To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Harper Lee (novel)
Horton Foote (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The most beloved and widely read Pulitzer Prize Winner now comes vividly alive on the screen!

Plot:

Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Trial | Lawyer | Alabama | Injustice

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Atticus Finch
John Megna	...	Charles Baker 'Dill' Harris
Frank Overton	...	Sheriff Heck Tate
Rosemary Murphy	...	Maudie Atkinson
Ruth White	...	Mrs. Dubose
Brock Peters	...	Tom Robinson
Estelle Evans	...	Calpurnia
Paul Fix	...	Judge Taylor
Collin Wilcox Paxton	...	Mayella Violet Ewell (as Collin Wilcox)
James Anderson	...	Robert E. Lee 'Bob' Ewell
Alice Ghostley	...	Aunt Stephanie Crawford
Robert Duvall	...	Arthur 'Boo' Radley
William Windom	...	Mr. Gilmer, Prosecutor
Crahan Denton	...	Walter Cunningham Sr.
Richard Hale	...	Nathan Radley
Mary Badham	...	Scout
Phillip Alford	...	Jem
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
R.L. Armstrong	...	Man (uncredited)
Bobby Barber	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Jess Cavin	...	Juror (uncredited)
Steve Condit	...	Walter Cunningham Jr. (uncredited)
David Crawford	...	David Robinson - Tom's Son (uncredited)
Jamie Forster	...	Hiram Townsend - Courthouse Steps (uncredited)
Charles E. Fredericks	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Jester Hairston	...	Spence Robinson, Tom's Father (uncredited)
Chuck Hamilton	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Kim Hamilton	...	Helen Robinson, Tom's wife (uncredited)
Kim Hector	...	Cecil Jacobs (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Nancy Marshall	...	Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Paulene Myers	...	Jesse - Dubose Servant Girl (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	...	Man in Mob (uncredited)
Hugh Sanders	...	Dr. Reynolds (uncredited)
Barry Seltzer	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Kim Stanley	...	Scout as an Adult - Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Jay Sullivan	...	Court Reporter (uncredited)
Kelly Thordsen	...	Burly Mob Member (uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Bill Walker	...	Rev. Sykes (uncredited)
Dan White	...	Mob Leader (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Jury Foreman (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Mulligan

Writing credits
Harper Lee		(novel "To Kill a Mockingbird ")
Horton Foote		(screenplay)

Produced by
Alan J. Pakula	....	producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Russell Harlan		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Aaron Stell

Art Direction by
Henry Bumstead
Alexander Golitzen		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Oliver Emert

Costume Design by
Rosemary Odell

Makeup Department
Larry Germain	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist
Franz Prehoda	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Lavaughn Speer	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Edward Muhl	....	in charge of production
Ernest B. Wehmeyer	....	production manager
Dick Gallegly	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph E. Kenney	....	assistant director (as Joseph Kenny)
Terry Morse Jr.	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Gene Johnson	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Fred Knoth	....	set coordinator (uncredited)
Frank Nifong	....	props (uncredited)
Julius Rosenkrantz	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Corson Jowett	....	sound
Waldon O. Watson	....	sound
Michael Colomby	....	sound re-recording mixer: restoration remix (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Andrew Bonello	....	automated image processing (restored version) (uncredited)
Carole Cowley	....	digital mastering restoration producer (uncredited)
Sophia Lo	....	digital restoration: Cinesite (uncredited)
Monty Phillips	....	digital artist (digital restoration) (uncredited)
Antonio Torres	....	digital artist: digital restoration, Cinesite (restored version) (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Egan	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Léo L. Fuchs	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Carl Gibson	....	grip (uncredited)
Rollie Lane	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bill Neff	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Frank Stanley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Jack Whitman	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Walter Woodworth	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Seth Banks	....	wardrobe: men
John Lucas	....	wardrobe: men (uncredited)
Viola Thompson	....	wardrobe: women (uncredited)

Editorial Department
J. Terry Williams	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Stephen Frankfurt	....	title designer
Isabel Halliburton	....	assistant to producer
Meta Rebner	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Brentwood Productions
• Pakula-Mulligan
• Universal International Pictures (UI)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (as Universal International)
• Universal Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1968) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• RSS Pictures (2002) (worldwide) (all media)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2003) (Mexico) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (1963) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #20267) | UK:A (original rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12 (f)

Filming Locations:

Monroeville, Alabama, USA

Company:

Brentwood Productions

Trivia:

Mary Badham messed up nearly every take in which the family was eating at the table. Phillip Alford didn't like eating the same meal dozens of times, so in one of the takes of the scene in which he rolls Badham in the tire, he aimed it at an equipment truck in an attempt to hurt her.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The introduction places the beginning of the movie in 1932, and it says that Macon had just been told "The only thing we have to fear, is fear its self" referring to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural speech. President Roosevelt was first inaugurated President on March, 4, 1933.

Quotes:

Dill Harris: Let's go down to the courthouse and see the room that they locked Boo up in. My aunt says it's bat-infested, and he nearly died from the mildew. Come on. I bet they got chains and instruments of torture down there.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Frasier: To Kill a Talking Bird (#4.14)" (1997)

An Unforgettable Drama

Hoo boy, am I a sucker for courtroom dramas. The wrangling of legal points and the investigation into the truth just gets my cinematic blood pumping (I s'pose it's in response to my own dashed hopes of becoming an attorney).

"To Kill a Mockingbird" rises to the top of the pile easily.

Yes, the courtroom proceedings are nail-bitingly engaging. But played out against the tapestry of bigotry and hate make the legal goings-on even more compelling.

The writing here is so beautiful, so lyric, so poetic. The Harper Lee-based screenplay captures wonderfully a time and a place that are absolutely real--where big brothers could solve the universe's problems in an instant and all the treasures of the world could be contained in a cigar box.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" also contains three of the most impressive child performances I have ever witnessed--there's not a false or affected moment in any one of them. Until seeing "Ponette," a movie I would highly recommend, the kids in "Mockingbird" received my best child performance ever awards. "Ponette" has ratcheted them down one notch, but that doesn't diminish the achievement here. The scene in which Scout dispels the mob simply by identifying its individual members is one of the most powerful moments in filmdom.

Peck more than deserved his best actor nod. His quiet dignity is a definite asset. Brock Peters, too, is terrific in what could have been a cliched role.

If you are a moviegoer who has a bias against black and white movies and who has therefore never seen "Mockingbird," I pity you. You've passed on one of Hollywood's most unforgettable experiences.