50 Years Ago: Bruce Lee

50 years ago today, on July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee died in Hong Kong. Matthew Polly’s informative biography, Bruce Lee: A Life (2018/Simon & Schuster), offers a detailed section on Lee’s death, describing the star’s strenuous activities in the days beforehand, performed in the heat of Hong Kong’s hot summer, and earlier medical issues he’d suffered caused by overwork and overexertion. I’m not going to try to paraphrase any of it here, but recommend simply reading the book yourself.

The book has plenty more to offer, including detailed accounts of Lee’s childhood in Hong Kong, his early work in Hong Kong movies, his move to the U.S. in 1959, his student days at the University of Washington, his subsequent efforts to find students and establish schools to teach his particular brand of kung fu, and his ongoing tension with traditional Chinese martial arts instructors. It also charts his efforts to crack Hollywood in the 1960s, achieving some small success on TV before heading to Hong Kong to star in his own martial arts movies.

CAPE FEAR: From Martin and Lewis to Martin Scorsese

For the record, CAPE FEAR (1962) is a black-and-white thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and based on a novel by John D. MacDonald. It stars Robert Mitchum as Max Cady, a newly released southern ex-con who’d served a prison sentence for rape largely on the testimony of lawyer Sam Bowden, played by Gregory Peck. Cady blames Bowden for his troubles and after prison returns to Bowden’s southeast Georgia town and sets about stalking and terrorizing Bowden, his wife Peggy (Polly Bergen) and 14-year-old daughter Nancy (Lori Martin). He commits other crimes and wreaks havoc, all while carefully eluding any serious charges. Bowden’s attempts to counter him invariably backfire. Eventually, it comes down to a violent, murderous confrontation between the two men in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina. The movie was later remade, but that’s part of the punchline, so stick with this.

Robert Mitchum as ex-con Max Cady in CAPE FEAR (1962)

Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden, with daughter Lori Martin, as Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) watches.

The Bowden family: Sam (Gregory Peck), Nancy (Lori Martin), Peggy (Polly Bergen)