Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Image by classic_film
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Harper Lee, the acclaimed and controversial 1962 film "To Kill a Mockingbird" was directed by Robert Mulligan.
Members of the cast included Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Paul Fix, Brock Peters, James Anderson, Alice Ghostley, Robert Duvall, John Megna, Collin Wilcox, Estelle Evans, and William Windom. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 3 (Gregory Peck for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Writing, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White). Peck also won the Best Actor Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Southern lawyer and widowed father Atticus Finch.
Storyline, via IMDb:
Small-town Alabama, 1932. Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck) is a lawyer and a widower. He has two young children, Jem and Scout. Atticus Finch is currently defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Meanwhile, Jem and Scout are intrigued by their neighbours, the Radleys, and the mysterious, seldom-seen Boo Radley in particular.
In France, the film was released as "Du silence et des ombres" / "Silence and Shadows." In Italy, the film was titled "Il buio oltre la siepe" / "The Dark Byond the Hedge." In Sweden, "Skuggor över södern" / "Shadows over the South."
A bit of film triva, via IMDb:
The first scene that Gregory Peck shot showed him returning home from his character’s law office while his children ran to greet him. Author Harper Lee was a guest on the set that day, and Peck noticed her crying after the scene was filmed. He asked Lee why she was crying, and she responded that Peck had looked just like her late father, the model for Atticus. Lee explained that Peck even had a little round stomach like her father’s. "That’s not a pot belly, Harper," Peck told her, "That’s great acting".
Robert Mulligan and Alan J. Pakula travelled to Harper Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, but found it unsuitable for filming because the town had been modernized. Therefore, the production team constructed their own ideal version of Monroeville, Alabama, on a backlot at Universal. When Lee saw their re-creation, she said it was perfect.
Director Robert Mulligan learned quickly not to rely on numerous takes, as he found that his child cast members became less natural and spontaneous after the first several.
Despite the novel’s winning the Pulitzer Prize, the studios were not interested in securing the film rights, since they felt that it lacked action and romance (with the absence of a love story), and that the villain does not get a big comeuppance. Producer Alan J. Pakula disagreed, however, and persuaded Director Robert Mulligan, his producing partner at that time, that it would make a good film for their Pakula-Mulligan Productions. Together, they were able to convince Gregory Peck, who readily agreed to the role.
Brock Peters (Tom Robinson) started to cry while filming his testifying scenes, without rehearsing it this way, and Gregory Peck (Atticus Finch) said that he looked past him, instead of looking at him in the eye, to avoid choking up himself.
Atticus Finch was modeled on Harper Lee’s own father, Amasa "A.C." Lee, an attorney and Alabama state legislator whose 1923 defense of a black client partially inspired the novel’s trial. Like Amasa Lee, the character of Atticus Finch was not only an attorney but also a state legislator and a widowed single father. Gregory Peck met with Amasa Lee, then 82 years old, and formed a strong bond with him. Unfortunately, Lee died while the movie was filming, so Harper gave Peck his watch and chain. Peck was wearing that same watch and chain at the Academy Award ceremony the following year, when he won the Oscar for Best Actor.
Mary Badham (Scout) and Gregory Peck (Atticus) became close during filming, and kept in contact for the rest of his life. Peck always called her "Scout", her character role.
When he attended the Academy Awards, Gregory Peck was convinced that his friend Jack Lemmon would win the Best Actor Oscar for his searing portrayal of an alcoholic in Days of Wine and Roses (1962). In reality, Gregory Peck was stunned when he heard that he was the winner of the much coveted trophy.
Atticus Finch was voted as the #1 screen hero of the last 100 years by the American Film Institute (AFI) in its special, "100 Years, 100 Movies, 100 Heroes & Villains".
The courthouse that was copied for this film still stands in Monroeville, Alabama, and is now a museum dedicated to the book, this movie, and the life of Nelle Harper Lee, and the people represented in this work. Additionally, the town of Monroeville (population, approximately seven thousand) produces a community play based on the book, held on the grounds of the courthouse, and inside the courtroom, every year. The play receives rave reviews, an achievement given that there are no trained actors in it, and has been performed by the Monroeville cast at The Kennedy Center, and in Israel. Tickets typically sell out just a few hours after going on sale. The town contains several historic markers bearing information on Lee and Truman Capote. The courthouse is no longer used for actual court proceedings. Much of it is not air-conditioned nor heated, a function of its old age. A new courthouse stands adjacent to it in the town’s square.
The character of Dill was based on Truman Capote, who had been a childhood friend of Harper Lee, when he was sent to live with relatives in Lee’s hometown each summer. Capote, in turn, based one of his characters in his literary work "Other Voices, Other Rooms" upon his recollection of Harper Lee. In interviews, Lee implied as much, and in American Masters (1985), season twenty-six, episode three "Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & to Kill a Mockingbird", it was stated that Dill was the only character which Lee admitted to have fully based on a real person.
Although Gregory Peck’s inspirational performance as Atticus Finch turned out to be a perfect highlight to his long career, Rock Hudson, Universal’s number one star at the time, lobbied for the role, and was considered by Alan J. Pakula and Robert Mulligan. Spencer Tracy was the first choice of Pakula and Mulligan, but it conflicted with Tracy’s existing film schedule. James Stewart was also offered the part, reportedly second, but told the producers he believed the script was "too liberal", and feared the film would be controversial.
Official credited feature film debut of Robert Duvall, who had no dialogue. It was also the film debuts of Alice Ghostley and William Windom.
Mary Badham, the youngest at age nine to receive an Oscar nomination (for Best Actress in a Supporting Role), lost to 14-year-old Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker (1962). Both films are based on women who were born in small towns in Alabama.
Gregory Peck’s nine-minute summation speech was nailed in just one attempt.
Robert Duvall stayed out of the sun for six weeks and dyed his hair blonde for the role of Arthur "Boo" Radley, who, according to the story, spent much of his life as a recluse. The character of Radley is based in part on Harper Lee’s recollection of Alfred "Son" Bouleware, who lived with his parents in a dilapidated, mostly boarded-up house just a few doors away from the Lee house. His father kept him confined to the house after young Alfred was involved in an incident of vandalism. Described in the book and in the movie as leaving the house only at night, because the sun hurt his eyes, this might suggest that Boo Radley suffered from Albinism (lack of pigment in the skin, in the hair and in the irises of the eyes).
Gregory Peck stated in subsequent interviews that he believed what won him the Academy Award was the scene where he quietly walks out of the courthouse after losing the case, while the upper gallery stands in silent respect, and the reverend says, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing."
In 1995, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) was added to the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress.
Despite universal praise for the novice film actress and actor, neither Mary Badham nor Phillip Alford chose to capitalize on their stunning film debuts. Badham retired from acting and married a schoolteacher, living near Richmond, VA, and spent most of her time raising her two children. Alford later became a successful businessman in Birmingham, AL.
Truman Capote, who grew up with Harper Lee, also knew the inspiration for Arthur "Boo" Radley, and had planned to base a character on him in one of his short stories. After seeing how well the character was realized in Lee’s novel, he decided against it.
Brock Peters, who played Tom Robinson in the film, delivered Gregory Peck’s eulogy at Peck’s funeral and burial, June 16, 2003.
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