To Kill A Mockingbird – Legacy Series
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: A- Film: A-
How powerful can a quiet drama be? If it is Robert Mulligan’s To Kill A
Mockingbird (1962), it is one of the most powerful dramas in cinema
history. Forerunning the last Golden
Age of Hollywood filmmaking by a few years, it was a sign of things to
come. Sadly, many saw the film as a
permanent move forward in exposing racism and injustice in society, one that
could not be reversed. However, that
would not be the case like it should have been and is maybe the only aspect of
the film not covered in the extremely thorough Legacy Series DVD special
edition set.
In his brilliant performance as Atticus Finch, Gregory
Peck draws on dignity, wisdom, cleverness, education, responsibility and a true
sense of justice to try to protect and defend an indigent African American man
(the late, great Brock Peters) against what is essentially a kangaroo court
lynching. He has three children who
figure very prominently in his life and definitely in the narrative. Against his baser instincts, he keeps
turning the other cheek to set an example of passive resistance to his children
against the hate that surrounds them.
Unfortunately, that became part of Liberal Mythology (and some non-radical
Christian thought) that was overused to the point that a backlash Conservatism
was able to undermine. Though often
useful, it is impossible to use this in all cases, though to stop radical
politics and protest, was sold as such.
Finch does use it throughout and properly.
It is then with some reservation and concern that as
deserving as it may be, Finch is named the American Film Institute’s #1
hero. Yes, he is a hero for the times,
and the cycle of courtroom dramas that began with Norman Jewison’s …and
justice for all (1979) with Al Pacino showing that times had changed and
the Finch approach could no longer work when the system is so corrupt. That Hollywood has had such a series of
films where justice can always be claimed from the courtroom has a sense of
falseness of its own that real life cases have proved so is its own myth. However, it is better than mob rule,
populist-fueled fascism, political correctness or theocratically-determined
justice and simply talking the law into one’s own hands.
When watching the film, one is reminded of everything from
the silent cinema, to the more serious Westerns, to the legacy of poisonously
racist cinema of D.W. Griffith, to its horrific return of the repressed in Night
Of The Hunter, to the mature black and white cinema Hollywood was producing
at the time before color eclipsed that great era, to the original film Noir era
(1941 – 1958) and of a maturing of a cycle of filmmaking aimed to children
(B-movies, Our Gang/The Little Rascals, movie serials). In all this, it is a major turning point in
world film in ways it is not often recognized as being. To Kill A Mockingbird has its own
quiet horrors, one that is ongoing and keeps returning, as it will continue to
until justice is served.
The film also has an amazing cast offering Robert Duvall,
Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Alice Ghostley, Ruth White, William Windom and
Richard Hale some of their greatest screen moments, this from actors with
amazing track records. Peck is so great
that their work is often forgotten. If
anything, it should give viewers and serious film fans (and especially
filmmakers) yet another reason to appreciate this film for the classic it is.
The 1.85 X 1 black and white image is a bit grainy, but
looks fine otherwise, anamorphically enhanced, with fine gray scale, depth and
detail. Cinematographer Russell Harlan
had shot so many Westerns and dramas set in the South, that he could not miss
in making this so authentic, though special mention should go to two of the
greatest production designers of all time: Henry Bumstead and Alexander
Golitzen. Universal has come up with a
fine print here and it is transferred very well.
The sound has been remixed here for 5.1 in Dolby Digital
and DTS, with the DTS a bit better.
When I told people this film was in DTS, many went into shock and could
not imagine either why or what would be remixed. Most were not familiar with the great score by Elmer Bernstein,
more influential than many realize, but the restored audio deserves such
treatment. However, other films of the
time have come out in DTS one way or the other. Theatrical reissues of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window
(1954) and Orson Welles’ Touch Of Evil (1958) were in DTS, also
Universal Pictures like this one. Sony
did DTS editions of From Here To Eternity, Bridge On The River Kwai
(import DVD reviewed elsewhere on this site) and Stanley Kubrick’s Dr.
Strangelove (1964, only two years after this film), while Disney did their
1940 Fantasia that way on DVD.
The fact of the matter is that DTS is about clarity and fidelity for
films form any era, and it serves this film by adding a warmer, more realistic
and naturalistic-sounding presentation of the material. This also serves to eliminate the distance
between today and an ugly event of the past, which echoes an ugly legacy of
racism as relevant today as ever.
Extras on DVD 1 include Peck accepting the Academy Award
for Best Actor for the film, another clip with peck getting the AFI Lifetime
Achievement Award, a farewell to Peck from the Academy as hosted by his
daughter Cecilia, Actress Mary Badham on her work with Peck in the film decades
later, production notes, the original theatrical trailer and an outstanding
audio commentary by director Mulligan and producer, future ace director (the
late, great) Alan J. Pakula for the entire film that is one of the best for a
classic film you will ever hear. DVD 2
adds a 95 minutes-long Conversation With Gregory Peck that covers the
personal and professional life of Mr. Peck very thoroughly and bluntly, plus Fearful
Symmetry, a 1998 documentary (letterboxed 1.78 X 1 that run 90 minutes in
itself) on the making of the film. The
high quality, hardbound foldout case with Digipaks also has a pocket inside
that holds an envelope. Inside, high
quality paperboards offer 11 miniature reproductions of worldwide poster art
for the film and a 12th card with a message from Harper Lee
herself. That is a great final touch to
one of the best special editions on the market to date. To Kill A Mockingbird deserves this Legacy
Series edition because it is offers one of the most important legacies in
cinema history.
- Nicholas Sheffo
