Beliefnet’s Movie of the Month: To Kill a Mockingbird
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 8:00 am
I was thrilled to have a chance to write about one of the greatest movies of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Movie of The Month for Beliefnet’s Entertainment Corner. It is the rare case where a great book inspired a great movie, which perfectly evokes the perspective of Scout, the young daughter of lawyer Atticus Finch, as he takes on the defense of a black man accused of assaulting a white woman. The reason that it lives on as more than an artifact of the Civil Rights era is that it is a timeless story of a father and his children, of the way that courtesy (or the lack of it) transforms our relationships, the growing understanding of children as they begin to think about the world, and what justice means.
And, it has that unforgettable Elmer Bernstein score.
Every family should share this marvelous film and book.
Turner Classic Movies starts off the new year with a day of movies about angels and ghosts, including some of my favorites:
“A Guy Named Joe” Spencer Tracy is a fighter pilot who is killed in action and returns as an angel to help his devastated girlfriend (Irene Dunne) find a new love.
“Cabin in the Sky” God and the devil battle for the soul of a wounded gambler in this classic film featuring rare performances by some of the leading African-American performers of the early 20th century, including Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters (singing “Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe”), Louis Armstrong, Rex Ingram, and Duke Ellington.
“Topper” A carefree young couple (Cary Grant and Constance Bennett) are killed in an accident and come back to liven the life of a straight-laced attorney.
“Matter of Life and Death” David Niven plays a pilot whose negotiation with the heavenly powers may be real or may be his delirious fantasy.
“Angel on My Shoulder” A gangster (Paul Muni) goes to hell and makes a deal with the devil — he can return to earth to get revenge on the man who murdered him if he will impersonate an honest judge and make everyone think he is corrupt.
“Here Comes Mr. Jordan” Remade as “Heaven Can Wait” with Warren Beatty and “Down to Earth” with Chris Rock, this is the classic about a boxer who is accidentally taken to heaven too soon by an over-eager angel and returns to earth in the body of a wealthy man.
Each year, the Library of Congress announces the names of films added to the National Film Registry — an assortment that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significant. This year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 600. New additions include the delightful comedy “Born Yesterday,” featuring Judy Holliday’s Academy Award-winning performance; and Truman Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” starring Audrey Hepburn. Among the documentaries named to the registry are “The Times of Harvey Milk,” a revealing portrait of San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official; “One Survivor Remembers,” an Academy Award-winning documentary short about Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein; and Ellen Bruno’s documentary about the struggle of the Cambodian people to rebuild in the aftermath of Pol Pot’s killing fields. The creative diversity of American filmmakers is evident in the selections of independent and experimental films, which include Nathaniel Dorsky’s “Hours for Jerome,” Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” and the Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Test film of 1922. Among the cinema firsts are “They Call It Pro Football,” which has been described as the “Citizen Kane” of sports movies; and the 1914 version of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which features the first black actor to star in a feature-length American film. The actor Sam Lucas made theatrical history when he also appeared in the lead role in the stage production of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1878. You can nominate your own candidates for next year’s list. This year’s additions:
My favorite Christmas story is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and I enjoy as many versions as possible every year. I love it in just about any of its movie incarnations. “Bah, humbugs” have been muttered by Scrooges played by top-notch dramatic actors like George C. Scott and Albert Finney, former Miss America Vanessa Williams, former Fonzie Henry Winkler, former Ace Ventura Jim Carrey, and former “Saturday Night Live” star Bill Murray. I love them all. I’ve already listened to the Tim Curry and Jim Dale audio versions available on Audible.com, both delightful. And I have the book, of course, with wonderful illustrations by Ronald Searle.
Here are my very favorite versions on film and I try to watch each of them every year.
5. “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” Who better to play Scrooge than his namesake Scrooge McDuck? And who better for the part of the unquenchable Bob Cratchit than Mickey Mouse? This compilation DVD includes other Christmas goodies “The Small One” and “Pluto’s Christmas Tree.”
4. “The Muppet Christmas Carol” has the distinguished actor Michael Caine as Scrooge and the equally distinguished Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit. Special mention of A Sesame Street Christmas Carol as well.
3. “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” The voice talent is outstanding, with Broadway star Jack Cassidy (father of teen idols David and Shaun) as Bob Cratchit and of course Jim Backus as Mr. Magoo, in this version an actor playing the part of Scrooge. The tuneful songs were written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, who later went on to write “Funny Girl.” (The legend is that their song “People” was originally written for this movie.)
2. “A Christmas Carol” This MGM classic features the top stars of the 1930’s. Watch for future “Lassie” star June Lockhart as one of the Cratchit children — her real-life father Gene Lockhart played Bob. (He also appears in another Christmas classic, as the judge inMiracle on 34th Street.) Reginald Owen plays Scrooge and this one has my favorite Fred, Barry MacKay. I love Dickens’ description of Fred’s laugh: “If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge’s nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me, and I’ll cultivate his acquaintance.”
1. “A Christmas Carol” This is the all-time best, with the inimitable Alistair Sim as Scrooge. There has never been a more embittered miser or a more jubilent Christmas morning rebirth. When he orders that turkey for the Cratchits and walks into his nephew’s celebration at the end, everything Dickens hoped for from his story is brought to life.
