Cape Fear

Summer scares in today's movie - Cape Fear (1962) starring Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck and Polly Bergen.

Simply put - "A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail."

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This is one of the first non-musical old movies I ever watched. 

And it's very good! 

But the remake (directed by Martin Scorsese in 1991) is actually one of my favorite scary movies ever... and this doesn't beat it. Robert Mitchum is great (and quite scary), but there's nothing more fearsome than Robert DeNiro in the remake. I think that Max Cady is one of his best roles ever. Plus, the remake is just scarier all around, atmosphere-wise.

Also - the theme of the movie is awesome (and if it ever suddenly started playing in my room in the middle of the night, I would be horrified and very certain that murder was coming). 

See all the previous movie posts here.

Click on the "SUMMER MOVIE SERIES" label below for more summer fun.

Holiday Affair

It's almost December and if you're a bit of a Grinch or a Scrooge you're not going to enjoy the movie posts for the next few weeks because they all take place during the holiday season.

We're starting off with Holiday Affair (1949) starring Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum and Wendell Corey. 

It's not a thrilling movie, but it is a pleasant one. Apparently they play it on Turner Classic Movies sometimes? If you ever see it on the schedule, it's the sort of movie you have on in the background and 1/2 watch while you look at stuff on the internet. I liked it, but I'm not going to add it to my yearly holiday movie line-up.

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Janet Leigh stars as Connie Ennis, a young widowed mother who has an unfortunate first encounter with department store clerk Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum), inadvertently causing him to get fired just before Christmas. Despite the mishap, Steve takes Connie on a date, much to the chagrin of her better-established suitor, Carl, but much to the delight of her young son, Timmy, who would much prefer Steve to Carl as a stepdad.

This man reminds me of Bill Hader.

Red rum?

See all the previous movie posts here.