Plot: What’s it about?
Whether it’s John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men or the occasional Curious George, many of us that were once students got to read a book in school at any grade or age that had an impact on them. In many cases, these great pieces of literature have turned into feature films that usually would follow reading the book (or watching it to get ahead start or avoidance of the book). Some reached an average level as the book despite some differences but some had the rare quality to equal or go beyond the reading experience. Such is the case of this film that depicts a family in a small town, a case, and the world seen through the eyes of children in glorious black and white and is Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird.
A young lady looks back at her childhood. Through her narration, Scout (Mary Badham), as she was called then was a little girl with a tough side and seem to find herself in a mess of trouble during many of her school days. The people that she relied on in her life the most were her brother Jem (Philip Alford) and most of all her attorney father Atticus (Gregory Peck) who just so happens to be balancing being a single father and defending a black man (Brock Peters) on a case involving the rape of a young woman.
From watching this movie many years, it’s easy to see why this film connects with an audience so much. Deep down we remember the curiosities and the struggles we had as kids and living in small towns as some of us have. For that we share a connection with the Finch family. To Kill A Mockingbird also does the great thing of having a lot of grown up material seen through the eyes of children which is never artificial or sugar coated.
Gregory Peck gives a well deserved winning performance as Atticus Finch, a man who will stand by his principles and the children shall follow along with being a father who doesn’t talk down to his kids and is encouraging even in the down side of vantage. The other great bit of casting are the children (Mary Badham and Philip Alford) themselves who play the roles almost as themselves without giving in to the cliche of child acting and mugging with a air of the obvious, and the audience is there for these kids even at their slightest curiosity of the grownups.
Along with the great cast, To Kill A Mockingbird has a great story about looking back at having a childhood one summer when the change in innocence came and the growing up process began. It has also become equal on cable to The Wizard of Oz and It’s A Wonderful Life in that it has a place where anyone can watch and anyone can appreciate a few times a year. No matter what time or place in life, there is always room for not only Jello but the experience that is To Kill A Mockingbird in the seriousness of the subject matter and going to show looking back sometimes is not so bad as one might think.
Video: How does it look?
To Kill A Mockingbird gets a second treatment on DVD with a beautiful 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer to satisfy the eyes along with an occasional speck every now and then from the age of the print. There’s plenty of highs and lows in the contrast but the clarity of the picture remains constant throughout and it’s very sharp and gives visual justice to this film for it has been well kept and the specks may be apparant but it’s no distraction from this picture.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track gives way to the beautiful Elmer Bernstein score that is one of the most memorable. The effects and score are throughout the outer channels with the majority of the activity given to the dialogue in the center channels. There is a slight muteness being an older film with some of the effects and quality that is not as modernized but its fine for not doing so or for not amplifying things that shouldn’t be amplified. Overall, a very good decent track. This disc also has an English and French track along with English, Spanish and French subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
With this year’s new Legacy Series involving three titles, To Kill A Mockingbird is given a hard case, retaining most of what was on the cover of the original Collector’s Edition of the film but in a more tane monotone version.
As for this edition, what is retained from the previous one are worthy starting with an audio commentary by director Robert Mulligan and producer Alan Pakula and their chat reacts to the film at the same time as well as being informative and going into little stories about the production. It’s a commentary like this that reminds me that the coverage commentary wise of director Pakula was such a missed opportunity in that I’m sure there would’ve been a lot to say about Klute, Parallax View and All The President’s Men along with some of his other great films. Nevertheless, it’s a very good commentary.
Also holding over from the previous release are the films theatrical trailer and production notes on disc one of this two disc edition.
On disc 2 another most welcome straggler is the documentary Fearful Symmetry which covers the making of the film as well as the townspeople with interviews with the majority of players. There’s a lot to cover and enjoy in this neatly wrapped package of a documentary and it’s very well done and any viewer will be glad to know it’s successfully carried over along with cast and crew bios.
What is new to this Legacy Series starts on disc one with the new menu designs along with three short featurettes devoted to Gregory Peck which includes his Oscar acceptance speech, his speech as his tribute from the American Film Institute along with an excerpt from Peck’s daughter at a tribute to him at the Academy.
Another small addition is Scout Remembers which, along with it’s clever box title, is a brand new interview with actress Mary Badham who played Scout in the picture and was deservedly nominated for her work. Incorporating scenes as well as interview on casting and working with Gregory Peck, it’s a very good addition that’s short and sweet.
Onto disc 2 is something that has been long awaited on DVD and what better place to have than amongst this set. It’s the documentary A Conversation With Gregory Peck which covers the actor in his personal life and amongst his speaking engagements across the country about his work. Directed wonderfully by Barbara Kopple and produced by Peck’s daughter Cecilia along with Linda Saffire, it’s an amazing piece that is an example on how to revisit a title and to be a masterful inclusion. In addition to the beautiful package case, there are 11 small reproductions of the original theatrical posters.
Finally, a few good reasons to update an earlier release, the Legacy Series of To Kill A Mockingbird cries for all to buy as it is a well deserved addition to any DVD collection and any updating if all there is remains the Collector’s Edition for a fine film has been given a positive upgrade treatment.
