Gregory Peck is small-town lawyer "Atticus Finch" who is drafted in on a seemingly routine case defending a black man "Tom Robinson" (Brock Peters), accused of raping a young white girl. I say routine, because no-one in their town of "Maycomb" doubts the verdict the jury will return. What ensues is a testament to Peck's Oscar-winning acting abilities as he must get to the truth amongst a community where that is the least of anyone's concerns. Racism, bigotry and hatred are rife and soon, after he resists their repeated attempts to go with the flow, these odious emotions are pointed at him and his two young children "Jem" (Philip Alford) and "Scout" (Mary Badham). By way of a side-story, the kids are obsessed with a mysterious house in which lives the enigmatic "Boo Radley" (Robert Duvall), a lad with learning difficulties that is rarely, if ever, seen during daylight hours. The courtroom drama leads events to turn positively sinister; the scene with the two children returning home through the woods from their fancy dress party has to be amongst the most effectively tense pieces of cinema ever made. Clearly the story addresses the specific issues pertaining to the depression-era attitudes in America's southern states, but the potency of the original Harper Lee story; and the expertly crafted characterisations from all here ensure that scenario is transferable to many others around the world, and even now resonate succinctly. Rarely do the nuances of a novel like this transfer well to cinema, but Robert Mulligan and Horton Foote have done a sterling job at adapting this most human of stories that ought to be compulsory viewing - even now, 60 years after it was made.
