Movie Review ~ To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird(1962)

This is a great movie.  Gregory Peck did a fantastic job of portraying Atticus Finch, a southern lawyer, who is raising his children and trying to live an honourable life.  The movie begins sharing the idyllic life in the south of gentility and kindness.  When Atticus must defend an innocent black man who has been accused of raping a white woman, the lawyer and his family begin to feel the ugliness and hate that lay beneath the veneer of southern gentility. 

Based on a book by the same name, this movie does a decent job of representing the author's intent.  As my grandson commented, after reluctantly reading the book for school and then watching the movie with me, the book is better than the movie.  But that's pretty normal, isn't it?

Academy Awards, USA 1963

Won Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Gregory Peck
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Horton Foote Horton Foote was not present at the awards ceremony. Alan J. Pakula, the film's producer, accepted ... More
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Alexander Golitzen Henry Bumstead Oliver Emert
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture Alan J. Pakula
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Mary Badham
	Best Director Robert Mulligan
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Russell Harlan
	Best Music, Score - Substantially Original Elmer Bernstein