What an incredible movie 🤯 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - First Time Watching (1/2) 

I'm sorry guys, we had to edit and re-upload this video since it was blocked by youtube. We hope this one will stay! Second part coming soon!

Atticus Finch, voted by the American Film Institute as the #1 film hero of all time, ahead of James Bond and Luke Skywalker and every other character.

Lawyer from Kansas here. Not a true story but I have a son named Atticus and a daughter named Scout--that might tell you how much I love this movie and novel. Other law/legal movies I think you would like and would be good reactions: 12 Angry Men, Anatomy of a Murder, A Few Good Men, and My Cousin Vinny.

This is a good one! I was born in '60, so I grew up with all the civil rights struggles swirling around our lives. My small midwestern town was pretty quiet, but the TV brought it all right into our living room and our school rooms. Add to that the Vietnam War and all the protesting, the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King...it was a lot for a kid to take in. Thanks for sharing this one. On to part 2!

I was 3 y.o. when this movie came out. I was the youngest of 4 kids in my family. I remember my parents taking us all to see this in a drive-in theater. The only thing I could remember for years was the rabid dog scene and it scared the crap out of me.. I have watched it so many times since then and it has become one of my favorite films. Also, when I was a kid we used to run and ride our bikes all over the place in Orlando, Florida.

This movie scared the hell out of me when I was seven years old. All those scenes near that house and in those dark woods. I think it's great now.

Not a true story. However, Scout, was based upon the the author of the book, Harper Lee. The character of Dill was based upon the great American author, Truman Capote. Lee and Capote were lifelong friends. Capote went on to write the book "In Cold Blood." This is one of America's greatest books. It was made into a film by the same name - you might want to watch it.

Another great film concerning a lawyer and a trial is “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959) starring Jimmy Stewart.

Love Gregory Peck, he has such a calming demeanor as well as a powerful one.

I'd love to see you guys react to The Verdict. Arguably a hidden gem.

12 Angry Men (1957) is a criminal trial movie. It is considered to be one of the best top 10 movies ever made. You would like it.

this isn't a true story. but it accurately depicts the reality of the times. the time is early 30s southern u. s. the reference to "nothing to fear but fear itself" is a 1933 quote from american president FDR at the beginning of the "great depression."

I identify with Scout when she talked with Atticus about the racist word. When I was little, a friend taught me a rhyme that had a racist word in it. I didn't know it was racist, and I don't think my friend did either, but we thought it was funny because it rhymed. We went around saying it and laughing. We told my mom, and she said it was a bad word and we shouldn't say it. She asked how would I like it if someone called me white trash? Well, that didn't bother me either. My friend and I both immediately broke out and said the jingle again, this time substituting "White trash" for the racist word, which now didn't rhyme. We laughed even harder. My mom just shook her head at our innocence.

Altho not a true story, the author of the novel based the character of Atticus on her father who was a lawyer in a small southern town, and includes her memories of the time and place, including her friend “Dill” who was based on a person who grew up to be the famous author Truman Capote.

The knife is called a pen knife not a switch blade. Tom Swift was a series of kid adventure novels from the early part of the 20th century.

regarding the cover image - A poor father would use an old, worn out tire, which isn't good for anything else, to make a swing for his children. It only requires half as much rope as a regular swing. So the tire swing in this picture is a reference to the children who are the main characters in the movie.

Another historical trial movie you might like to consider is ‘Amistad’ (early 1800’s time period)

Wow I don't know if I've seen many if any reactions to this, which is a shame as this is a film adapted from a novel that has been read and taught in schools in the US for decades. I can still see the acronym TKAM up on the classroom blackboard over a one to two month period. This is Harper Lee's novel about crime, justice, family and racism in the Southern US set around the 1930s or so if I remember correctly. Not sure if it means anything but the family's last name is Finch, which, like a Mockingbird, is another type of avain in the US. The character of Dill is rumored to be based on American author Truman Capote, who was a childhood and apparently lifelong friend and work partner of Harper Lee., who I believe worked with him before she wrote TKAM. You can learn more by watching the excellent film "Capote" with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Capote basically launched a new literary genre with the publication of his book "In Cold Blood," which was based on the tale of a murdered Kansas farm family and the two killers who murdered them. ANYWAY, this movie is a big deal because it's one of the first in the US to deal with racism, and it's probably one of Gregory Peck's best known and loved roles as father Atticus Finch the lawyer who defends the one on trial. Also I think this is legendary actor Robert Duvall's first feature role as Boo Radley (behind the door at the very end).

Hey just discovered this channel. So happy to meet you. I also love that you are willing to watch older movies. I have a few suggestions. Older movies: Twelve Angry men is a famous movie from the juror's perspective and starts when the trial is ending. Witness for the Prosecution is another famous movie and the main character is a criminal defense lawyer. Ox-Bow Incident: A western about a trio of men accused of stealing cattle. Anatomy of a Murder: A man is accused of killing the man that raped his wife. Modern movies: A Time to Kill about a court case where the lawyer defends an avenging father. A Few Good Men: A military court case. Erin Brokovich not really a courtroom drama, but more about the real life person who is/was an assistant to a lawyer and how she collects evidence and deals humanely with the people involved in the case. The movie is almost equally about the case and about her life.

12 angry men, 1957, black-and-white perfection.

If you like courtroom drama and haven’t seen “A Few Good Men”, you would probably like it.

Check out: "12 Angry Men" (1957)

Looking forward to part 2

Jem, Dill and Scout saved Tom Robinson's life when they appeared at the jail and unknowingly foiled a lynch party. The men from Old Sarum rolled up after dark to overpower the jailer so they could castrate and hang Tom before his trial. Such a sad and powerful scene.

There was a rock band called The Boo Radleys

Another, very different, courtroom movie you ought to react to is "My Cousin Vinny." It's a comedy. Nothing like this movie but a very fun movie just the same.

The people of the town were as imaginative in their discussions about Boo Radley as the kids were, incorporating rumors and speculation and exaggeration so that it is hard to know the exact truth about Boo.

“Bo” was a WW1 veteran who suffered Shell Shock,

You saw Erin Brocovich. Some other great court dramas are: A Few Good Men 12 Angry Men Anatomy of a Murder My Cousin Vinny A Time to Kill The Verdict The Cain Mutiny a Man For All Seasons ( I prefer the original with Shaw) Yes, btw, To Kill a Mockingbird, was based upon a true story.

You can't tame a dog with rabies.

Check out 12 Angry Men if you like trial drama.

My FIL is a retired attorney. He has a wiener dog named Atticus.

Among American film-fans, this is generally a top rated 'courthouse' drama. There are four that are usually named, in no particular order: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)... ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959) with James Stewart as he represents a husband who has murdered his wife's rapist. WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957) with Charles Laughton presenting a handsome but poor man accused of murdering an older woman for her money. TWELVE ANGRY MEN (1957 - usually presented as "12 ANGRY MEN" on posters). While all of these films have 4 or 8 very famous American or English actors, ANGRY MEN has a dozen men in a locked-up jury room, deciding the fate of a young many accused of killing his father. These four usually represents the core of American Courtroom Dramas. There are others, of course, and there are a dozen more modern films - like the mentioned ERIN BROCKOVICH which isn't exactly a 'courtroom' drama but the setting does not matter - it IS a courtroom-drama film. THE VERDICT (1982, Paul Newman) is in a courtroom, very powerful with another large cast of classic American actors. There's ABSENCE OF MALICE (1981) also with Paul Newman which is not a courtroom drama but the case is decided in a side-room with the truth revealed and punishments still can't save the life of the woman whose live was ruined by publicity. Many, many more. TO KILL is a famous novel by an authoress who did not publish many books. WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION was written by Agatha Christie, a famous British mystery writer with dozens of mystery-books to her name. ANATOMY was masterfully written by Robert Travers who didn't write too many more but introduced several of his 'fishing books' as life-studies, life-philosophy, etc. 12 ANGRY MEN was a moderately successful novella published in the early '50s and turned into a stage-play, then a movie.

over 5000 people, almost all black were lynched without a trial.

It is an incredible movie because it was an incredible book first. School children are still reading this in classes and then watching the movie in literature/English classes. that is if the "history rewriters and library police" haven't banned it, labeling it "woke" and all other sorts of BS.

It’s a toss up between this book and Around the World in 80 Days as to which was my favorite book to read in school. I still, 30 years after graduation, go back and read both. In both cases, the books were better than the movies (though this movie was pretty great-the only good 80 Days movie I’ve seen was the Jackie Chan one and it basically just pulls a couple of items out of the book). Having been born in Alabama and spent my summers there with my grandparents, To Kill a Mockingbird creates a world that is very familiar to me. My maternal grandmother (the youngest of my 4) would have been about 10 years older than Scout so I heard about this time period a lot. 4:38 ouch, I feel old with y’all not knowing a tire swing (or is it a specific American thing?) but I never juxtaposed that image with lynching-very interesting perspective. 6:25 it’s not a true story, but similar stories to this have played out throughout history and the attitudes of the people in the movie were common in those days. 7:32 it’s a pocketknife, not a switchblade. That was a common gift to young boys when they were deemed mature enough for the responsibility. I got my first knife at 6 or 7 and have carried one with me every day since (it wasn’t a big deal even to have it at school as long as you behaved). 23:45 that’s how I was raised (colorblind) and how I’ve tried to raise my daughter, but I’m told today that being colorblind is wrong.

If you love court movies, the consensus among lawyers I've heard from is that "My Cousin Vinny" is best. Hilarious comedy, but also a serious movie full of (what they say is) realistic procedure.

Just a bit of constructive criticism. We need to see and hear more of the movie. Try not to comment every 5 seconds

Not true story