Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #244725 in DVD
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Danish, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch, Finnish, Czech, Bulgarian
• Dubbed in: German, Italian, Spanish
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Ranked 34 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Films, To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South) and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving, responsible parenthood. It's tempting to call this an important "message" movie that should be required viewing for children and adults alike, but this riveting courtroom drama is anything but stodgy or pedantic. As Atticus Finch, the small-town Alabama lawyer and widower father of two, Gregory Peck gives one of his finest performances with his impassioned defense of a black man (Brock Peters) wrongfully accused of the rape and assault of a young white woman. While his children, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Philip Alford), learn the realities of racial prejudice and irrational hatred, they also learn to overcome their fear of the unknown as personified by their mysterious, mostly unseen neighbor Boo Radley (Robert Duvall, in his brilliant, almost completely nonverbal screen debut). What emerges from this evocative, exquisitely filmed drama is a pure distillation of the themes of Harper Lee's enduring novel, a showcase for some of the finest American acting ever assembled in one film, and a rare quality of humanitarian artistry (including Horton Foote's splendid screenplay and Elmer Bernstein's outstanding score) that seems all but lost in the chaotic morass of modern cinema. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Loving Treatment of A True American Classic
Everyone who has ever taken high school English classes will no doubt be familiar with Harper Lee's time honored story. As is mentioned in the accompanying DVD, Fearfull Symmetry, it is second only to the Bible in the hearts and minds of U.S. readers. This is probably also the most often-shown film in said classrooms. No need to reshash the story-line, then.

This DVD set offers an excellent transfer of the famed black and white cinematography of the prolific Russel Harlan. It's a real treat to hear from so many of the people who were involved in the production, from the producer, Alan J. Pakula, to the now grown actors who played Scout and Jim. The audience gains great insights into what made this film so special, not only to the legions of its admiring fans, but to everyone involved in creating it. We learn the scenes that Horton Foote, the screenwriter added from the book to advance character development (the scene showing Atticus putting Scout to bed and her questioning Jim about their mother as Atticus overhears them from the porch, was not in the book, for instance). We get to hear from Elmer Bernstein talk about the genesis of his unforgettable soundtrack. Due credit is also given to Stephen Frankfurt, for his highly creative and original title design, which sets the tone so beatifully for the rest of the film.

There is no question that this is director Robert Mulligan's greatest film, nor that in his portrayal of Atticus Finch, Gregory Peck found the role most perfectly suited to his character and rock-solid persona. This is a film about integrity, essentially, and there is not a false moment in the film. This compilation should be included in any film collector's library. I hope it continues to be shown in English classes until time immemorial. It's message and its relevance to the human condition will never go out of style, one hopes. Major Praise to Universal Studios and to all those involved in assembling this perfect DVD special edition.

BEK

Timeless film still being honored...and deservedly so
In a twist of time and fate I was viewing 'To Kill A Mockingbird' on DVD when AFI released their choice of Gregory Peck's portrayal of Lee Harper's character Atticus Finch, the Southern lawyer who defends a black man unjustly accused of rape, as Hollywood's all-time movie hero. No character in film history has more deserved to be designated as the best 'good guy'. Peck garnered a well-deserved Oscar for his role as a man of understated wisdom and quiet courage and the quintessential father-figure all men should aspire to be and all children long for in their lives. The fact that this film, it's participants, and the basic story are still being honored after 40+ years is a testament to the solid message if offered and the effective manner in which it was presented.

I read this Pulitzer Prize novel when it was published and saw the film upon its theatrical release. The memory of both have long lingered. Enough can't be said about the wisdom of Universal's decision to release this Collector's Edition DVD. The public owes them a monumental 'thank-you'. Interviews with Gregory Peck and commentary by director Robert Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula make us privy to their precious memories surrounding how the charming novel was transformed into the perfect film. Seeing Mary Badham (Scout) and Philip Alford (Jem) (non-professional southern children starring in an Oscar-nominated film) as adults offering insights into their unique experiences was an unbelievable treat. To watch Robert Duvall make his screen debut as 'Boo Radley', and what a debut that was; and to hear his comments nearly a half-century later proves as never before the value of the DVD format and special features.

Watching this film upon its release it was inconceivable that we could one day far in the future hear and see the inside story of its making in the comfort of our homes and from the mouths of the individuals so instrumental in the process of creating a legend.

This DVD is priceless. The details of the making of this time-honored film have now been documented forever in a piece of movie-history that deserves to be savored by any true movie-buff as well as by a generation not yet born at the time of it's release. The message and the method of communicating it are timeless and dear. Please do yourself the honor of viewing this film.

Exceptional extra feature documentary...
Like so many teachers, I've used the VHS version of "To Kill A Mockingbird" to teach the Elements of Literature to high school students.

Today, the internet has a wealth of resources to assist teachers and students using this classic adaptation of Harper Lee's novel. The documentary, "Fearful Symmetry" produced in 1998 to be included on this DVD Collector's Edition, is great resource for teachers, students and all those who love and have been touched by "Mockingbird."

The 130 minute documentary, written and directed Charles Kiselyak, both discusses how the film was made and it's general literary elements. The film is one of the most effectively edited documentaries I have seen, linking key scenes from "Mockingbird" with talking heads, still photos and black and white film taken in various localities across the south.

The documentary narration, written by Charles Kiselyak and read with great emotion by Mary Williams, is literary and quite sophisticated.

The talking heads include: screenwriter Horton Foote, director Robert Mulligan, producer Allan J. Pakula and composer Elmer Bernstein. Members of the cast appearing in the film: Gregory Peck (Atticus Finch), Phillip Alford (Jem), Mary Badham (Scout), Collin Wilcox (Maybella Ewell), Brock Peters (Tom Robinson) and Robert Duvall (Boo Radley).

Director Charles Kiselyak with the help of Harper Lee was able to get three residents to discuss their lives in Monroeville, Alabama. A.B. Blass and Norman Barnett recall life in the small town during the depression, and Ida Gaillard, a retired high school teacher, brings an interesting perspective to what life was (may have been) like in the town Harper Lee used as the model for Maycomb.

The literary and social significance of the "Mockingbird" are discussed by black attorney, Cleophis Thomas, Jr., and Claudia Durst Johnson, author of "Threatening Boundries."

In the DVD's printed supplement, Charles Kiselyak indicates that while Harper Lee was not willing to appear in the documentary, she was very helpful in the production. She was thrilled with the director's plan to open the documentary with the first verse one of her favorite poems, William Blake's, "Tyger:"

Tyger, Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immoral hand or eye, Could frame they fearful symmetry,

Kiselyak's film discusses Lee's novel as both a way of life and a passage from innocence into experience and then back toward innocence -- "Fearful Symmetry."

"Mockingbird" and it's DVD documentary will touch your soul.