To Kill a Mockingbird Overview:

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) was a Crime - Drama Film directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Harper Lee published in 1960.

SYNOPSIS

One of the most beloved of classic movies speaks at once with the wisdom of years and with childlike innocence, capturing both voices flawlessly. Foote's adaptation of the Lee novel gives us a story of quiet courage and unexpected deliverance from the point of view of Scout (Badham), a six-year-old girl in the Depression-era South. She and her brother live with their widowed father Atticus (Peck), a lawyer and well-respected pillar of the community. Their world of play also contains the mystery of Boo Radley (Duvall), the reclusive boy next door rumored to be chained to his bed by his vicious father. The children's world parallels the serious business of Atticus's defense of a black man accused of attacking a white woman. The dignity of the accused and Peck's impassioned defense aren't enough to overcome the jury's racism. But the real attacker wants revenge, and the adult business and the children's world collide on a dark wooded path. All the performances seem to emerge from the dusty southern ground and the atmosphere clings like August heat. A beautifully realized drama cherished with each new generation.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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To Kill a Mockingbird was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1995.

Academy Awards 1962 --- Ceremony Number 35 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorGregory PeckWon
Best Supporting ActressMary BadhamNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: Oliver EmertWon
Best CinematographyRussell HarlanNominated
Best DirectorRobert MulliganNominated
Best Music - ScoringElmer BernsteinNominated
Best PictureAlan J. Pakula, ProducerNominated
Best WritingHorton FooteWon
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BlogHub Articles:

Gregory Peck is Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

By Stephen Reginald on Nov 24, 2022 From Classic Movie Man

Gregory Peck is Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) is an American drama directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay is by Horton Foote, and is based on the best-selling novel by Harper Lee. The book won the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for literature. The film stars Gr... Read full article


Field Trip: "To Kill a Mockingbird" on the Big Screen

By Stephen Reginald on Nov 8, 2022 From Classic Movie Man

Field Trip: "To Kill a Mockingbird" on the Big Screen 60th Anniversary of a ClassicExperience one of the most significant milestones in film history like never before with To Kill a Mockingbird. Gregory Peck stars as courageous Southern lawyer Atticus Finch--the Academy Award-winning performanc... Read full article


To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, Robert Mulligan)

on Jan 10, 2020 From The Stop Button

During To Kill a Mockingbird?s exceptional opening titles, I wondered how it was possible the film was going to look so amazing yet had no reputation for being some exquisitely, precisely directed piece of cinema. Then up came Stephen Frankfurt?s credit for title design, which kind of dulled my exci... Read full article


Win Tickets to see ?TCM Big Screen Classics: To Kill a Mockingbird? (Giveaway runs now through Mar 9)

By Annmarie Gatti on Feb 10, 2019 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Win tickets to see ?To Kill a Mockingbird? on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide?Sun Mar 24 & Wed Mar 27 ?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.? CMH continues with?our?4th y... Read full article


To Kill a Mockingbird: The Casting of Scout and Jem

By Annmarie Gatti on Aug 27, 2018 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

The Filming of To Kill a Mockingbird: The Casting of Scout & Jem Exclusive Excerpt from ?Why to Kill a Mockingbird Matters? Another Big Thank You to author Tom Santopietro for hand-picking another excerpt for us – this time about the casting of Scout and Jem – from his book??Why to K... Read full article


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Quotes from

Atticus Finch: Did you rape Mayella Ewell?
Tom Robinson: I did not, sir.
Atticus Finch: Did you harm her in any way?
Tom Robinson: I did not.


Dill Harris: Hey.
Jem: Hey yourself.
Dill Harris: I'm Charles Baker Harris. I can read. I can read anything you've got.
[swinging on the gate]
Dill Harris: Folks call me Dill.
Jem: How old are you? Four and a half?
Dill Harris: Going on seven.
Jem: Well, no wonder then. Scout's been readin' since she was born, and she's not even six yet. You're mighty puny for nearly seven.
Dill Harris: I'm little but I'm old.


Jem: There goes the meanest man that ever took a breath of life.
Dill Harris: Why is he the meanest man?
Jem: Well, for one thing, he has a boy named Boo that he keeps chained to a bed in the house over yonder. Boo only comes out at night when you're asleep and it's pitch-dark. When you wake up at night, you can hear him. Once I heard him scratchin' on our screen door, but he was gone by the time Atticus got there.
Dill Harris: I wonder what he does in there? I wonder what he looks like?
Jem: Well, judgin' from his tracks, he's about six and a half feet tall. He eats raw squirrels and all the cats he can catch. There's a long, jagged scar that runs all the way across his face. His teeth are yella and rotten. His eyes are popped. And he drools most of the time.


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Facts about

The character of Dill is purportedly based upon Truman Capote, who had been a childhood friend of Harper Lee when he was sent to live with relatives in Lee's hometown each summer. Truman Capote, in turn, based one of his characters in his literary work "Other Voices, Other Rooms" upon his recollection of Harper Lee.
Atticus Finch is modeled on Harper Lee's own father, Amasa Lee, an attorney whose 1923 defense of a black client inspired the novel's trial. Gregory Peck met with Amasa Lee - then 82 years old - and formed a strong bond with him. Unfortunately Lee died during filming, so his daughter Harper gave Peck his watch and chain. Peck was wearing that same watch and chain at the Academy Awards the following year when he won the Oscar for Best Actor.
Alice Ghostley's movie debut.
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Best Actor Oscar 1962






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National Film Registry

To Kill a Mockingbird

Released 1962
Inducted 1995
(Sound)




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Also directed by Robert Mulligan




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Also produced by Alan J. Pakula




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