To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Official movie poster

*To Kill a Mockingird*is a 1962 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Harper Lee and directed by Robert Mulligan. The film features Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout Finch, as the film focuses on the Finch's struggle against racism and hatred in their hometown Maycomb as Atticus defends a falsely accused African-American man.

To Kill a Mockingbird was released on Christmas Day 1962 and was met with strong critical acclaim, even earned the status as possibly one of the greatest movies ever made. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3, including Best Actor for Peck.

## Plot

Scout Finch (Mary Badham) and her brother Jem (Phillip Alford) are two young siblings living in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in the mid 1930's. They are playable and innocent children, who enjoyed having fun in their hometown, including spying on their reclusive neighbour Boo Radley's (Robert Duvall) house. Their father, Atticus (Gregory Peck) is the local lawyer and is respected and looked up by the townsfolk, such as accepting hickory nuts from Mr. Cunningham for some support and legal work. Both Jem and Scout soon become exposed to the racism and poverty in their town and begin to understand the meanings of it.

Atticus is assigned by the judge to defend a black man named Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), who was falsely accused of raping a white woman and Atticus accepts the case. Scout and Jem find themselves being bullied and taunted by the schoolchildren because of their father's decision. One night, Jem, Scout and Dill spot Atticus outside the local jail safeguarding Robinson when a mob arrives to lynch him. The children stop the confrontation, and Scout recognizes one of the mobsters as Mr Cunningham who paid her father with hickory nuts. She tells him to say hello to Cunningham's son, who is her classmate. Cunningham feels ashamed and the crowd disperses.

## Cast

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch

Mary Badham as Scout Finch

Philip Alford as Jem Finch

John Megna as Charles Baker "Dill" Harris

Frank Overton as Sherriff Tate

Rosemary Murphy as Miss Maudie Atkinson

Estelle Evans as Calpurnia

Brock Peters as Tom Robinson

Paul Fix as Judge John Taylor

James Anderson as Bob Ewell

Robert Duvall as Boo Radley

## Differences/Comparisons from the book

* Just like in the novel, Scout's adult self the narrator (Kim Stanley) recalls the entire story in her own words, therefore the entire film is a flashback like her novel counterpart
* When the Finch were in bed one night, Atticus overhears Scout asking Jem about their mother, since she doesn't remember anything of her when she passed away
* Gregory Peck himself was by far doubt the perfect casting choice for Atticus, as his body shape, personality and tone of voice have the same traits like in the novel. On top of that, his brilliant performance as the iconic fatherly hero ultimately earned him his Academy Award Oscar win
* Scout attends school for the first time, but her first grade teacher Miss Caroline, Walter Cunningham or any other classroom scenes were not seen in the film, despite Scout telling about it to her father
* Miss Maudie Atkinson is a younger, thin woman rather than being a middle-aged, older woman from the novel
* Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, the cranky old woman who said nasty, racist comments to the Finch children is only seen in one scene in the film, and the sub-plot where Jem and Scout were punished by reading to her after he wrecked her flowers, later dying on an overdose of morphine, was not shown
* Scout and Jem received harsh, racist criticism from the children townsfolk as usual, except they never went to Finch's Landing (the family's original homestead) for the Christmas holidays where Scout was bullied by her cousin Francis, even calling her vulgar names
* Aunt Alexandra doesn't make an appearance, despite that during the trial storyline, she moves in with the family for awhile