To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Director: Robert Mulligan
Screenplay: Horton Foote (based on the book by Harper Lee)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Brock Peters 
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Time: 129 minutes
Bottom-line: As good as the book; a film that delivers in all aspects

   When Harper Lee’s book came out, it took the world by storm. She won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel, and even after fifty years, the novel is considered be a classic for its memorable characters, inspiring story, and of course, one of the best courtroom scenes ever. After the book’s success, the film was obviously much awaited, and I revisit that very film on New Year’s Day.

The story takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus Finch (Peck), a lawyer, is the father of two children: Jean “Scout” Finch (Badham) and Jem Finch (Phillip Alford). The children are befriended by another boy, Dill. As the story goes on, Atticus is asked to defend a Negro, Tom Robinson (Peters), who is accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Whether or not Atticus is able to successfully defend Tom, and how he brings up his children in a society filled with social crimes forms the rest of the story.

Peck as Atticus Finch (left) and Peters
as Tom Robinson

Now when you read the summary, you are going to think that there is almost nothing filmable in the story except the courtroom scene. That was my thought exactly, until I saw the film. The courtroom scene begins at about an hour into the film. Before that, the film mainly shows the various incidents of the children’s childhood: their neighbours, their friendship, their mysterious neighbour ‘Boo’ Radley. It also shows how the children react to the fact that their father is defending a black man, and how Atticus gets his children to know about ‘the stuff they are not old enough to know about’.

Alford as Jem (left) and Badham as
Scout

Now the book tells lot of values to the readers, which are not shown so clearly in the film. Many children think that their dad is a hero at one stage, and then as they grow older they realize that their dad is not perfect and has many faults. This film also shows the same: Jem and Scout think that Atticus is a weak man, and cannot do anything outside the house, until the time Atticus is made to shoot a mad dog. Immediately after this, Jem and Scout realize how skilled Atticus is. The way Atticus brings up his children is given more clearly in the book, and not so much in the film. The story mainly deals with racism. From the moment people get to know that Atticus is defending a black man, everyone starts insulting him, calling him ‘nigger-lover’ and stuff, which also leads Scout into fights. Atticus calmly asks Scout to keep away from fights, no matter what people say about him. Atticus’ long speech in the courtroom also tells us about how the whites treat the blacks: “…the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie. All Negroes are basically immoral beings. All Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their caliber, and which is in itself, gentlemen, a lie - which I do not need to point out to you,” as he says.

One of the best scenes in the film: all the
members of the courtroom standing up as Atticus leaves. 

The story is a boring one till the courtroom scene, but is made interesting by the lively performances of Mary Badham and Phillip Alford. Harper Lee wrote the book in first-person narrative, with the story as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old girl. Badham has done brilliantly to show exactly how a small girl would react to all these social crises. It looks like she hasn’t acted, but has actually felt this way. All her emotions - be it the happy ones when playing, and the sad expressions when she gets into a fight, and the sort of curious expressions at the courtroom – all seem authentic. This film is Gregory Peck’s career best performance, in my view. A calm and loving father, a brilliant lawyer… he seems to be the ideal actor for both these roles. His acting before the courtroom scene, when he guides Scout and Jem by teaching them values; and his acting in the courtroom, with his cross-questioning, and of course, that memorable monologue, prove why he deserved and won the Academy Award for the Best Actor.

The book To Kill a Mockingbird,
by Harper Lee

The American Film Institute has recognized this film as the second most inspirational film of all time, after It’s a Wonderful Life. But it is Gregory Peck who takes the cake. His character, Atticus Finch, was recognized as the greatest film hero of all time, and that is something to be really really proud of. The courtroom scene is one of the best in Hollywood history, but I felt that 12 Angry Men was better in that aspect. There are also tons of memorable lines in the film, including that lengthy speech by Atticus. Few lines are worth mentioning here. Atticus says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it,” indicating how wrong we are when we comment about someone else without understanding anything about him/her. Atticus also says, to Jem, “Shoot all the blue jays you can, but remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy,” and this gives the title of the story.

To sum up, Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird is an evergreen classic. Credit must go to Horton Foote for making possible a movie with an almost unfilmable story, not that the story is bad. Harper Lee’s story is very inspiring, emotional and also funny here and there. With magnificent performances by all the actors, a great story, many memorable lines and a terrific score, this film is certainly the magnum opus of Harper Lee and Gregory Peck. An enthralling experience awaits you… go for it!

My Rating: 4/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%