I have not been active in the John D. MacDonald world for awhile. Time is limited, and interests are many. I recently jumped down the Columbo rabbit hole (I wrote about him back in 2016, and I’ve got a big project in the works for 2027). And I’ve been watching that seventies show, Emergency!. That holds up way better than you might expect!

Which is all to say, I actually exclaimed in joy last week when I discovered a new ten-episode streaming series of Cape Fear is coming!! (You can see I’m still excited!). It will air on Apple TV, every Friday from June 5 through July 26.

Hopefully you’ve read some of my John MacD writings here at Black Gate. I even have a landing page where I collected my writings on him. I was late to the Robert E. Howard party, and Two-Gun Bob has risen to number two on my all-time favorite writers list. But John D. MacDonald is the one author he hasn’t passed. And I don’t think he ever will.

THE EXECUTIONERS

There was a writers community in Sarasota, Florida, in the fifties. MacDonald moved there in 1951, and the dean of the group was MacKinley Kantor, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize winner, Andersonville. He became JDM’s friend, and mentor. In 1957, at one of the gatherings, Kantor was needling MacDonald about the quality of his writing. All he wrote were mysteries and other paperback trash. Why didn’t he write a real book?

MacDonald got mad. He bet Kantor $50 that he would write a book within thirty days. A book that would be serialized in magazines, be a book club selection, and be turned into a movie. Kantor accepted.

MacDonald had written almost two dozen books, mostly paperback originals. MacDonald was popular, but the books were of a type. British critic and novelist Julian Symons later called his books “…production line efficient fast-moving American thrillers.” But he also said, “..there are interesting ideas about the nature of corruption and the increasingly mechanical form of life in America.”

Kantor saw that MacDonald had more in him. Something that would stand out from the good but similar book after book (I like what he was writing, but I’m also not a Pulitzer Prize winner, either).

There were a a few notable thriller writers, like Dorothy B. Hughes (In a Lonely Place), David Goodis (Dark Passage), and of course, Cornell Woolrich. I think of it as these works as the transition from Hardboiled to Noir (this isn’t the place for THAT deep discussion).

MacDonald took the noir thriller and moved it from urban streets to the suburbs. And he did it with The Executioners. It’s a quick, absorbing, scary read. Thrillers use suspense, not horror, to induce fear. Alfred Hitchcock was the master of this. The building fear and suspense in The Executioners bears witness to MacDonald growing as a writer. Kantor was correct.

The book is readily available in paperback, digital, and audio form. Though, under the title Cape Fear.

CAPE FEAR (1962)

That’s right – it became a movie, which was part of JDM winning his bet with Kantor. Gregory Peck (Sam Bowden) and Robert Mitchum (Max Cady) starred in a 1962 big screen effort (88% on Rotten Tomatoes). I’ve seen this once, and it’s a good movie. Director J. Lee Thompson directed The Guns of Navarone, and two of the Planet of the Apes movies. He masterfully builds up the tension and the suspense, step-by-step.

And Robert Mitchum is a dastardly villain. If you like black and white thrillers, this is one that you should check out. When you’ve got Peck and Mitchum at the top the bill, you’re going to see some damn good acting. Peck was a huge star, and he co-produced it through is own production company. He was a fan and wanted this movie to be made.

I’m on record as a HUGE JDM fan. But I’m not a fanboy, and I’ve called him out in writing for his ‘bitter old man’ intro to Norbert Davis’ works. Likewise, he was snobbish towards this movie.

MacDonald was like many writers who disapprove of adaptations of their works. “…a dreary moving, I mean unmoving picture.” And “…Artistically, the movie warped the concept of the novel.”

In fact, he holds forth rather obnoxiously in a 1965 letter about ‘artistic control in other mediums.’ He’s not the first nor the last author to look down on what other people did with his work. Clive Cussler (who I love) was another. Whatever.

CAPE FEAR (1991)

Martin Scorsese is one of the legends of our lifetime. 1990 saw the release of Good Fellas. The following year, he directed the remake of a 29 year-old black and white movie (Steven Spielberg was an uncredited executive producer).

And in a brilliant casting decision, Robert DeNiro was selected for the Mitchum role. Nick Nolte was perfect to succeed Peck. But few who have seen this movie can forget DeNiro’s masterpiece of evil.

And an 18 year-old Juliette Lewis launched her career to star level.

Scorsese included Peck, Mitchum, and also Martin Balsam, from the prior version, which was a wonderful move. If you’ve never seen this movie, you’re missing out on a classic thriller. Proving that box office results don’t tell the whole story, it finished #18 in domestic gross, about $2 million behind Kindergarten Cop (ugh). But with Silence of the Lambs, and Sleeping With the Enemy, it was a good year for the suspense thriller.

If you’ve seen Cape Fear, you know what a standout this is. I’m not gonna reveal spoilers. Other than to point out that there is one significant difference between the book and the two movies. In the novel, the final confrontation takes place at a farmhouse. It works fine in the book. And I wouldn’t think about it being anywhere else.

Except I do think about it being elsewhere. Because the 1962 movie moved it to a houseboat. The remake adds a terrific storm to that. And visually, the houseboat is a better choice than the farmhouse. The finale of the DeNiro movie is absolutely spellbinding to watch.

SUMMER 2026

Scorsese and Steven Spielberg are executive producers of the new Apple+ series. That is a high-level title. Think a creative and fiscal role. And sometimes it’s a financial incentive or reward. It’s not uncommon for someone who was involved in a movie to be given that credit when it is remade.

The Producer actually manages the movie day-to-day. So, this isn’t Scorsese and Spielberg making a movie together, one directing on set. But having said that, it’s from Amblin Television, which Spielberg founded as part of his movie-making empire. Given their history with the 1991 film, I think it’s safe to say they were involved in how this project was developed, and what we’re gonna see on screen.

Amy Adams is touted as the star, which is interesting. Anna Bowden is Tom Bowden’s wife. That’s at best the third main character. Jessica Lange had the part in 1991. Javier Bardem is Max Cady. It’s been nineteen years, but the bad guy from No Country for Old Men, certainly qualifies him for this part. Interesting she’s the lead over him. Patrick Wilson is Tom (not Sam) Bowden. I’ve seen him in things like Aquaman, but I had to look him up. No clue on name alone. It’s not Gregory Peck, or Nick Nolte, star power.

I don’t know much about the new production. But I’m sure as heck looking forward to it. Good book, good movie, great movie. That’s a pretty good pedigree – though no guarantee of success of course.

There have been quite a few MacDonald adaptations over the years, but none since 1993. That was Linda, based on Border Town Girl, and starring a sultry Virginia Madsen. For a guy who reportedly sold 75 million books before he died (in the pre-Internet age), he’s been forgotten. I am really excited to see this project.

Christian Bale was cast as Travis McGee for The Deep Blue Goodbye, when he tore his ACL. By the time things shook out, he couldn’t do the Leonardo DiCaprio project, and it was scrapped. They had even made a Busted Flush and shipped it to Florida for filming.

You can read this link to see what I think about MacDonald’s writing. I SO hope this is a good version.

And all of my JDM-related posts are here at this page.

And one more note: The Simpsons did a brilliant homage, Cape Feare, with Sideshow Bob after Bart. I will NEVER forget Bob explaining away his ‘Die, Bart, Die’ knuckle tattoos as  just German for ‘The, Bart, The.’

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.