Yes, I always favor the earlier, black-and-white version. Whenever, whatever. But I’m also convinced in this instance that the dead-eyed expression on Robert Mitchum‘s face is somewhat scarier and more malignant than the one on Robert DeNiro‘s. Right now the 1962 Bluray version (which costars Gregory Peck in the 1991 Nick Nolte role) is available only from Amazon.co.uk.


Robert Mitchum as Max Cady in J. Lee Thompson’s Cape Fear (’62).

Robert DeNiro as Max Cady in Martin Scorsese’s’s Cape Fear (’91).