To Kill a Mockingbird (A or 4/4 stars)
Right from the start, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (Harper Lee's literary classic, directed by Alan J. Pakula, & adapted by Oscar-winning Horton Foote) sets a tone & a mood like so few have. The curvature of the street, the quaint houses, the shadows from the trees on a sunny day ... this evocation of a time & place is just wonderful. I wanted to be there. I wanted to live on that street. But I digress. Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the plot focuses on Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a poor, if highly respected lawyer who lives alone with his 2 children Scout (adorable Mary Badham) & Jem (Philip Alford) years after the death of his wife & their mother. The movie focuses its 1st half establishing Scout & Jem as loving, if rambunctious kids who love their father deeply.
The middle section of the film concerns itself with the trial of Tom Robinson (a great Brock Peters) a partially-handicapped black man accused of raping a lonely white woman, Mayelle Ewell (Collin Wilcox) who threw herself on him & was then beaten by her father Bob (James Anderson) after he caught her. Atticus puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent the black man (this IS the South, remember). Although he attempts to bring the obvious discrepancies in the Ewells' stories to the forefront of the trial, the ALL-white jury comes down with an expected verdict. The movie's last section involves a reclusive 'village idiot' named Boo Radley (Robert Duvall) who turns out to be Scout & Jem's salvation when they are attacked in the woods by a bigot.
Not only is this film just a superb drama, and not only does it showcase stellar filmmaking ... but it says so much about America, both good and bad. At the young age of 6, Scout is forced to discover the power of conviction and the sacredness of 'truth' as she watches her father fight for the life of Tom, the black man on trial for a murder he didn't commit. Lots of Americans, particularly southerners, hated the blacks; treating them like 3rd-class citizens. Atticus also tries to instill the notion of social responsibility in his 2 children, allowing them to watch the trial despite its lurid details.
He helps them understand that it's not the color of a man's skin that makes the man. During one scene, after a mob tries to lynch Tom before of the trial, Atticus sits on the steps of the jail attempting to deal with yet another crowd who has shown up with pitchforks; ready to kill Tom if the other people fail. Then, at the end of the movie when faced with the decision of what to do with Boo Radley who committed murder to protect his children, it is Scout who employs the very lessons she's learned from her noble father. Gregory Peck's performance is, for me, one of the finest in screen history. It's not that the type of performance that grabs you with lots of yelling, grandstanding, or crying. No. His is a simple, yet controlled performance of focused restraint & passion.
Atticus Finch is magnificently embodied by Peck. And even though Peter O'Toole gave one of the best performances of all-time in 1962's Lawrence of Arabia, it's not hard to understand why Peck won the Academy Award that year. All this said, the success of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' comes down - not only to Peck's brilliant performance - but to the great direction & screenplay by Alan J. Pakula & Horton Foote. Although this film doesn't have a groundbreaking style or visual panache, it still excels as a human drama. Very few films of its ilk are as impactful & timely as this one. Taught in schools today, the novel (and this movie) teaches children responsibility & the value of knowing the difference btwn. right & wrong, as well as looking for the good in ALL people. Great film.
The middle section of the film concerns itself with the trial of Tom Robinson (a great Brock Peters) a partially-handicapped black man accused of raping a lonely white woman, Mayelle Ewell (Collin Wilcox) who threw herself on him & was then beaten by her father Bob (James Anderson) after he caught her. Atticus puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent the black man (this IS the South, remember). Although he attempts to bring the obvious discrepancies in the Ewells' stories to the forefront of the trial, the ALL-white jury comes down with an expected verdict. The movie's last section involves a reclusive 'village idiot' named Boo Radley (Robert Duvall) who turns out to be Scout & Jem's salvation when they are attacked in the woods by a bigot.
Not only is this film just a superb drama, and not only does it showcase stellar filmmaking ... but it says so much about America, both good and bad. At the young age of 6, Scout is forced to discover the power of conviction and the sacredness of 'truth' as she watches her father fight for the life of Tom, the black man on trial for a murder he didn't commit. Lots of Americans, particularly southerners, hated the blacks; treating them like 3rd-class citizens. Atticus also tries to instill the notion of social responsibility in his 2 children, allowing them to watch the trial despite its lurid details.
He helps them understand that it's not the color of a man's skin that makes the man. During one scene, after a mob tries to lynch Tom before of the trial, Atticus sits on the steps of the jail attempting to deal with yet another crowd who has shown up with pitchforks; ready to kill Tom if the other people fail. Then, at the end of the movie when faced with the decision of what to do with Boo Radley who committed murder to protect his children, it is Scout who employs the very lessons she's learned from her noble father. Gregory Peck's performance is, for me, one of the finest in screen history. It's not that the type of performance that grabs you with lots of yelling, grandstanding, or crying. No. His is a simple, yet controlled performance of focused restraint & passion.
Atticus Finch is magnificently embodied by Peck. And even though Peter O'Toole gave one of the best performances of all-time in 1962's Lawrence of Arabia, it's not hard to understand why Peck won the Academy Award that year. All this said, the success of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' comes down - not only to Peck's brilliant performance - but to the great direction & screenplay by Alan J. Pakula & Horton Foote. Although this film doesn't have a groundbreaking style or visual panache, it still excels as a human drama. Very few films of its ilk are as impactful & timely as this one. Taught in schools today, the novel (and this movie) teaches children responsibility & the value of knowing the difference btwn. right & wrong, as well as looking for the good in ALL people. Great film.