I wanted to rate this movie higher except I had serious problems with the mother. I don't know if it was just bad movie depictions of females in 1962 or if 1962 women had no motherly instincts but Peggy Bowden (Polly Bergen) was incredibly pathetic.
There were two particular instances where I thought Mama Bowden just played the helpless role to a crippling degree.
First: when Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) called the Bowden residence and she answered the phone. As he was speaking to her in a crude manner she just sat there with the phone in her hands incapacitated. His words had so shook her being that she couldn't fathom what to do.
I was watching rather befuddled and upset and I questioned quite quizzically, "Doesn't she know how to hang up the phone?" Honestly. A creep calls your house talking dirty you aren't obliged to listen. It's not like the phone company instilled some mandatory listening clause for every phone call received. It was shockingly weak on her part.
Second: when Max Cady attacked her in the boathouse. Never mind she couldn't feel the boathouse floating away when he detached it but once he attacked her, revealed his plan to her, and left her-her husband Sam (Gregory Peck) found her in a heap on the floor. Sam, obviously confused as to where Max was, was told by Mrs. Weakling that Max had gone after their daughter Nancy (Lori Martin).
Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not looking for Peggy to be Shera and knock the stuffing out of Max. Shoot, I don't expect her to be able to succeed much at all against a hardened criminal that recently took out three goons. BUT... that was her daughter he was going after. Where is your motherly instinct? Do you really believe you did everything possible to save your daughter? Laying on the floor in a useless heap? It was so utterly pitiful.
Having aired all of that out, I still liked the movie overall. Max Cady was the clever sinister type of bad guy that makes a movie good. He rivaled Norman Bates as a mid 20th century truly loco antagonist. The chess game between him and Sam Bowden was awesome. He was the right blend of focused, clever, driven, and wicked. It's just too bad the wife had to be such an invalid.
There were two particular instances where I thought Mama Bowden just played the helpless role to a crippling degree.
First: when Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) called the Bowden residence and she answered the phone. As he was speaking to her in a crude manner she just sat there with the phone in her hands incapacitated. His words had so shook her being that she couldn't fathom what to do.
I was watching rather befuddled and upset and I questioned quite quizzically, "Doesn't she know how to hang up the phone?" Honestly. A creep calls your house talking dirty you aren't obliged to listen. It's not like the phone company instilled some mandatory listening clause for every phone call received. It was shockingly weak on her part.
Second: when Max Cady attacked her in the boathouse. Never mind she couldn't feel the boathouse floating away when he detached it but once he attacked her, revealed his plan to her, and left her-her husband Sam (Gregory Peck) found her in a heap on the floor. Sam, obviously confused as to where Max was, was told by Mrs. Weakling that Max had gone after their daughter Nancy (Lori Martin).
Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not looking for Peggy to be Shera and knock the stuffing out of Max. Shoot, I don't expect her to be able to succeed much at all against a hardened criminal that recently took out three goons. BUT... that was her daughter he was going after. Where is your motherly instinct? Do you really believe you did everything possible to save your daughter? Laying on the floor in a useless heap? It was so utterly pitiful.
Having aired all of that out, I still liked the movie overall. Max Cady was the clever sinister type of bad guy that makes a movie good. He rivaled Norman Bates as a mid 20th century truly loco antagonist. The chess game between him and Sam Bowden was awesome. He was the right blend of focused, clever, driven, and wicked. It's just too bad the wife had to be such an invalid.