“To Kill a Mockingbird” a Favorite After All These Years
I couldn’t believe my luck the other day when I ran across a site that had a movie trivia quiz about the best movie I had ever seen. It was To Kill a Mockingbird. I bore people to death talking about how much I love this movie. In fact, I think my cats are threatening to move to the other end of the house and stop sleeping on our bed if I don’t stop going on and on about it. But that’s their problem. They obviously don’t know what’s good. Hey, they wash each other’s fur with their tongues, so how much could they realistically know about good taste? Really, you’d think animals that eat gross canned food and little green treats for their breath every day would like a break from all the monotony and enjoy a classic film now and again. But no! Yet, I don’t let that stop me from throwing on a DVD, having a big bowl of popcorn and drinking an iced tea. That’s my favorite movie-watching snack. Never mind that I have to vacuum up all the popcorn particles that escape, and roll down my lap and onto the floor. It’s worth it.
Anyway, back to To Kill a Mockingbird. What a great movie! It was shot on the Universal lot, but it looked much more realistic than a studio movie, due to the efforts of production designer Henry Bumstead, who actually saved a block of Pasadena houses from destruction and had them moved to the Universal back lot. This created the effect of being in 1930’s Macomb, Alabama, where the story is set. Because the story was in black and white, the whole thing feels as moody as those crumbling old houses. What brought it alive were the performances by Gregory Peck and a host of other tremendous actors who gave their all to tell an important story. I highly recommend seeing this movie – with or without your cats.