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To Kill a Mockingbird is an American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Harper Lee. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and stars Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch.
In 1995, the film was listed in the National Film Registry. It also ranks twenty-fifth on the American Film Institute's 10th anniversary list of the greatest American movies of all time, and #1 on AFI's list of best courtroom films.
ut" Finch (Mary Badham) is a six-year-old tomboy growing up in Maycomb, Alabama in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression.
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Quotations
Atticus says cheating a black man is ten times worse than cheating a white.
He gets her interested in something nice, so she forgets to be mean.
I can't use my left hand at all. I got it caught in a cotton gin when I was twelve years old. All my muscles were tore loose.
I still don't see why I have to wear a darn old dress.
If you have read the novel, you will relive every treasured moment. . .If not, a deeply moving experience awaits you!
Seemed like every time I passed by yonder, she'd have some little somethin' for me to do, choppin' kindlin', and totin' water for her.
Encyclopedia
To Kill a Mockingbird is an American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Harper Lee. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and stars Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch.
In 1995, the film was listed in the National Film Registry. It also ranks twenty-fifth on the American Film Institute's 10th anniversary list of the greatest American movies of all time, and #1 on AFI's list of best courtroom films.
Plot
"Scout" Finch (Mary Badham) is a six-year-old tomboy growing up in Maycomb, Alabama in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression. Along with her brother "Jem" (Phillip Alford), and their friend "Dill" (John Megna), she leads a carefree life. Their father is Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a widower, and an attorney with deeply-held principles. When young Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a black man, is falsely accused of raping a white woman (Collin Wilcox) Atticus is appointed to defend him, although a guilty verdict from an all-white jury is expected by everyone – which is exactly what happens, even though Atticus shows that Tom is innocent. Atticus tries to have the verdict overturned, but Tom tries to escape from jail and is killed. To get back at Atticus, the father of the supposed rape victim (James Anderson) attacks Scout and Jem, but Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), a mentally challenged neighbor whom the children have built up in their minds into the local boogeyman, saves them by killing their attacker. The Sheriff decides to promulgate that the death was accidental, and Boo is not put on trial.
Differences from the novel
- The film shows Jem finding two pieces of gum in the hollow of the tree in front of the Radley house. In the novel, Scout found them. Also, Scout has no idea that Jem found all the stuff in the tree.
- Also in the plot with Jem and the tree, in the novel, he and Scout do not see Mr. Nathan Radley cement the tree, whereas in the film, they do.
- The subplot where Jem goes to Mrs. Dubose's home to read to her is omitted.
- In the novel, Jem goes back to the Radley house to get his pants a day after he lost them. In the movie, he goes back immediately after he loses them.
- The scene where it snows in Maycomb and Mrs. Maudie's house burns down is omited.
- In the novel, Calpurnia makes an appearance at the trial of Tom Robinson. In the film, she doesn't.
- In the novel, Tom was said to have been shot, "about seventeen times". In the film, he was apparently only shot once, as Atticus doesn't mention this fact. However, he may not have wished to mention this rumor to his children.
- In the novel, the Finch children go with Calpurnia to her church while their father is out of town. In the movie, this is omitted.
- Aunt Alexandra is completely omitted from the film.
- In the novel, Mrs. Dubose is the one who calls Atticus a "nigger-lover" in the presence of Scout and Jem. In the film, Bob Ewell is the one who calls him this and says it directly to his face. Jem is the one of the two children who hears Atticus called this. Scout is present, but she does not hear because she is asleep.
- Mrs. DuBose's character only appears in one scene.
- In the novel, Dill is Mrs. Rachel's nephew, in the film he is Mrs. Stephanie Crawford's nephew.
Cast
Production
Phillip Alford, who played the role of Jem, did not initially want to audition for the part. However, when his mother informed him that he would miss a half day of school, he quickly changed his mind. Additionally, he became upset during the filming of the scene at the breakfast table, when Mary Badham, who played Scout, had trouble performing the scene properly. By way of retaliating, during the scene where Jem rolls Scout in a tire, he intentionally rolled the tire toward an equipment truck.
According to Kim Hamilton, who played the part of Helen Robinson in the movie, Gregory Peck was the consummate gentleman. She recalled a scene where her character collapses after hearing the news of her husband's death, and Peck, as Atticus, picks her up and carries her into the house. "He was such a gentleman," she says. "I never forgot that."
Critical response
Gregory Peck's performance became synonymous with the role and character of Atticus Finch. Alan J. Pakula remembered hearing from Peck when he was first approached with the role: "He called back immediately. No maybes. The fit was among the most natural things about a most natural film. I must say the man and the character he played were not unalike." Peck later said in an interview that he was drawn to the role because the book reminded him of growing up in La Jolla, California. "Hardly a day passes that I don't think how lucky I was to be cast in that film," Peck said in a 1997 interview. "I recently sat at a dinner next to a woman who saw it when she was 14 years old, and she said it changed her life. I hear things like that all the time."
Upon Peck's death in 2003, Brock Peters, who played Tom Robinson in the film version, quoted Harper Lee at Peck's eulogy, saying, "Atticus Finch gave him an opportunity to play himself".
Peters concluded his eulogy stating, "To my friend Gregory Peck, to my friend Atticus Finch, vaya con Dios." Peters remembered the role of Tom Robinson when he recalled, "It certainly is one of my proudest achievements in life, one of the happiest participations in film or theater I have experienced." Peters remained friends not only with Peck but with Mary Badham throughout his life.
Awards and honors
The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three. In 1995, To Kill a Mockingbird was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The character of Atticus in this movie has been deemed the #1 greatest hero of American film, as rated by the American Film Institute. This movie also ranked #1 on the AFI's 10 Top 10 list of courtroom dramas. It is also Robert Duvall's big-screen debut, as the misunderstood recluse Boo Radley. Duvall was cast on the recommendation of screenwriter Horton Foote, who met him at Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City where Duvall starred in a 1957 production of Foote's play, The Midnight Caller.
The American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the greatest movie hero of the 20th century. Additionally, the AFI ranked the movie second on their 100 Cheers list, behind It's a Wonderful Life, and twenty-fifth on the list of greatest American films of all time. In June 2008, the AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. To Kill a Mockingbird was acknowledged as the best film in the courtroom drama genre.
In 2007, Hamilton was honored by the Harlem community for her part in the movie. She is the last surviving African-American adult who had a speaking part in the movie. When told of the award, she said, "I think it is terrific. I'm very pleased and very surprised."
Academy Awards
The film won three Oscars
Golden Globe Awards
It won three Golden Globes as well
Others
The film won an award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. In 1995, To Kill a Mockingbird was entered into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, deemed as "culturally, aesthetically and historically" significant.
American Film Institute recognition
External links
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- from AmericanRhetoric.com
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