To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the greatest movie experiences ever

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2008)

In commenting on African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1962 with the release of the movie version of Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The crux of the story is lawyer Atticus Finch's (Oscar-winning performance of Gregory Peck) defending black farmer Tom Robinson (Brock Peters) against the testimony of Mayella's (Collin Wilcox Paxton) accusation of her rape by him. These scenes are some of the most touching and intense I've ever seen of a movie made while there was still a Production Code in effect (though the rules of that Code were relaxed by this time compared to the '30s and '40s). Peter's testimony and, especially, Peck's closing statement were especially touching. Since we're talking about black performers, here's a few more I'd like to mention from this movie: Estelle Evans as Peck's housekeeper for his kids-this actress is the sister of Esther Rolle from "Good Times", David Crawford as Tom's son David, Jester Hairston-who I remember from "Amen"-as Tom's father Spence, Kim Hamilton as Tom's wife Helen, and Bill Walker as the Rev. Sykes who says perhaps the most famous line in the movie, "Jean Louise, stand up, your father is passing." (I had earlier misquoted this line in a review of the "Our Gang" comedy, Young Sherlocks, which starred his wife, Peggy Cartwright, as a child) Others in the cast are Kim Stanley who's Scout as an adult in narration, Alice Ghostley and William Windon in their film debuts, and, as the children, John Megna-brother of Connie Stevens-as neighbor boy Dill, Philip Alford as Finch's son Jem, and Mary Badham-whose brother John would become a movie director-as Finch's daughter Jean Louise, better known as "Scout". Then there's Robert Duvall in his scene stealing turn as the silent Boo Radley. What else can I say about this movie produced by Alan J. Pakula, directed by Robert Mulligan, with screenplay adapted by Horton Foote except this is one of the best ever made in my lifetime! Everyone I've just mentioned was just superb and the score by Elmer Bernstein was a most wonderful addition to this great movie from 1962. Kudos to Ms. Lee for the only novel she ever published that turned out to be one of the most exhilarating movie experiences I've ever had. So on that note, I definitely recommend To Kill a Mockingbird.