In anticipation of seeing ScorseseÙ's CAPE FEAR, I saw the 1962 version last night, followed by todayÙ's viewing at the local 4-plex (only $3.50 for the first screening!). Perhaps I do not see enough current films, or maybe not enough of Scorsese'Ùs work. But I was pleasantly amazed at the abundance of expressionist imagery. Of course the most blatant use of the varied kinds of optical printing came forward during sequences related to dreams, but it was possible to see this influence in different ways, such as quick-shots (as in one of the nearly all the visuals edited Even the titles (welcome back, Saul Bass!) anticipated this inventive use of visuals. Actually I was anxious to see CAPE FEAR because IÙm writing my dissertation on Bernard Herrmann, whose score for the 1962 film was arranged by Elmer Bernstein for ScoreseseÙ's version. I came away disappointed--but I should have expected such a reaction. First of all, why would Scorsese want to use a score for another film? No doubt, for the same reasons as he used Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck and Martin Balsam. But each of these actors were cast in new roles so that the relation between the two CAPE FEARs becomes an extra-cinematic device (or, as some see it, a kind of sequel, or replay of the original, in which the clarity of issues has been purposely mixed and made more complex--to benefit of this new version). Had Bernard Herrmann been alive today, and had he accepted the assignment, I am sure that his score would have been very different from his 1962 effort. He was creating a score for a film with its own characteristics. Once those characteristics have been removed, then the corresponding score is bereft of its own effectiveness, leaving its cliches and idiosyncracies to stand on their own. Essentially, Bernstein and the sound staff are acting in the same way as music editors on a television program, selecting pre-composed music to fit sequences in the film. To be sure, some sequences worked well. (On the other hand, anybody who has substituted the sound of their televisions with random sounds, such as that which comes over the radio or other recording, will always notice that certain moments seem to mesh very well, no matter the randomness of the choice of music or sound.) But much of the shock value, tension, or idiosyncratic sounds that Herrmann achieved in the first film have been muted and adulterated in this version, mostly by means of their use in placed not intended by the original composer. I know that Herrmann would agree that each score for a particular film is an integral part of that film. Once this organic relaltionship is violated, it is often to the detriment of both. I think ScorseseÙs CAPE FEAR would have benefitted from an entirely new score, one that is attunted to the developments in sound in the past 30 years. Nevertheless, I look forward to purchasing the soundtrack, if only to remind me of the sounds of the 1962 film. I'm glad I did see this new CAPE FEAR, for it is certainly a better film in nearly every way.