To Kill A Mockingbird: Legacy Series (Editor's Pick) Review Score: 10/10 | Date Posted: September 19th 2005 In: DVD Reviews To Kill A Mockingbird: Legacy Series Review by Robert Falconer | HNR Senior Editor To Kill a Mockingbird – the classic film about Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South who defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge – was released in theaters just two years before Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney were shot on a dark, lonely road in Neshoba County, Mississippi—forming the basis for the 1988 film, Mississippi Burning. Tragically, the totalitarian-like state of Mississippi in 1964 hadn’t caught up with Hollywood’s message. And while we’re on the subject of Hollywood, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those rare films upon which the tinsel town of old benchmarked its reputation as a superlative cinematic storytelling machine. Orson Well’s hyperbolic statement that “no great film was ever made in color” aside, director Robert Mulligan’s black & white palette emphasizes the polarized viewpoints of the characters and lends power to the film’s message about bigotry and racial intolerance. The net effect is a creatively organic piece that rises above the sum of its parts to comment on an aspect of the human condition that is, sadly, still relevant today.   Based upon the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1960 novel by Harper Lee, the story charts the events of a year in the life of lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck in an Oscar-winning performance), a widower who is raising his two children in a small Alabama town in the early ‘30s. The events are seen through the eyes of his young daughter, Scout (Mary Badham), who in the course of the film learns a valuable lesson about tolerance and open-mindedness as she watches her father defend a black farm hand, Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), accused of raping a white woman. By interweaving the events surrounding the trial with the children’s viewpoint, the film offers the perspective of innocence, enabling the audience to view racism as the baffling and often heinous obsession of an adult world. Peck is at the top of his game in this film. Quiet, honorable, steadfastly resolute, he obstinately resists the intolerance of an entire community. His cadence serves as a fine counterpoint to Arthur "Boo" Radley (Robert Duvall in his first role) their reclusive, Psycho-like neighbor from next door. Special mention must go to the late Brock Peters as the gentle, innocent Robinson, and to James Anderson as the loathsome redneck, Bob Ewell. Peters’ painful elocution is empathetic and heartbreaking; whereas Anderson’s chilling hatred is at once strangley compelling, yet difficult to comprehend. Second only to the performance of the cast is the gripping and well-structured script by Horton Foote, the masterful direction by Robert Mulligan, both of whom brought Harper Lee’s book to vivid life, and a wonderful score by composer Elmer Bernstein. Universal have included much additional material in this Legacy Series edition, most notably a fascinating 90-minute documentary entitled "Fearful Symmetry.” The documentary traces the filming of the movie, but also provides an absorbing, astute, and somewhat romantic look into the real South featured in the story along with the real-life characters who inspired the book and film. There are also numerous cast and production notes, a theatrical trailer, a selectable audio commentary with director Robert Mulligan and producer Alan Pakula, as well as several other features. If you haven’t seen this film before – or haven’t seen it recently – you owe it to yourself to have a look at this special edition of one of Hollywood’s most important cinematic classics.

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