To Kill a Mockingbird

Photo Credit: Copyright ©2005 Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is essentially a film about prejudices—different kinds. However, it approaches this subject matter through several ways.

Scout (Mary Badham) is the precocious and tomboyish daughter of Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck). She and her brother Jem (Phillip Alford) have a wonderful curiosity about them, and this presents some challenges for Atticus—the character that AFI voted the greatest screen hero of all time.

It’s easy to understand why Atticus has a challenge explaining prejudice, among other subjects, with his kids. He is an educated attorney in the middle of an impoverished town, Macomb, Alabama, in 1932.

Sometimes, their curiosity puts them in significant danger—as when they sneak into the Radleys’ yard and, while trying to scurry away, Jem’s pants get caught in the fence. When Jem goes back for the pants, Scout hears a shot ring out. This scene always lights me up because of the reaction from Scout. Mary Badham seems as though she was genuinely startled as her head snaps back and her eyes dart up—alert.

There’s another scene that resonates wonderfully, as Scout is reading to Atticus. This is the scene that inspires me because I’ve seen enough of the parents reading to their children. This moment speaks volumes about the value placed on auto-didactic education in the Finch household. Additionally, the range of expressions in Scout’s face are dynamic enough to convey a wealth of information about her character in one scene. She doesn’t understand why her father is compelled, by tradition he explains, to give Jem his pocketwatch. Scout would like it, mostly because she is like any other child, simply excited and exalted by the concept of inheritance of material things, but also because she idolizes her father. Scout sees the way Atticus clutches his pocketwatch. Scout thus places even more intrinsic value on the pocketwatch then because it is clearly representative of her father’s character—to which she aspires.

In the documentary interviews on this DVD, Gregory Peck reveals that his mannerism of clutching the pocketwatch is taken directly from observing the way Harper Lee’s father fiddled with his pocketwatch. During filming, Lee befriended Peck and believed him to be Atticus Finch in every way possible.

My wife noted that it’s interesting how we, during our childhood, gradually become aware that our parents have lives and experience that extends beyond our coexistence with them. A stray, rabid dog straggles his way down a street in a wide shot. Atticus is called to the house by the Finchs’ maid, Calpurnia (Estelle Evans). He arrives and, while his children watch, Atticus ends the life of the rabid dog without compunction, in a single shot. This seems to fascinate, more than frighten, Jem and Scout. I think the scene demonstrates how the children’s perception of Atticus shifts as they realize he is skilled and capable of things beyond simply being a father.

Likewise, Atticus’ own prejudices toward his children are evacuated. Atticus, as many know, is defending a black man, Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), against charges of rape. Upon visiting the county jail where Robinson is being held, Atticus’ children follow him to the jail and encounter a mob. The mob wants to serve their idea of justice upon Robinson. Atticus will not allow them. Jem refuses to leave his father’s side and Scout confronts one of the men in the mob because she recognizes him. Oddly, though Scout is given to fighting with other schoolchildren on occasion, she demonstrates great poise and thoughtfulness, obliviously so, by interrupting the mob to simply talk with them.

One man feels so ashamed of himself he cannot look at her. This is precisely what an adult should feel when a child demonstrates greater maturity before them. Atticus simply pauses, relinquishing his authoritarian figure for a moment to see where Scout may be able to take the conversation. The man becomes so ridden with guilt that he directs the group to disband.

One aspect of this film that I contemplate heavily, because I wasn’t around at the time, is how the public then received the film’s stance against racism. Today, there are people who believe Hollywood has gone too far with its liberal activism—accepting homosexuality and bisexuality. I don’t believe that Hollywood is necessarily altruistic in this regard. Studios often acclimate for economic reasons—to stay abreast of trends in changing times. However, this does give directors very narrow windows of opportunity to broadcast a message that’s ahead of its time.

I love the way in which the film ends. By today’s standards, yes it could be considered somewhat maudlin, but consider that the mystery of Boo Radley is the final prejudice to confront in the film. The story tells us that racism is a prejudice that will take longer than one trial to overcome. However, rather than end on a depressing note, Scout must discover for herself that Boo isn’t scary or dangerous as has been rumored about the town.

We see through the characters of Scout and Jem, Atticus, Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell (James Anderson) and the neighbor’s mysterious son, Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), the various manifestations of prejudice—sometimes honest and innocent, at other times irrational and racist.

As with the other Legacy Series DVD I’ve reviewed this week, “The Sting”, the video and audio quality of this remaster is superb. I have no complaints… though I detected a minor frame-skip (see my previous DVD review for further discussion of this phenomena) in one scene involving Dill (John Megna), the plucky, cocksure sidekick of Jem and Scout. There’s also an adorable flub that demonstrates Mary Badham’s almost too-conscientious focus on acting. When Scout and Jem are standing by a tree, for a brief second you can see Scout mouthing Jem’s lines as he says them. This happens occasionally when actors are working too consciously at keeping place with their lines.

There are several extra features across the two discs, but the most interesting is the extended documentary, “A Conversation With Gregory Peck.” Here is a truly magnificent actor and human being. What a refreshing escape from the gossip and nonsense of today’s Hollywood to see that even in his last decade, he simply focused his energies toward his family and his life—enjoying every minute. Normally, I’m not that interested in the personal lives of actors, but I find the whole measure of Gregory Peck—actor, father, husband, surrogate father (to Mary Badham, whose parents died when she was rather young)—rather engaging. I suppose it’s an opportunity for me to escape the consumerist aspects of Hollywood. That is not to say that self-promotion was absent from Hollywood during Peck’s prime, but it becomes clear that he was always less interested in celebrity than in the challenge of being a good actor.

Gregory Peck passed in 2003, having lived nearly 90 years. There is a shot in the documentary that lingers to capture Peck’s appreciation for figs straight from the tree, in France, with his wife Veronique. This is, I would like to think, how Gregory Peck would wish to be remembered. It should come as no surprise that the director of that documentary was his daughter, Cecilia. Through her eyes we see Gregory Peck the family man. It reinforces the argument made by many that not only was Atticus his favorite role on screen, but also the role he embodied in his real life—not the least of which was his appreciation for all the great knowledge and experience that this world offers.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Legacy Series DVD • Running Time: 2 hours 10 minutes • DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 • Dolby® Digital 2.0-channel stereo and 5.1-channel surround sound encoding • MPAA Rating: Not Rated • Distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment