A Magnificent Film In Every Way.

For "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), the film version of Harper Lee's 1960 first novel about growing up in Depression Alabama, Universal studio's ad campaign was: "The Pulitzer Prize novel that became a legend in its own time is now a memorable motion picture." McCall's magazine concurred, raving, "What a sheer delight to see a movie that informs, amuses, enchants and makes you think all at the same time." Rock Hudson had discovered Lee's novel based on her childhood reminiscences, but the studio turned down Hudson at the time and only later bought the screen rights for Gregory Peck, hiring Robert Mulligan to direct and Horton Foote to write the screenplay. For novelist Lee, the casting was precisely right. "That film was a work of art," she glowed. Before beginning the film, Peck went to Alabama and met the real Atticus Finch, Lee's aged father Amasa Lee, who died during the filming. Lee herself coached Peck in handling the pocket watch he wore. In gratitude for his performance, she presented him with her father's own watch, a gift that greatly moved the actor. Peck commented at the time: "I can honestly say that in 20 years of making movies, I never had a part that came close to being the real me until Atticus Finch." Readers of the Pulitzer Prize novel--a folk classic with overtones of Mark Twain and William Faulkner--expected Hollywood to ravage its wistful Americana. Instead, it turned out to be a superior motion picture, filmed entirely at Universal studios in Hollywood. Frame houses came from a rundown area of Los Angeles and were reconstructed on the studio lot to represent the backwater town of Maycomb, Alabama.

Peck submerged his own natural good looks behind round-lens glasses and a sear-sucker suit and was aided by director Mulligan, two non professional children from Birmingham, Alabama (9 year old Mary Badham and 13 year old Philip Alford) and a supporting cast of unfamiliar faces from Broadway. Robert Duvall made his screen debut here in the brief but pivotal role of Boo Radley.

The picture suspended notions that Gregory Peck was just a strong-jawed man of iron and won him the Academy Award on his fifth nomination. In addition to Peck, screenwriter Horton Foote and the set designers also won Academy Awards.

Atticus Finch is a wise, gentle small-town Alabama lawyer of 1932, raising his motherless offspring and defending a Negro falsely accused of rape. During the first half of the film, we see the sleepy little Alabama town through the eyes of the children. Then during the second half, we become the active participants and the children the watchers as the tragic drama unfolds. Under his soft-spoken guidance, Atticus' two youngsters emerge from the world of childhood fantasy towards maturity; in the courtroom, Southern prejudice threatens to defeat his cause because the man he defends is a Negro.

Quietly helping the story and the acting is a superb musical score by Elmer Bernstein. It underscores important points and heightens tense moments without ever intruding upon the flow of the story. The range of action with which composer Bernstein had was wide. It included the scoring of a children's game and the welling of terror surrounding a night reconnoiter of the forbidding house where Boo Radley lives. There is music to underline the nobility of Atticus Finch in his dealing with his children and in his efforts to save the unjustly accused Negro Tom Robinson, superbly played by Brock Peters.

The story may seem slightly sentimental today in its portrayal of race relations, but its stature and lasting substance stem from the beautifully observed relationship between father and children and from the youngsters' perceptions of the enduring human values in the world around them. In it's own quiet way, this is one of the best movies dealing with race relations that the American film industry has ever made.

A shining example of cinema

Not much to say at this point. One of the finest films Hollywood has ever produced. Gregory Peck's signature performance. Both the movie and the book are musts for all Americans. No excuse not to have seen this movie. None.

Great classic

To Kill a mockingbird tell the story of Atticus Finch, a Southern lawer, who is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man charged for rape and assault against Mayella Ewell. Meanwhile, Atticus's children are following with the trial and learning the mysteries of life, and trying to find out the truth about their next door neighbor, Boo Radley.

To Kill a Mocking bird is a wonderful film that teaches you an important lesson. Never judge a man by the color of his skin.