Amazon.com Essentials:
Ranked 34 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100
Greatest American Films, To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply
one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and
deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by
Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its
historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South)
and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its
advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving, responsible
parenthood. It's tempting to call this an important
"message" movie that should be required viewing for children
and adults alike, but this riveting courtroom drama is anything but
stodgy or pedantic. As Atticus Finch, the small-town Alabama lawyer
and widower father of two, Gregory Peck gives one of his finest
performances with his impassioned defense of a black man (Brock
Peters) wrongfully accused of the rape and assault of a young white
woman. While his children, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Philip
Alford), learn the realities of racial prejudice and irrational
hatred, they also learn to overcome their fear of the unknown as
personified by their mysterious, mostly unseen neighbor Boo Radley
(Robert Duvall, in his brilliant, almost completely nonverbal screen
debut). What emerges from this evocative, exquisitely filmed drama is
a pure distillation of the themes of Harper Lee's enduring novel, a
showcase for some of the finest American acting ever assembled in one
film, and a rare quality of humanitarian artistry (including Horton
Foote's splendid screenplay and Elmer Bernstein's outstanding score)
that seems all but lost in the chaotic morass of modern
cinema. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com Essentials:
Ranked 34 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100
Greatest American Films, To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply
one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and
deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by
Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its
historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South)
and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its
advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving, responsible
parenthood. It's tempting to call this an important
"message" movie that should be required viewing for children
and adults alike, but this riveting courtroom drama is anything but
stodgy or pedantic. As Atticus Finch, the small-town Alabama lawyer
and widower father of two, Gregory Peck gives one of his finest
performances with his impassioned defense of a black man (Brock
Peters) wrongfully accused of the rape and assault of a young white
woman. While his children, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Philip
Alford), learn the realities of racial prejudice and irrational
hatred, they also learn to overcome their fear of the unknown as
personified by their mysterious, mostly unseen neighbor Boo Radley
(Robert Duvall, in his brilliant, almost completely nonverbal screen
debut). What emerges from this evocative, exquisitely filmed drama is
a pure distillation of the themes of Harper Lee's enduring novel, a
showcase for some of the finest American acting ever assembled in one
film, and a rare quality of humanitarian artistry (including Horton
Foote's splendid screenplay and Elmer Bernstein's outstanding score)
that seems all but lost in the chaotic morass of modern
cinema. Universal's Collector's Edition DVD gives this classic all the
respect it deserves, offering the film in its original widescreen
aspect ratio, a full-length commentary by director Robert Mulligan and
producer Alan J. Pakula, informative production notes, and an
exclusive documentary about the making of this all-time great American
film. Consider this a must for any respectable DVD library. --Jeff
Shannon
