Variety Movie Guide 2000
Edited by Derek Elley; A Perigee Book, Copyright 2000
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
1962, 129 minutes, US b/w
Dir Robert Mulligan Prod Alan J. Pakula Scr Horton Foote
Ph Russell Harlan Ed Aaron Stell Mus Elmer Bernstein
Art Henry Bumstead
Act Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna,
Robert Duvall, Brock Peters (Universal)
Harper Lee’s highly regarded first novel has been artfully and delicately translated to the screen.
Horton Foote’s trenchant screenplay, Robert Mulligan’s sensitive and instinctively observant direction
and a host of exceptional performances are all essential threads in the rich, provocative fabric.
As it unfolds on the screen, To Kill A Mockingbird bears with it, oddly enough, alternating overtones
of Faulkner, Twain, Steinbeck, Hitchcock, and an Our Gang comedy. A telling indictment of racial
prejudice in the Deep South, it is also a charming tale of the emergence of two youngsters from
the realm of wild childhood fantasy to the horizon of maturity, responsibility, compassion and social
insight.
It is the story of a wise, gentle, soft-spoken Alabama lawyer (Gregory Peck) entrusted with the
formidable dual chore of defending a Negro falsely accused of rape while raising his own impressionable,
imaginative, motherless, children in a hostile, terrifying environment of bigotry and economic depression.
For Peck, it is an especially challenging role, requiring him to project through a veneer of civilized
restraint and resigned, rational compromise the fires of social indignation and humanitarian concern
that burn within the character. He not only succeeds, but makes it appear effortless, etching a
portrayal of strength, dignity, intelligence. But by no means in this entirely, or even substantially
Peck’s film. Two youngsters just about steal it away, although the picture marks their screen bows.
Both nine-year-old Mary Badham and 13-year-old Phillip Alford, each of whom hails from the South,
make striking debuts as Peck’s two impressible, mischievous, ubiquitous, irresistibly childish children.
There are some top-notch supporting performances. Especially sharp and effective are Frank Overton,
Estelle Evans, James Anderson and Robert Duvall. Brock Peters has an outstanding scene as the
innocent, ill-fated Negro on trial for his life.
1962: Best Actor (Gregory Peck), Adapted Screenplay, B & W Art Direction
Nominations: Best Picture, Director, Supp Actress (Mary Badham), B&W Cinematography,
Original Music Score
