Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 04/29/1998
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: 5.1/1
Run Time: 130 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations
Distributor/Studio: Universal Studios
Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical novel was translated to film in 1962 by
Horton Foote and the producer/director team of
Robert Mulligan and
Alan J. Pakula. Set a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on scrupulously honest, highly respected lawyer
Atticus Finch, magnificently embodied by
Gregory Peck.
Finch puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent
Tom Robinson (
Brock Peters), a black man accused of rape. The trial and the events surrounding it are seen through the eyes of
Finch's six-year-old daughter
Scout (
Mary Badham). While
Robinson's trial gives the film its momentum, there are plenty of anecdotal occurrences before and after the court date:
Scout's ever-strengthening bond with older brother
Jem (
Philip Alford), her friendship with precocious young
Dill Harris (a character based on
Lee's childhood chum
Truman Capote and played by
John Megna), her father's no-nonsense reactions to such life-and-death crises as a rampaging mad dog, and especially
Scout's reactions to, and relationship with,
Boo Radley (
Robert Duvall in his movie debut), the reclusive "village idiot" who turns out to be her salvation when she is attacked by a venomous bigot.
To Kill a Mockingbird won Academy Awards for Best Actor (
Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Art Direction.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
;)
