Editing Cape Fear (1962 film) (section)

==Plot==
In [[Southeast Georgia]], [[Max Cady]] is released from prison after serving an eight-year sentence for [[rape]]. He promptly tracks down Sam Bowden, an attorney whom he holds personally responsible for his conviction because Bowden interrupted his attack and testified against him. Cady begins to stalk and subtly threaten Bowden’s family, including his wife, Peggy, and 14-year-old daughter, Nancy. He kills the family dog, though Bowden cannot prove that Cady did it. A friend of Bowden, Police Chief Mark Dutton, attempts to intervene on Bowden's behalf, but he cannot prove Cady guilty of any crime.

Bowden hires [[private detective]] Charlie Sievers. Cady brutally rapes a young woman, Diane Taylor, when he brings her home, but neither the private detective nor Bowden can persuade her to testify. While Nancy is waiting in a car one day, Cady begins to walk near her, causing her to run and end up almost getting hit by a car. Bowden takes matters into his own hands by hiring three thugs to attack Cady and coerce him to leave town, but the plan backfires when Cady manages to fight back and get the better of all three. Cady's attorney vows to have Bowden [[disbarred]].

Fearing for Peggy's and Nancy's safety, Bowden takes them to their houseboat in the [[Cape Fear (region)|Cape Fear region]] of [[North Carolina]]. In an attempt to trick Cady, Bowden makes it seem as though he has gone to [[Atlanta]]. He fully expects Cady to follow his wife and daughter, and he plans to kill Cady to end the battle. On a dark night, Bowden and local deputy Kersek hide in the swamp nearby, but Cady realizes that Kersek is there and drowns him, leaving no evidence of a struggle. Eluding Bowden and setting the houseboat adrift down the current, Cady first attacks Peggy on the boat, causing Bowden to go to her rescue. Meanwhile, Cady swims back to shore to attack Nancy. Bowden realizes what has happened, and also swims ashore.

The two men engage in a final fight on the riverbank. Bowden manages to grab his gun, which he had dropped, and shoots Cady, wounding and incapacitating him. Cady tells Bowden, "Finish the job", but Bowden decides to do the thing that Cady earlier told him would be unbearable{{snd}}put him in prison for the rest of his life, to "count the years, the months, the hours until the day you rot". In the morning light, the Bowden family are together on a boat, traveling with police back to port.