Alabama Churning

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2006)

Robert Mulligan's 1962 film, with screenplay by Horton Foote, is based on the novel by Harper Lee.
Set in the Winston county, Alabama in the 1940's, the story is told from the perspective of a teenage girl, Scout Finch (Mary Badham), who is trying to make sense of the world outside her family home, and the behaviour of the people within it.
Small town lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), takes on the unpopular and difficult task of defending black labourer Tom Robinson (Brock Adams) who stands accused of raping Mayella Ewell (Collin Wilcox), the daughter of white farmer Robert Ewell (James Anderson).
During the course of the trial we get to know both the locality in which Scout finds herself growing up and can't help but become deeply involved in the tense courtroom drama as Atticus seeks to uncover the truth in his efforts to defend his underprivileged client.
As the story unfolds and the underlying racial tension builds, we suddenly find ourselves virtually members of the jury and residents of Maycomb.
This film is a powerful memoir of childhood in this difficult part of the world. Through the way the story is told, we are both led - child-like - through the obvious injustice and yet we have the special, informal counsel of the defence lawyer expressed in ways that we cannot fail to grasp.