Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

Set in Maycomb, Alabama in the early 30s, widowed lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) raises his kids Jem (Phillip Alford) and wilful tomboy ‘Scout’ (Mary Badham) whilst juggling his responsibilities in defending black man Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), accused of raping white (trash) girl Mayella Ewell (Collin Wilcox). Whilst the predominantly white townsfolk are mostly whooped up into a racist frenzy, calm and reasoned Atticus tries his best to educate his kids or at least shield them from the worst of it. Meanwhile, Jem, Scout, and visiting kid Dill Harris (John Megna) are intrigued by the infamous, supposedly deranged, and never seen neighbourhood ‘phantom’ Boo Radley (Robert Duvall).

Directed by Robert Mulligan (“Bloodbrothers”, the underrated “The Spiral Road”) and scripted by Horton Foote (“Tender Mercies”, he uneven 1992 version of the Steinbeck classic “Of Mice and Men”), this 1962 film adaptation of the Harper Lee novel is a very good film based on an absolutely classic novel. I hold the film in relatively high esteem, but for me the novel will always reign supreme. That’s largely because the film, albeit understandably, decides to focus almost entirely on the second half of the novel, particularly the trial of Tom Robinson. The film is about racism and a murder trial. If you’ve read the book (and if not, shame on you! Fix your situation immediately!) you’ll know there’s a whole lot going on before we even get to the trial. It’s a little weird that a film running two hours should feel truncated, but that’s exactly how it feels for someone who has read and loves the book. Most of the film lines up well with the depictions in the book, it’s just truncated is all. It’s a very fine film, it’s just not the book nor would it be fair to dismiss the film solely for not being what it cannot be. I love the book more, but appreciate the film for what it is.

Having seen the film second, Gregory Peck was not my image of Atticus Finch when 14 year-old me read the book. Now I have indeed seen the film several times, it’s simply impossible to separate Gregory Peck and Atticus Finch. It had to be Gregory Peck in the role, it will forever be Gregory Peck in the role. It’s one of his best-ever roles and performances, no one could possibly measure up to Peck’s iconic work here in an already iconic role. Young Mary Badham has always annoyed me as Scout, but a lot of that is a consequence of the medium. Scout is a lot quieter and more tolerable in the book, because you’re only reading her words, not actually hearing them squawked at you. Phillip Alford is solid as older brother Jem, and the late John Megna is perfect as the Truman Capote-inspired Dill. He’s exactly as I imagined him in the novel. My only complaint is that in this truncated version, Dill turns up after 7 minutes, whereas he appears quite far into the story in the novel. I don’t think those unacquainted with the novel will be bothered by that, though. Despite Badham’s loud performance, all the scenes with the kids and especially those with Robert Duvall debuting as Boo Radley, work really well on screen. I guess I just wish there was more room for that stuff in the film. Also measuring up pretty close to the novel are Ruth White as Miss Dubose, and Rosemary Murphy as Miss Maudie, and some of the other locals in Maycomb are well enough depicted. However, the film sadly doesn’t find room for Aunt Alexandra, any school scenes (or Miss Caroline), and Mrs. Stephanie Crawford is comprised of Crawford and another character in the novel who doesn’t appear in the film. I know the film would be twice as long with them in, I get it. Mulligan and Foote do the best they can. However, if you’re comparing the novel to the film (which as I said is a little unfair, but it’s also inevitable) the novel is obviously far more complete.

The depiction of Maycomb County and its townsfolk is one of the novel’s greatest strengths and joys. James Anderson’s Bob Ewell suffers a similar fate to Mary Badham’s Scout, in that the portrayal is much more subtle in the book. As portrayed by Anderson, Bob is borderline “Nosferatu” at times. Mulligan and Foote capture the creepy factor of the Radley scenes so well that it’s a shame Bob Ewell’s scenes go too far into mugging, hokey cliché. Collin Wilcox fares better in the tricky role of Bob’s daughter Mayella. She’s still a bit hammy, but the role and point in the story somewhat lends itself to melodrama a bit. The best performance by far aside from Peck’s comes from the late, underrated Brock Peters as the black man on trial, Tom Robinson. Peters does a whole lot with very little here (Like Dill, the character is also introduced into the film far too early for my liking). Tom is somewhat of a symbol/plot point in the film and novel, but Peters conveys a lot with minimal dialogue. When he finally gets a big moment of dialogue, Peters and his wonderful speaking voice makes it count. This poor man gets put in an impossible situation for a black man in the South at that time, and he knows it. Some will argue the scene where Scout manages to stop a lynching (by calmly talking to the lynch mob of townsfolk she easily identifies) is corny and unrealistic. Those people are missing the damn point. It’s one of the best scenes in both the book and film, and it’s not like Scout solves the problem of racism in the South or anything. Instead she just makes a few racists feel a bit of shame or at least discomfort in order to diffuse one specific situation. Meanwhile, as a courtroom film, it’s no “12 Angry Men” but stacks up better than “Anatomy of a Murder”, “The Verdict”, and certainly any version of “Inherit the Wind”. One of the film’s best assets is the superlative music score by Elmer Bernstein (“The Magnificent Seven”, “The Great Escape”). The other main assets of the film are the aforementioned Peck and the terrific B&W cinematography by Russell Harlan (“Blackboard Jungle”, “Lust for Life”).

A perhaps necessarily truncated version of an all-time great book, this is gripping stuff, just lesser than the book. Oscar-winning Peck is pitch-perfect casting, Peters quietly powerful. A more than rock-solid film, but read the book first at the very least. Also, what’s up with that bizarrely intermittent narration? A bit sloppy there, methinks.

Rating: B+