50 years ago: To Kill a Mockingbird, the adaption of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, released

To Kill a Mockingbird Released: December 25, 1962 Studio: Universal Genre: courtroom drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 0.59 Worldwide: -- Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 256.90 Worldwide: --

Directing: Robert Mulligan Screenwriting: Horton Foote Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford, John Megna, Brock Peters, Robert Duvall, Kim Stanley, Collin Wilcox, James Anderson Review: This “coming-of-age, autobiographical story” FS “of racial injustice and lost childhood innocence” MSN was based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.” MSN It is “a rare example of a movie being as good as – some would say better than – the book.” TV The “evocation of small-town past and childhood gone” TV makes for “wistful nostalgia” TV which makes the movie’s “condemnation of racial bigotry and needless cruelty all the more potent.” TV Gregory Peck delivered an “elegantly restrained performance” TV as Atticus Finch, a widowed “Lincolnesque, compassionate attorney” FS “in a racially divided Alabama town during the Depression.” A07 He takes on an unpopular case defending Tom Robinson (Peters), a black man “falsely accused of raping a ‘white-trash’ woman Mayella Violet Ewell (Wilcox).” FS The story is “seen through the eyes of his young daughter,” A07 Scout (Badham) although it is narrated by Scout as an adult (Stanley). At home, Atticus strives to teach her and her older brother, Jem (Alford), “about compassion and the evils of prejudice.” A98 The siblings and their friend Dill (Megna) “are as fine as any cast of kids ever assembled.” TV Not only do they recognize the “prejudiced hatred of the bigoted townspeople” FS but they discover how they are engaging in the same behavior in how they react to “the mute, mentally-retarded Boo Radley,” FS played by Robert Duvall in his screen debut. The movie showed that “the best way for well-intentioned filmmakers to move audiences toward generosity is to curb Hollywood’s natural inclinations – over-spending, oversimplification, and over-reliance on cheap emotion.” ML Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” ML Movieline (Dec. 1995). “100 Best Movies Ever Made” by Virginia Campbell and Edward Margulies MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 2 – Best Actor (Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay Nominations: 8 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Badham), Best B/W Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction Lists: First posted 6/11/2023.

Lawrence of Arabia released 50 years ago today

Lawrence of Arabia Released: December 16, 1962 Studio: Columbia Genre: epic Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 44.82 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 543.89 Worldwide: 545.00

Directing: David Lean Screenwriting: Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson Starring: Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer, Jack Hawkins Review: This “sweeping, breath-taking, cinematic” FS “blockbuster biography of enigmatic adventurer T.E. Lawrence is that rarity, an epic film that is also literate.” LM “One of the greatest films of all time,” FS it is “staggering in its scope, execution and impact” BFI and “remains a moving and memorable film-going experience.” BFI The story, which is based on Lawrence’s book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “follows the true-life exploits of…T. E. Lawrence…and his transformation from an enigmatic eccentric to a hero.” FS During World War I, “the complex, English military leader” VD “comes to believe he can give Arabia back to the Arabs.” A07 He “courageously unites the warring Arab fractions into a guerrilla front” FS “to fight alongside the British against the Turks in the 1914-17 campaign.” BFI Lawrence is “played with charismatic brilliance by 30 year-old Peter O’Toole.” BFI In his Oscar-nominated performance in his first leading role in his first major film, he became “an instant star.” LM The movie also “introduced Sharif to an international audience.” A07 In a film “full of scenes and performances to treasure…perhaps the best remembered is the arrival at the isolated well of Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) and the long shot of his ride across the shimmering sand.” BFI The “sumptuous desert imagery” T98 was as much a star as the actors. The movie is “stunning in its scope with absolutely awesome” VD and “rich cinematography of the immense” FS and “shifting desert so superbly photographed in glorious 70mm by Freddie Young.” BFI Sources: BFI British Film Institute (1999) “The BFI 100: A Selection of the Favourite British Films of the 20th Century” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” T98 Time Out (1998). “Readers’ Top 100 Films” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 7, including Best Picture, Best Director, Cinematography, Score, Editing, and Art Direction Nominations: 10 – including Best Actor (O’Toole), Best Supporting Actor (Sharif), Best Adapted Screenplay Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 7/31/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.