To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird was based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning book. It was one of my favorite books of all time. The movie basically tells the story of Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a widowed lawyer from Alabama, who defends a young black man who is on trial for the rape of a white woman. It is told through the eyes of Scout (Mary Badham) his six-year-old daughter.

At first the story seems to tell the story of her childhood, how she and her brother Jem (Philip Alford) and Dil (John Megna) spend their free time together. Then she proceeds to talk about all of the different people that make up the small town in Alabama where the story takes place and of course about the trail of Tom Robinson (Brock Peters). The movie shows Atticus follows his principles when he is chosen to defend a black man in light of the fact that most of the people believe he is guilty just because of the color of his skin.

I liked that the film was done in black and white and that the music chosen for the background really highlights what is going on in the movie. The film also follows the book very closely which I thought was important for the story telling process. It is a movie that I would highly recommend. It is a true classic.