"You never know someone until you step inside their skin and walk around a little." This is sage advice coming from one of the great fatherly screen performances in movie history. Gregory Peck won the 1962 Oscar for portraying the earnest, noble and moral Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. It was a role that defined his career, but it was a role that almost didn't get made due to the movie's controversial issues of the day. I mean, for a Southern attorney in 1932 Alabama, walking around inside the skin of victims of racism, poverty and ignorance is potentially dangerous. To Kill A Mockingbird stands as Hollywood's first attempt to strike a knockout punch to stubborn racist attitudes...and this was before the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties. According to the film's director, Robert Mulligan, "The studio didn't want to touch this property until Gregory Peck said, "I want to do it!" So, you have to credit Peck for sticking his neck out for this film. Turns out, Peck knew he had box-office clout at the time. He was on a winning streak, having scored with Gentleman's Agreement and Roman Holiday in the years leading up to Mockingbird. Peck knew a good script and a great character role are slam dunk reasons to make a film - and he was proven correct!
The movie is a poetic tale about the developing maturity and lost innocence of two motherless children who learn character and compassion during one confusing summer in a small Southern town. Uniquely, the entire movie is seen through their young eyes. We understand the children's fear and the admiration they feel for their principled and loving father as he upsets the local community to defend an innocent black man of rape. We also question the rumors surrounding the mysterious man who lives next door, just as the children do in the movie. Is this man they call Boo a crazy child killer who lives chained to his bed? Yikes! Not exactly the fun family movie people were expecting in 1962. However, to the film's credit, the movie stays quiet and realistic and never slips into cheap melodrama or forced sanctimony.
Looking back, it's Peck's performance that steals the show. His portrayal of Atticus Finch will always be the father that everybody wishes they had in their lives. Peck knew he had something special in Atticus Finch. According to legend, in the margin of Gregory Peck's shooting script were written the following words that best sum up his character: Fairness, Courage, Stubborness and Love.
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