FILM · 1962 · USA
To Kill a Mockingbird
- Directed by
- Robert Mulligan
- Runtime
- 129 min
- Studio
- Pakula-Mulligan, Brentwood Productions, Universal Pictures
26 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (26)
- #001
Gregory Peck's closing summary speech, which runs 6 minutes and 30 seconds, was completed in a single take.
- #002
Mary Badham (Scout) and Gregory Peck (Atticus) grew close during filming and stayed in touch for the rest of his life. Peck always called her by her character's name, "Scout," while Badham called him "Atticus."
- #003
Brock Peters, who played Tom Robinson in the film, delivered a tribute to Gregory Peck on Monday, June 16, 2003, the date of Peck's funeral and burial.
- #004
After being offered the role of Atticus Finch, Gregory Peck read Harper Lee's novel quickly in a single sitting and immediately called director Robert Mulligan to say he would gladly play the part.
- #005
It is Robert Duvall's first officially credited film, and he has no dialogue in it.
- #006
While filming his testimony scenes, Brock Peters (Tom Robinson) began to cry without rehearsing it that way, and Gregory Peck (Atticus Finch) said that, rather than look him in the eyes, he looked behind him so as not to break down himself.
- #007
Robert Duvall avoided the sun for six weeks and, according to the story, dyed his hair blond for the role of Arthur "Boo" Radley, a character who spends most of his life as a recluse. Radley is based in part on Harper Lee's memories of Alfred "Son" Bouleware, who lived with his family in a dilapidated, mostly boarded-up house just a few doors from Lee's home. After the young Alfred was involved in an act of vandalism, his father confined him to the house. In the book and film, he is said to leave the house only at night because sunlight hurts his eyes, which may suggest that Boo Radley suffers from albinism (a lack of pigment in the skin, hair and irises).
- #008
Atticus Finch was modeled on Harper Lee's own father, Amasa "A. C." Lee, a lawyer and Alabama state legislator who in 1923 defended a black client, a case that partly inspired the novel's trial. Like Amasa Lee, Atticus Finch was not only a lawyer but also a state legislator and a widowed single father. Gregory Peck met Amasa Lee, then 82 years old, and formed a strong bond with him. Sadly, Lee died while the film was being made, and Harper gave Peck his watch and chain. Peck wore that same watch and chain at the following year's Oscars ceremony, where he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
- #009
The watch used in the film was a prop, but after filming was completed Harper Lee gave Gregory Peck her father's watch because he reminded her so much of him.
- #010
Director Robert Mulligan quickly learned not to rely on many takes, because he noticed that the child cast became less natural and spontaneous after the first few takes.
- #011
When Mayella Ewell swears her oath at Tom Robinson's trial, a close look shows that she does not actually touch the Bible. Instead, she lets her hand hover just above it, because she knows the testimony she is about to give accusing Tom of assault is false.
- #012
Despite universal praise for the novice screen actress, Mary Badham chose not to capitalize on her striking film debut. Badham retired from acting and married a teacher near Richmond, VA, spending most of her time raising her two children. Phillip Alford took a significant role in James Stewart's epic Shenandoah (1965) and quit acting at 22, when his value as a child actor had passed. He later became a successful businessman in Birmingham, AL.
- #013
The film was added to the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress in 1995.
- #014
This film was reported to be Gregory Peck's favorite of his own works.
- #015
In later interviews, Gregory Peck said he believed the scene that won him the Oscar was the one in which he quietly leaves the courthouse after losing the case, while the upper gallery silently stands in respect and the reverend says, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."
- #016
Phillip Alford told his mother he did not want to go to the audition for the role of Jem Finch, but when his mother told him he would not be able to miss half a day of school, he immediately decided to go.
- #017
Gregory Peck traveled to Monroeville, AL, with Robert Mulligan and Alan J. Pakula to meet Harper Lee's ailing father. True to the story, Amasa Lee had defended a black man accused of crimes he did not commit. Meeting the real man helped Peck's performance immeasurably. Lee was also a widower, though his wife did not die until all four of Harper Lee's children were grown, when she was 25.
- #018
Despite their characters' closeness, Mary Badham and Phillip Alford did not get along during filming. Mary would mimic Phillip saying his lines off camera so that she could not concentrate. This may not have been malicious, however. In the scene where Atticus gets into the car with the children to speak to Helen Robinson, Mary is saying Gregory Peck's lines (0:44:37). It seems unlikely she was trying to break Peck's concentration. Instead, it is possible that she had memorized everyone's lines for each of her scenes and could not know what the next line would be until she heard the one immediately before it.
- #019
Gregory Peck's granddaughter, Harper Peck Voll, was named after Harper Lee.
- #020
Truman Capote, who grew up alongside Harper Lee, also knew the inspiration for Arthur "Boo" Radley and planned to base a character in one of his short stories on him. After seeing how well the character was portrayed in Lee's novel, he abandoned the idea.
- #021
Mary Badham, who was nine years old during filming, became the youngest girl ever nominated for an Oscar (for Best Actress in a Supporting Role), and she happened to lose the award to another child actor, fourteen-year-old Patty Duke, for The Miracle Worker (1962).
- #022
In June 2003, Atticus Finch was named the number one movie hero of the last 100 years in the American Film Institute's (AFI) special "100 Years, 100 Movies, 100 Heroes & Villains."
- #023
The courthouse replicated for this film still stands in Monroeville, Alabama, and is now a museum dedicated to the book, this film, the life of Nelle Harper Lee and the people represented in this work. In addition, the town of Monroeville (population roughly seven thousand) stages an annual community play based on the book, performed in the courthouse and courtroom. The play draws glowing reviews and is a success, especially considering that it features no trained actors and that the Monroeville cast has performed it at The Kennedy Center and in Israel. Tickets usually sell out within a few hours of going on sale. The town has many historical markers with information about Lee and Truman Capote. The courthouse is no longer used for actual court proceedings. Because much of it is old, it is neither air-conditioned nor heated. A new courthouse stands next to it on the town square.
- #024
Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the Radley house, despite its deteriorated condition, has a far more grand design than the others, reflecting the family's foremost social standing in the community before the scandal over son Arthur's sins.
- #025
Robert Mulligan and Alan J. Pakula traveled to Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, but found it unsuitable for filming because the town had been modernized. The production team therefore built its own ideal version of Monroeville, Alabama, on a backlot at Universal. When Lee saw the recreation, she said it was perfect.
- #026
Horton Foote was initially reluctant to adapt the novel into a screenplay because he felt he could not do the film justice.
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