Cape Fear

Synopsis: Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden's life becomes torturous when Max Cady re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family, particularly targeting Bowden's daughter, Nancy. Initially, Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to annoy the Bowdens, then poisons the family dog... Who's next ?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Director(s): J. Lee Thompson
Production: Universal International Pictur
 
IMDB:
7.8
Metacritic:
76
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1962
106 min
1,126 Views


Hey, daddy,

where does Sam Bowden hang out?

In there, sir.

Court is about over, I think.

Oh, no, Your Honour.

But this would make the third

adjournment of this case...

always due to the illness

of some defence witness.

Granted that this witness is ill.

The defence still has 11

important witnesses able to testify...

while the plaintiff has but one.

I submit that 11 against 1

should be enough...

no matter how sickly and decrepit

those 11 happen to be.

Opposing counsel will please

come closer to the bench...

so that we can discuss this

more privately.

Sam, you know this courtroom

gets like an oven.

You want a hostile jury

on your hands?

Let's put it over till fall.

Everybody'll be happy.

Everybody except my client. He has money

due him, and he's badly in need of it.

More important, my chief witness

is quite an old man.

He might not be alive

next fall.

Motion for adjournment

is denied.

As it is now after 4:00,

this trial will resume Monday morning.

Thank you.

Hello, Counsellor.

You remember me?

Baltimore. Eight years,

four months and thirteen days ago.

It comin' in clear now,

Counsellor?

Cady. Max Cady.

Good. I wouldn't want to think

you'd forgotten me.

What do you want?

You didn't remember me right off,

did you?

Well, I guess

I've changed a little.

Where I've been, if you don't change,

they're real disappointed.

You haven't changed a bit.

You know somethin'?

That's just the way I wanted it.

I wanted you to be just the way you were

the last time I saw you.

All right, you've seen me.

What's the rest?

No rest.

Just wanted to give you the word.

Just wanted you to get the picture.

- Give me the keys.

- Why not?

Now, let me get this straight.

You're not still blaming me

for what you did.

You still don't get the picture.

Well, I can see this

is gonna take a lot of time.

Hey, look at that, would ya?

Look at that wiggle.

Maybe she thinks we don't know

that's on purpose...

but we've seen a thing or two,

haven't we, Counsellor?

You oughta be

an expert on such things.

I hear you got a good-lookin' wife

and a daughter gonna be just like her.

Give my love to the family, Counsellor.

I'll be seein' ya.

Well, anyway,

you're ten minutes late.

It's a mistake to teach women to tell

time. They always use it against you.

Please don't be long, Dad.

I asked Betty to bowl with us.

Betty?

That rancid little thing that you detest

with every fibre of your being?

That was last week.

This week, they're inseparable.

Think I'll just sit here

and keep score.

Cheat.

- Beer.

- Okay.

Here you go.

- You're kinda fast on your feet.

- You have to be around here.

- That ring mean anything?

- Yeah. It means plenty.

Does that mean anything?

Dad, you're slipping.

Usually you would've said

the pin moved.

It did.

Nice shot.

Don't mind me, Counsellor.

I'm just gettin' a gander

at the rest of your family.

You're a lucky man.

Did you see my strike, Daddy?

Police department.

Chief Dutton, please.

Chief Dutton?

He's probably left, but I'll try.

Chief Dutton.

Mark. Sam Bowden.

Well, hello, Sam.

- Mind if I drop over this evening?

- Not at all. You know the house.

Yes, I know it.

Thanks, Mark.

What's on your mind, Sam?

There's an ex-convict in town,

name of Max Cady.

Thanks.

I think he's starting

a war of nerves with me.

I hope it's only that.

Has he threatened you?

No, nothing

that would hold in court.

You have to know him

to feel the threat.

He stopped me today after court...

and showed up this evening

at the bowling centre.

He followed me.

Why?

I was up in Baltimore

about eight years ago on a case.

One night I was walking

back to my hotel quite late.

I heard a commotion

in the rear of a dark parking lot.

Sounded like someone whimpering.

I ran over.

A girl was being attacked,

so I grappled with the man.

She suddenly got her breath back

and started screaming.

When he saw the police...

he went completely berserk.

Put the girl in the hospital

for over a month.

That was Max Cady.

Later on, I had to go back up

and appear against him as a witness.

You feel sure that

he blames you personally.

That was perfectly clear

at the trial.

Thought it was strange

when he showed up here this afternoon.

I wasn't...

really worried until I saw him

at the bowling centre.

It was the way he looked

at my family.

All ex-cons are required

to register on arrival in a new town.

Sergeant, this is Dutton.

Has an ex-con named Max Cady...

Hold on.

- How do you spell that, Sam?

- C-A-D-Y.

Has he registered here

in the last few days?

Chances are he hasn't done it.

We can run him out of town on that.

Thanks, Sergeant.

Hold on.

He's smart.

Registered yesterday.

What address did he give?

I see.

Switch me to Lieutenant Gervasi.

The address

is over at the dock area.

Sounds like he's short of dough.

We can get him on vagrancy.

Pete, I want a pick-up

on Max Cady.

The registration has the description.

Fine. Call me back.

Thanks, Mark.

My family's home alone.

I'd better be going.

You have a dog, don't you, Sam?

She couldn't bite through a doughnut,

but she's a good barker.

That's good enough.

I'll call you when they pick him up.

I hope I haven't put you

to all this trouble for nothing.

- Sam, I hope it is for nothing.

- Good night.

- You're Max Cady?

- I could be.

- What's your problem?

- We want to talk to you outside.

You start reachin' for those,

you'd better call for the riot squad.

I don't mind a little talk.

I just don't like bein' pawed.

I'll come back

for the change later.

I'm gonna give you just one hour

to get rid of your friends.

Are you trying to pick me up?

Yes.

You know I'm not drunk.

But I'm a cooperative guy.

Here.

See that card?

"John W. Moss, MD"

You wanna give me

an intoxication test...

bring that gentleman down here.

I didn't spend eight years in the can

studyin' law for nothin'.

I've got a legal right to be examined

by my own physician.

- Or didn't you boys know that?

- Never mind.

You'll be sober enough

when you leave here anyway.

Thank you.

Come on in.

Well, well, well.

We seem to be seeing

quite a bit of each other today.

Strip down to your shorts, Cady.

Right.

You thought I was gonna object

to a strip search, didn't you, Chief?

No, siree, not me.

Like I said,

I'm a cooperative guy.

Check that shirt. I got a couple of

jolts of horse stashed under the collar.

- Let's make with the pants.

- Comin' up, Chief.

What are you doing in our town?

Well, they told me

it was a pleasant climate...

plenty of boatin' on the river...

a lot of fine, stand-up citizens

like our friend here, the counsellor.

Lfigured that'd be

just the place for me.

How much money have you got?

Here's my wallet.

Why don't you check for yourself.

Seven dollars.

That's just not enough, Cady.

I'm charging you with vagrancy

unless you're 100 miles away by morning.

Would you look just a little harder,

please, Chief, sir?

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote

James R. Webb

James R. Webb (October 4, 1909 – September 27, 1974) was an American writer. He won an Academy Award in 1963 for How the West Was Won.Webb was born in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from Stanford University in 1930. During the 1930s he worked both as a screenwriter and a fiction writer for a number of national magazines, including Collier's Weekly, Cosmopolitan and the Saturday Evening Post. Webb was commissioned an army officer in June 1942 and became a personal aide to General Lloyd R. Fredendall who was commander of the II Corps (United States). Webb accompanied Fredendall to England in October 1942 and participated in the invasion of North Africa in November 1942 when the Second Corps captured the city of Oran. The Second Corps then attacked eastward into Tunisia. In February 1943 the German army launched a counterattack at Kasserine Pass which repulsed the Second Corps and nearly broke through the Allied lines. The Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower relieved Fredendall of command in March 1943 and sent him back to the United States where he became deputy commander of the Second United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee. Webb returned to the United States with Fredendall and later served in the European Theater. Webb left the Army after the war and returned to Hollywood, California, where he continued his work as a screenwriter. He died on September 27, 1974, and was buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Cape Fear" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/cape_fear_5025>.

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