To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Harper Lee (novel)
Horton Foote (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The most beloved and widely read Pulitzer Prize Winner now comes vividly alive on the screen!

Plot:

Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Trial | Lawyer | Alabama | American South

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Atticus Finch
John Megna	...	Charles Baker 'Dill' Harris
Frank Overton	...	Sheriff Heck Tate
Rosemary Murphy	...	Maudie Atkinson
Ruth White	...	Mrs. Dubose
Brock Peters	...	Tom Robinson
Estelle Evans	...	Calpurnia
Paul Fix	...	Judge Taylor
Collin Wilcox Paxton	...	Mayella Violet Ewell (as Collin Wilcox)
James Anderson	...	Robert E. Lee 'Bob' Ewell
Alice Ghostley	...	Aunt Stephanie Crawford
Robert Duvall	...	Arthur 'Boo' Radley
William Windom	...	Mr. Gilmer, Prosecutor
Crahan Denton	...	Walter Cunningham Sr.
Richard Hale	...	Nathan Radley

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #20267) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12 (f)

Filming Locations:

Monroeville, Alabama, USA

Company:

Brentwood Productions

Trivia:

The first scene that Gregory Peck shot showed him returning home from his character's law office while his children ran to greet him. Harper Lee was a guest on the set that day, and Peck noticed her crying after the scene was filmed. "Why are you crying?" Peck asked. Peck had looked just like her late father, the model for Atticus, Lee explained; Peck even had a little round pot belly like her father's. "That's not a pot belly, Harper," Peck told her, "That's great acting."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bob Ewell is on the witness stand and Atticus asks him if he ran for a doctor, Atticus is hovering over Ewell and his visible shadow behind Ewell reflects this. When the camera shifts to Atticus, he is a good 10-15 feet away. When the camera returns to Ewell, Atticus' shadow is still there.

Quotes:

Scout: May I see your watch? "To Atticus, My Beloved Husband." Atticus, Jem says this watch is gonna belong to him some day.
Atticus Finch: That's right.
Scout: Why?
Atticus Finch: Well, it's customary for the boy to have his father's watch.
Scout: What are you gonna give me?
Atticus Finch: Well, I don't know that I have much else of value that belongs to me... But there's a pearl necklace; there's a ring that belonged to your mother. And I've put them away, and they're to be yours.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "30 Rock: Rosemary's Baby (#2.4)" (2007)

A Remarkably Simple and Simply Remarkable Masterpiece!

Very rarely, it happens that movies are made that are very simple in expression but possess monumental appeals and significant life lessons in a style only of the kind of their own that, we can't expect even. This fact is truthfully exemplified in this movie. It's not just a movie or even just a promising story in general, but all it portray's is "Innocence". A girl's recollection of her childhood days which are still at their full bloom in her mind, depicting the innocence of juvenile as well as as adult minds, a period where mostly immature minds become curious to the racial bigotry and sometimes mature minds become its prey and a time when harsh realities of life like intolerance, hatreds, prejudice and adversities of society gradually dawn upon them.

Atticus Finch ( Gregory Peck ) is an absolutely Gentleman Lawyer whose wife has passed away and he has a son and a daughter. A Black man Tom Robinson is wrongly alleged of raping a poor white woman. In fact, he a victim of white woman's effort to hide her guilt by targeting his innocence and utilizing favors of racial attitude of unsocial society towards Negros. Finch decides to defend him on his principles realizing that the narrow minded society will turn against him and so it happened and townspeople started making his life agonizing. The whole story is masterfully out shined by the ingenuousness, purity and innocence of his children with with a unique inspirational interaction with their father.

Boo Readly who lives in the town is mentally retarded and is sidelined by the society. He is a mark of fear and curiosity for children because he is different from others. But he is the one who marks the ultimate climax of this emotionally crafted masterpiece.

It's a must see movie for all ages in all times because it gives many priceless emotional and touching lessons for those who are sincere and perceptive.

A Remarkably Simple and Simply Remarkanble Masterpiece!!!