*****
Outstanding thriller starring Gregory Peck as a lawyer whose testimony sent a violent man to prison eight years ago. Now the man (Robert Mitchum) is out and seeking revenge on Peck through his wife and daughter. Excellent if not entirely faithful adaptation makes several changes to John D. MacDonald's novel The Executioners, but unlike Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake, which muddied the waters of the plot with infidelity and discord in the hero's family, the alterations here streamline the story and allow the tension and suspense to build to a very satisfying climax. Not as explicit as the later film, either, but just as rough in its evocative innuendo. Peck and Mitchum make weighty (rather than flashy) adversaries. Top-notch.
Outstanding thriller starring Gregory Peck as a lawyer whose testimony sent a violent man to prison eight years ago. Now the man (Robert Mitchum) is out and seeking revenge on Peck through his wife and daughter. Excellent if not entirely faithful adaptation makes several changes to John D. MacDonald's novel The Executioners, but unlike Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake, which muddied the waters of the plot with infidelity and discord in the hero's family, the alterations here streamline the story and allow the tension and suspense to build to a very satisfying climax. Not as explicit as the later film, either, but just as rough in its evocative innuendo. Peck and Mitchum make weighty (rather than flashy) adversaries. Top-notch.