To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) is about a lawyer in Alabama defending a Black man accused of rape, narrated by his small daughter. Atticus Finch is a widowed lawyer with two children. In the town a man named Tom Robinson is charged with assaulting a white woman. The judge assigns the defence to Atticus and the town does not like it. In court Atticus demonstrates something simple: the woman's injuries were made by someone left handed, and Tom's left arm was crippled in an accident as a child and is useless. The jury sees this and convicts him anyway. Scout narrates, and that is a choice. The events come to us only as far as a child understands them; racism is not explained but shown, and the child asks why it is like this. The second story is the house next door. Boo Radley has not come outside for years and the children believe he is a monster. The two strands join at the end. It is adapted from Harper Lee's novel, published a year earlier and awarded the Pulitzer. Gregory Peck won best actor. He and Harper Lee remained friends for life. Robert Duvall's first film role is Boo Radley; he is on screen for a few minutes and says nothing. Elmer Bernstein's score, built on piano, carries the child's point of view. It was shot in black and white. It runs 129 minutes. Good for: classic American cinema, courtroom drama, and literary adaptations. Less good for: the pace is slow and the story is told through a white hero, which has been argued over for years.