Gregory Peck stars in this classic psychological thriller, adapted from John D. MacDonald's novel. Fresh out of prison, the sadistic Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) determines to have his revenge on Sam Bowden (Peck), the lawyer who put him away for rape. Cady is smart and sticks to menacing Bowden's wife Peggy (Polly Bergen) and teenage daughter Nancy (Lori Martin) with obscene phone calls and implied threats, but never does anything which would give the police the right to arrest him. It is therefore Bowden who, in order to protect his family, must go beyond the confines of the law and seek to engage Cady in a direct confrontation on the family's houseboat in Cape Fear.