To Kill A Mockingbird

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:00am

So we rented this last night and decided we must own it...though I'd seen it before, It had been so long ago, that I wasn't prepared for the fountain of tears this movie would produce. I think it is one of the finest films ever made of an also remarkable book.
Anyone else agree?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:00am

I agree.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:02am

I've wondered why they never adapted it for Broadway. Maybe because the film is so memorable.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:03am

The film is remarkable, but I was never a fan of the book. I think I'm the only one.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:04am

"Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:05am

I need to revisit the book at some point - but I'm in the middle of Prayer for Owen Meany at the moment and it's a long one - so I'll get to it later this year.

[AndyHardy]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:32am

"I said, 'Hey,' Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment getting along?"

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:43am

I cry every single time I see this film -- and since I own it, I view it often -- it is truly one of my favorite films and the novel is perfection!

This is a classic example of perfect film making and a true "role of a lifetime" for Gregory Peck.....

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:43am

I agree. While I haven't seen the movie or read the book in a year or two, it is an amazing story and my favorite book of all time, along with one of my favorite movies.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:52am

redhot, do yourself a huge favor - do NOT rent the movie Simon Birch, which is "based" on A Prayer for Owen Meany. I would venture to say it's the worst adaptation EVER. Of anything. In any medium.

[AndyHardy]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 11:57am

Rath, I totally agree with you about Simon Birch. What the heck??!! Incomprehensible.

Back to Mockingbird...

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:02pm

"Don't you say Hey to me you ugly girl..........."

[zippyjen]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:03pm

i've never seen the film but the book is a classic as well. I crired hystericlly at the end. I guess i need to rent the movie now.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:07pm

Rath - yes I know about Simon Birch - dreck through and through. I believe it may be impossible to film Owen Meany because the character is truly unique to everyone who reads it.
Some books are better left to the reader's imagination to fill in.

[CJR]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:03pm

TKaM is my all time favorite book. Liked the movie -- never loved it though.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:10pm

Did anyone else get a little sick when Owen Meany was mentioned in a thread about To Kill A Mockingbird?

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:14pm

I LOVE the opening montage of the film when the camera pans across the various toys the kids have acquired from Boo Radley.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:19pm

This is one of my all-time favorite novels and films. Gregory Peck is... well, let's just say that amazing is an understatement. One of the greatest characters in literature.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:43pm

Sueleen - whaddaya mean? Owen Meany is one of the best books (if not the very best) I've ever read - I pick it up every few years and re-read it. Taste is subjective, I know - but have you read it???

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:46pm

I'm with redhot, Sueleen. But everyone's taste is different, for sure.

[orion59]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:07pm

But you certainly can't put John Irving's writing in the same league with To Kill A Mockingbird. I mean, Truman Capote versus John Irving? Come on....Yes, I know TKAM was written by harper Lee but, we all know who did the majority of the writing on that book.

[MatureDignity]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:16pm

Absolutely one of my favorite films. Who wouldn't want Atticus Finch as a dad? It was on TCM not too long ago.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:25pm

Well, of course everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. I just find Irving’s writing trite and obvious. His attempt at creating Hallmark catch phrases is as irritating as his blatant symbolism. And yes, I have read quite a few of his books on the insistence of a big fan of his. I kept thinking I was missing something and I would eventually get it. I realized after finishing Owen Meany that what you read is what you get: Treacly pop psychological babble. But to each his own….Keep passing those open windows!

But back to Mockingbird…does anyone else wish the film included the subplot of Jem and Mrs. DuBose? I cry every time I read that part of the book.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 4:27pm

if you get the dvd - there is a documentary on the making of the film - the scenes with Jem and dubose were filmed but the director, when editing, felt that they stopped the momentum of the film, so they edited those scenes out.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 4:46pm

Oh my Goddess...are the scenes on the DVD? I assumed it was not included because of the drugs.