Gregory Peck became very close with Mary Badham (Scout), for years afterwards he referred to her as "Scout". He also became good friends with Brock Peters (Tom). Peters even delivered the eulogy at Peck's funeral.
Cal DOES play a much larger role in the current Broadway production of “Mockingbird,” deftly making up for the play’s omission of Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra. It’s GREAT... the audience stood, stomped, applauded, roared...
You're right, but there was something strange about Calpurnia and Atticus in the book. I don't mean anything bad about them, it's just...I don't know how to explain it. They seemed very close. I may be reading too deep into it, but it's just that they seem to have a close relationship, and I was thinking two things; since Calpurnia worked for the Finch family, I thought it odd that Scout and Jem's grandfather gave Cal Blackstone's Commentaries, which are England's law books and she taught her son, Zeebo, how to read from those books. The lack of Calpurnia's physical description (and Zeebo's lack if description) was also odd, because even minor one-scene characters had descriptions. I was thinking maybe Atticus and Calpurnia were half siblings. Or, because of the lack of a father for Zeebo, since the story said nothing about Cal's relationship status, maybe Cal was Atticus' first love and that's why he didn't get married to Scout and Jem's mother until he was middle aged. I just wish there was a story which goes through Atticus' secrets.
The kid's performances in this movie were extraordinary, especially the little girl whom played Scout and was nominated for an Academy Award at the age of 10.
"The really killer thing is that neither Scout's nor Jem's actors had ever acted in anything before." Which tells us something else extraordinary about the film: direction. It's so easy for us moviegoers to miss, but Robert Mulligan rared back and passed a miracle with these kids. (IMHO) I seem to recall Mary Badham saying how wonderful Gregory Peck was, too, with her and the other kids. Remember the scene where Jem went snooping around the Radley's yard at night and Scout waited for him at the fence? Remember when she heard the gunshot? OMG, her face!! How can a director get an untrained, amateur, child actor to react that way?
I really like "It's a Wonderful Life" but "To Kill a Mockingbird" is mythic, in ways that the former only parallels. "It's a Wonderful Life" shows us the the form of human life, that love beats reality. But "To Kill a Mockingbird" shows us not only that form, but also hints at why and how the hiding takes place. “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”
My favorite scene from this film is by far the scene where the man (it might be Mr. Yule but I'm not sure) spits on Atticus at the Robinson household. It is a perfect summation of Atticus's character. You can see him almost snap and lose his temper, but he just takes out a handkerchief, wipes off his face, and leaves. All without a single line of dialogue.
Such a great film, but the fact that atticus's children see him in a completely different light when the sherrif asks him to shoot the rabid dog (because he was a great shot,a side of him they never knew about) was a clever piece of writing. And almost an aside from the main story!
I feel this is probably the best adaptation ever made of an American novel. I've read the script and it feels just like reading the book. Perfectly adapted, cast, and acted.
to kill a mockingbird is a book that goes back to the soul of the human to the very essence of mankind and shows that life is something people should appreciate.
Just watched this movie for the first time, at 32 years of age... I’ve been missing out, what a masterpiece!!! I went into this movie not knowing anything about it, and I’m still overwhelmed! It goes from playfull kids playing around, to a courtroom drama divided by racial stereotypes: never saw it coming! And the acting, the score, the filming, the writing... everything is to be praised! A definite must watch!!
I've watched the movie a few times and on some deep subconscious level assumed /hoped that the jury would do the right thing and set Tom Robinson free. Then I catch myself and realize that it's the deep south and no one's going to do a black man any favors when his word is against the word of a white person, no matter how flawed that white person.
A fact I found out through the movie commentary was that the directors pushed to have real kids with now Hollywood experience play Scout, Jem and Dill because they wanted the characters to feel real. He wanted them to actually play around and be kids.
I don't know exactly why, but this movie and book are both extremely captivating. This is also a rare example of a movie being on equal par with it's source material. They both deserve to be as lauded as they are. Masterpieces of literature and cinema.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! Great book and movie. Gregory Peck does a FANTASTIC performance as Atticus Finch. My favorite scene is: When Gregory gives his speech in the courtroom. AMAZING!
I don’t understand how people can hate this book. It’s slow to start but it get so good. Also is it just me or was Gregory Peck a handsome lookin man in this movie because dang
I read this in English this year, and we did an essay about the book. Before reading it, I thought it dealt exclusively with racism. As it turns out, however, it is a story of courage, justice, and prejudice.
Love how in the game The Darkness when you are celebrating your birthday with Jenny, when you sit down on the couch to watch a movie it is To Kill A Mocking Bird and you can watch the entire movie.
I wonder why To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed in black and white. Technicolor became relatively cheap and easy to use by the mid 1950's, and black and white films tended not to do as well. I'm sure there was a reason here, but I don't know what it is.
It could still be a budget issue, even during the 90's there were people who used black & white to save money. Or a creative choice, so the viewer would focus on the story.
Honestly, I'm glad. It adds a lot of character to the movie. It also makes white people whiter, and black people blacker. Showing a stark visual difference along with a social difference that matched the time.
When I first heard that we were going to watch To Kill a Mockingbird, I thought it would end up being a bore but, thankfully, I was wrong. My favorite character was the person that was shunned by the town for having married a black woman.
I love this movie,is an inspirational and a well thought,for we young ones of today. I think movies like this should be sold instead of those sold now, thumps up for the producers of the movie. may every African american who died these way rest in perfect peace.
that was the best book I've ever read, except for the Bible of course;) I almost believed that Tom Robinson would go free, but all along I knew he was destined to die. there's so many good lessons to be learned from this book.
when my kids were small, we used to do all the lines. 'oh, I don't believe u'. 'i swear, Scout, u act more like a girl every day'. 'run for your life Scout. come on Dill!'
if you're saying what I think you are, they do. to kill a mockingbird takes place between 1933-1935, and grapes of wrath (if im not mistaken) takes place during the dust bowl, which happens during the same years. so yeah, they do exist in the same universe, just different regions
A lot of great movies came out in '62 as well The Miracle Worker, The Birdman of Alcatraz, Lolita, How the West was Won, The Manchurian Candidate and many others.
In the game the Darkness ( the first one ) you can actually watch the whole movie on a TV screen . Picture quality and sound aren't great but it's the full movie
Brock Peters was a magnificent actor with a truly diverse range; he worked with Peter Sellers in the film "Heavens Above!" as well as voicing Darth Vader in radio adaptations of the first three "Star Wars" movies, and playing two different characters in the "Star Trek" franchise; the treacherous Admiral Cartwright and New Orleans restaurateur Joseph Sisko. He was also an accomplished singer, having performed in "Porgy and Bess" and "Carmen Jones," among others.
My favorite tkam trivia is when they shot the court scene they had to shoot the shots with the kids separately cause the content in the scene was considered too much for children. And by the way I live in Scottsboro AL.( The place where Scottsboro boys happened.)
This is my all-time favorite book and movie. Thanks to Harper Lee, the world knows how racism can go too far but the values of family and the human spirit are what drives us on. Harper Lee and Gregory Peck are saints in my eyes.
dbz was around in the 90's when i was a teen. I'm not ashamed to say i was a huge fan. You're never too old for your own childhood that just makes that chilling nostalgia feeling crawl down your spine. By the way my beautiful wife loves it too. Anyways back to my point, you're right this film is indeed a classic. But does that stop people from at least trying to make it better than it already is. Sure some might see it as a foolish attempt but others might see it as an opportunity.
I liked even better the scene in the bedroom when Scout first comes to recognize Boo. The way those sweet, gentle smiles, showing genuine affection, slowly come to both faces could melt a snowman.
The great Henry Bumstead is worth mentioning for the (Oscar-winning) Art Direction. I had the privilege of meeting him in the late 90s (he died in 2006). Pure old-Hollywood class.
To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the world’s best loved novels, is set in our beautiful town of Monroeville, Alabama, where Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harper Lee grew up just a few blocks from the old courthouse. Informative exhibits about Harper Lee and her childhood friend Truman Capote guide you to the famous courtroom, restored as it was in the 1930s. Our acclaimed play production of To Kill a Mockingbird is Alabama’s hottest theater ticket each spring.
That's true but they didn't have the type of technology we have today. It was hard to convict anyone of anything. As it says in the book it is the word of a white man against the word of a man of color.
Gregory Peck was the first of seven (so far) Oscar winning actors Robert Duvall has worked with. He later worked with John Wayne (True Grit, Wayne's only Oscar, in 1969, Duvall was Ned Pepper), Marlon Brando (1972, Best actor winner for The Godfather, Duvall was Tom Hagen), Al Pacino (1992 best actor Oscar, Scent of a woman,) Duvall himself won a Best actor Oscar in 1983 for Tender Mercies, followed by Nicolas Cage (1995 best actor, Leaving Las Vegas), and Robert Downey Jr, (Best actor Oscar for one of the Iron Man movies)
Why not??! Go check them out!! It's an incredible novel and quite a great film.. I think I've read the book more often than any other, and I've been a lifelong fan of reading lol xD
One more trivia anyone who has read the book knows, is that the movie generously downplays Calpurnia's role. Another is that 'Black and White' metaphor in which she refuses color in the film. Everybody wants to see Color but the film bridges equality well with the theme of racism.
It seems to me that untold numbers of High Vibration Angelic Spirit beings worked closely beside all those involved at every level in making this Absolute Masterpiece! ❤😂🙏🤗👑😇
