well)

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The director wanted Haley Mills for the part of Nancy.

* JustGotOutOfJail: The film opens with Cady being released from prison.

''CapeFear'' is a 1962 film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It tells the story of Sam Bowden (GregoryPeck), a lawyer whose family is threatened by a convicted rapist. The rapist, Max Cady (Robert Mitchum), wants vengeance for having been imprisoned on Bowden's testimony after the latter witnessed him attempting to rape a woman. After a lengthy game of cat and mouse between the two, Bowden takes his family to their houseboat on Cape Fear, hoping to set a trap for Cady that will lead to his re-imprisonment. Needless to say, this does not go as planned.

* AxCrazy

* FauxAffablyEvil: Cady

* NeverMyFault: Cady wants revenge because Bowden got him convicted, and seems completely oblivious to the fact that he fully deserved it.

* LargeHam: De Niro, in fine form.

The film was remade in 1991 by director MartinScorsese, with Nick Nolte and Creator/RobertDeNiro portraying Bowden and Cady. De Niro and Creator/JulietteLewis received AcademyAward and Golden Globe nominations for their performances. In this version, Cady is out to get Bowden because the latter, while defending Cady on a rape charge, allowed possibly-exculpatory evidence about the victim to remain secret, leading to Cady's conviction.

!! Both films contains examples of:

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Robert De Niro

* AdultFear: Rape in both versions, moral corruption (Cady seducing Danielle in the remake).

*** RevengeThroughCorruption: Cady gets his hooks in Bowden's daughter, almost seducing her.

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The piano wire, the gun, and the lighter fuel.]]

* TheFundamentalist: Cady

* PoliceAreUseless: When Bowden suspects that Cady is stalking him, the first thing he does is go to the police, but they can't do anything because they lack any evidence of wrongdoing.

* MadeOfIron: Max gets beaten on for quite a while by some thugs, but as soon as he gets a weapon away from one of them, he takes them all down with ease. Later, Danielle throws some boiling water in his face, and he doesn't even blink.

* GregoryPeck & Robert Mitchum ([[RemakeCameo both play supporting roles in the remake]])

* ProfessionalWrestling: There wasn't any of it in the movie, but Wrestling/{{WWE}} based the short lived Waylon Mercy character on De Niro's portrayal of Cady, and a few years later Bray Wyatt.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Despite the overwhelming theme of sexual violence, the word "rape" is never used, nor does the dialogue get explicit. The closest the script comes is "attacked".

* NeverMyFault

* RulesLawyer: As in ''ToKillAMockingbird'', Gregory Peck plays one of these. He still manages to be the good guy.

* ThrowItIn: The scene with the egg was added by the director on the day of filming. Bergen's reactions to Mitchum rubbing the eggs on her was real. And the parts where he drags her through the house? That happened because several doors wouldn't open and he had to force his way through in order to keep the scene going. (too bad it resulted in her incurring some genuine injuries as well)

The film was remade in 1991 by director MartinScorsese, with Nick Nolte and Creator/RobertDeNiro portraying Bowden and Cady. De Niro and JulietteLewis received AcademyAward and Golden Globe nominations for their performances. In this version, Cady is out to get Bowden because the latter, while defending Cady on a rape charge, allowed possibly-exculpatory evidence about the victim to remain secret, leading to Cady's conviction.

The film was remade in 1991 by director MartinScorsese, with Nick Nolte and RobertDeNiro portraying Bowden and Cady. De Niro and JulietteLewis received AcademyAward and Golden Globe nominations for their performances. In this version, Cady is out to get Bowden because the latter, while defending Cady on a rape charge, allowed possibly-exculpatory evidence about the victim to remain secret, leading to Cady's conviction.

* ForgottenTrope: Viewers can be somewhat mystified by the premise for why antagonist Max Cady ({{Robert DeNiro}}) felt slighted by protagonist Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte). At the time of release, the prior sexual history of a rape victim was a valid defense that would have lessened Cady's sentence, or might have even kept him out of jail. Nowadays, prior sexual history is inadmissable in rape cases.

* ProfessionalWrestling: There wasn't any of it in the movie, but {{WWE}} based the short lived Waylon Mercy character on De Niro's portrayal of Cady, and a few years later Bray Wyatt.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Despite the overwhelming theme of sexual violence, the word "rape" is never used, nor does the dialogue get explicit. The closest the script comes is "attacked".