TV - Movies
The Gregory Peck
Cameo You May
Have Missed In
Martin Scorsese's
Cape Fear
By C.M. CROCKFORD
John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel "The Executioners" would eventually inspire two films: the 1962 classic "Cape Fear," with Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, as well as a 1991 remake of the same name, starring Nick Nolte and Robert DeNiro. The 1991 "Cape Fear" made some big changes to the story, but director Martin Scorsese did get Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum to return for two goosebump-inducing cameos.
Where Peck was playing an upright lawyer in the first version, in an ironic twist, Peck was cast as Lee Heller, Max Cady's slimy defense attorney, for the remake. Heller helps Cady file a restraining order against Sam Bowden and even threatens to get him disbarred.
Peck hopped onto the 1991 remake as a small homage to the original film. However, his casting also speaks to Scorsese's desire to give the story more moral ambiguity and emphasize the message that the remake is not black and white.
Mitchum, who portrayed Max Cady in the original, returned to the right side of the law in the remake. The veteran actor played a cop, Lieutenant Elgart, who tries to help Bowden with nailing Cady, but even this character encourages Bowden to try extralegal methods for bringing his nemesis down.