As far as I am concerned, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most intense courtroom dramas in motion picture history. It was made in 1962, and was directed by Robert Mulligan.. It was based on the novel by Harper Lee.

It is a coming-of-age story of a young girl, Scout Finch and her brother, Jem, in 1930′s Alabama. Through their neighborhood meanderings and the example of their father, they grow to understand that the world isn’t always fair and that prejudice is a very real aspect of their world no matter how subtle it seems.

Scout and Jem’s God-like father, Atticus, is a respected and upstanding lawyer in small Maycomb County. When he takes on a case that pits an innocent, black man, Tom Robinson against a dishonest white man and his daughter,  Atticus knows that he will lose, but he has to defend the man or he can’t live with himself. The case is the biggest thing to hit Maycomb County in years and it turns the whole town against Atticus, or so it seems. Scout and Jem are forced to bear the slurs against their father and watch with shock and disillusionment as their fellow townspeople convict an obviously innocent man because of his race. The only real enemy that Atticus made during the case was Bob Ewell, the trashy white man who accused Tom Robinson of raping his daughter. Despite Ewell’s vow to avenge himself against Atticus, Atticus doesn’t view Ewell as any real threat.

Tom Robinson is sent to a work prison to await another trial, but before Atticus can get him to court again, Tom is shot for trying to escape the prison. It seems that the case is finally over and life returns to normal until Halloween night. On the way home from a pageant, Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout in the darkness. After Jem’s arm is badly broken, their ghostly neighbor, Boo Radley, rescues Scout and her brother. In order to protect Boo’s privacy, the sheriff decides that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife while he was struggling with Jem. Boo Radley returns home never to be seen again.

The film stars Gregory Peck, Robert DuVal, and Mary Badham

deletereply redheadgirl4 wrote on Dec 2, ’07 This is one of my all-time favourite movies. Gregory Peck was absolutely brilliant, as was Mary Badham. I love the book too — also one of my absolute favourites. Great blog!

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Dec 3, ’07, edited on Dec 3, ’07 A definite classic both in the literary and motion picture world, I love this movie