"To Kill a Mockingbird" Exposes the Destructiveness of Bigotry
Ed Bagley
To Kill A Mockingbird - 3 Stars (Good)
Gregory Peck won a Best Actor Oscar in this adaptation of
Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about white
lawyer Atticus Finch defending an innocent African American
man accused of raping a white woman.
This is a story that illuminates everything that is wrong
about hate, prejudice, bigotry, ignorance, stupidity, lack
of backbone and lack of a heart. It is a story about an
all-white male jury who makes important life decisions
without right thinking and right motives.
Finch (Gregory Peck) suffers retribution because of his
defense of Tom Robinson (Brock Peters) who is accused of
raping Mayella Violet Ewell (Collin Wilcox). The real
villain is her father Bob Ewell (James Anderson) who beats
her and tries to kill Finch's daughter Scout (Mary Badham)
and son Jem (Phillip Alford).
Scout narrates this story about her childhood memories. She
and Jem team up with friend Dill Harris (John Megna) in a
subplot involving "Boo" Radley (Robert Duvall) who
ultimately saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell by killing
Ewell with his own knife.
Sheriff Heck Tate (Frank Overton) would later claim that
Ewell fell on his own knife. Tate knew that Ewell was two
legs and bad news coming in the form of one bigoted human
being; there would be no charges filed against Boo.
In the end, the innocent Tom Robinson is found guilty and
shot to death when he tries to flee his injustice.
It is no irony that this 1932 story takes place in Macon
County, Georgia, a cesspool of racially motivated hate even
in 1962 when this film was released.
To Kill a Mockingbird shows that some people will never
have any discernable personal growth in their entire life;
thank God that others do.
Boo, a scary recluse who only came out at night, was
Duvall's first movie role. Duvall apparently stayed out of
the sun for six weeks and dyed his hair blond in
preparation for the role.
Dill was modeled after author Harper Lee's childhood friend
Truman Capote. Finch was the middle name of Harper Lee's
father.
Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay for To Kill a
Mockingbird, won an Oscar and the film also won for Best
Art Direction for a black and white film. The film earned 5
other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, won by
Lawrence of Arabia with Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif.
Gregory Peck picked up the Golden Globe for Best Actor, and
the film also won another for Promoting International
Understanding. Peck has said that this film was his
favorite work.
His character Atticus Finch was voted the top screen hero
of the last 100 years by the American Film Institute. This
is truly a no-spin honor. To Kill a Mockingbird is also
ranked No. 2 on AFI's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time
(It's a Wonderful Life with James Stewart is No. 1).
The evidence of just how emotional To Kill a Mockingbird is
comes from Brock Peters (the accused) who started to
naturally cry while shooting the testifying scene. Gregory
Peck said he had to look past him to keep from choking up
himself.
Racial bigotry is an extremely emotional and hateful
occurrence that continues to linger with us today. Were it
not for a loving God who is color blind, the hurt would be
even deeper and more destructive.
To Kill a Mockingbird is as appropriate today as it was
when it was released. Each generation must work to progress
past the sins of past generations. Tom Robinson may rest in
peace knowing his descendants will then have a better
system of justice.
About the Author:
Ed Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis
and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews,
Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing.
Read my 3-part series on "Secrets Men Don't Want Women to
Know" and reviews on the Broadway musicals "Camelot",
"Chicago" and "The Phantom of the Opera". These are all
excellent films. Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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