Cape Fear– Two Versions and Two Visions Separated by Thirty Years
| Author | Gerald J. Thain |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6478.00177 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 28, NUMBER 1, MARCH 2001
ISSN: 0263-323X, pp. 40–6
Cape Fear – Two Versions and Two Visions Separated by
Thirty Years
Gerald J. Thain*
This essay examines the changes between 1962 and 1991 that occurred
in the context within which the two very different versions of Cape Fear
appeared. These two versions of the story of a threatened lawyer are
emblematic of an altered perspective on law. The essay highlights the
tension between art’s role as a reflector of society and its values and its
role shaping social views. The inference, from the different portrayals
of Sam Bowden, that there has been a systematic decline in the
lawyer’s status and public esteem is not, however, borne out in the
cinematic field. The situation has become one of moral ambiguity with
the lawyer playing a more ambivalent role in society.
ATTICUS FINCH AND CAPE FEAR I
The fictional Atticus Finch has become the icon of the ‘legendary old-
fashioned country lawyer’ – a person of virtue, rectitude, and decency who
represents all that is good about the practice of law, an image in sharp
contrast to the frequent depiction of the modern lawyer as one whose sole
motive is the acquisition of money and the commodities it can purchase. So
common are references to Finch, hero of the Harper Lee novel To Kill A
Mockingbird as the ideal lawyer that lawyers or law students being
recognized for their public interest work are often described as an
embodiment of Finch. When a film version of the novel was produced, it
was no surprise that Gregory Peck was chosen to play Finch. Peck’s strength
as an actor has always been his ability to assure the audience that he stands
as tall morally as he does physically; efforts by him to portray more complex
or even villainous characters have been less satisfactory. His image calls to
mind Abraham Lincoln far more readily than Captain Ahab (although he has
played both roles).
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ßBlackwell Publishers Ltd 2001, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
*University of Wisconsin Law School, 975 Bascom Mall, Madison,
Wisconsin 53706-1399, United States of America
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