To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Harper Lee. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch.
In 1995, the film was listed in the National Film Registry. It also ranks twenty-fifth on the American Film Institute's 10th anniversary list of the greatest American movies of all time, and #1 on AFI's list of best courtroom films. In 2003 the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the greatest movie hero of the 20th century.
Scout" Finch (Mary Badham) is a six-year-old tomboy growing up in Maycomb,Alabama in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression. Along with her brother "Jem" (Phillip Alford), and their friend "Dill" (John Megna), she leads a carefree life. Their father is Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a widower, and an attorney with deeply-held principles. When young Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a black man, is falsely accused of raping a white woman (Collin Wilcox) Atticus is appointed to defend him, although a guilty verdict from an all-white jury is expected by everyone – which is exactly what happens, even though Atticus shows that Tom is innocent. Atticus tries to have the verdict overturned, but Tom tries to escape from jail and is killed. To get back at Atticus, the father of the supposed rape victim (James Anderson) attacks Scout and Jem, but Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), a mentally retarded neighbor whom the children have made fun of and built up into the local boogeyman,, saves them by killing their attacker. The Sheriff decides to promulgate that the death was accidental, and Boo is not put on trial.
