• What do you look for in a movie? What do you consider most important in judging a film?

• Some people think that an adaptation should be faithful to the book in letter or in spirit. Others think that a film should be faithful only to the art of film, refashioning the story in its own terms. What obligations do you think the film maker has to the original source?

• If you were to make a film about your early life, when you were about six to nine years old, what might you include? Who would be the main characters? What would be the major scenes? What tone or themes would be likely to dominate the film?

• Did the movie measure up to your expectations as a viewer? What scenes engaged you most or least? Why?

• If you've read Harper Lee's novel, compare the movie to the book. How did viewing the movie compare to the experience of reading? Notice what the film changed or left out. Why do you think these characters and moments were altered or deleted? For example, when a lynch mob confronts Atticus before the trial, Scout's innocent interference dispels the threat of violence. Compare the scene as it occurs in Chapter 15 of the novel to the screenplay (pages 70 to 75) and the final film.

• What other films does To Kill a Mockingbird remind you of? How are they alike? How do they differ?

• Compare Scout's memories of growing up in Alabama during the 1930s to your own experiences of childhood. How does the film compare to the images of childhood represented in other movies or television programs you have seen? How do you account for the differences and similarities?

Scene Analysis

Scout's Room and the Finch Porch at Night

The scene in Scout's room presents an intimate bedtime portrait of father and daughter. Reading to Atticus from Robinson Crusoe, Scout asks about Boo Radley and is admonished to "leave those poor people alone." When Atticus tells her it is getting late, Scout asks to see his watch and reads the inscription to "my beloved husband." Atticus explains that the watch will go to Jem one day, as is "customary," and assures Scout that she will get her mother's pearl necklace and ring. As Atticus says good night to the children and sits on the porch, we hear Scout asking Jem about the woman who died when she was too young to remember.

The dialogue and basic actions are the scriptwriter's responsibilities. Sometimes Foote lifts dialogue word for word from the novel, often abbreviating speeches in the interest of economy. Sometimes, he gives narrative lines to certain characters, transmuting narrative into drama. Here he has fashioned a scene from moments scattered through the novel, using Atticus's watch as an occasion to reveal delicate feelings about Mrs. Finch, the missing center of the family.

But the script is only a blueprint. The actors must construct a performance from Foote's words, interpreting them as nuances and gestures. Mary Badham, playing the innocent six-year-old, speaks primarily in questions, pausing as she reflects on things she is just beginning to understand. Gregory Peck, as Atticus, always formal and controlled, manages to betray just a trace of emotion when Scout reads his watch. When he sits motionless on the porch, listening to the voices of his children reminisce about their mother, his feelings seem all the stronger for not being outwardly expressed.

Robert Mulligan, the film's director, bears the ultimate responsibility for guiding the actors and the technical crew. This includes cinematographer Russell Harlan's camera work, Oliver Emert's set design, Alexander Golitzen and Henry Bumstead's artwork, and Elmer Bernstein's music. Notice how the lighting helps to set the time and mood. Watch how the camera moves in through the curtained windows, then cuts to a position inside the room, always keeping Scout on the left side of the frame and Atticus on the right, even when it shifts back and forth between their points of view. Cutting (splicing separate shots together into a continuous sequence) is the task of the editor, Aaron Stell, who matches particular actions - like the closing or placement of the book - so seamlessly that few viewers ever notice the cuts. Pay close attention to the sounds, not only to the dialogue, which fades as the children fall toward sleep ("Did you love her?" "Did I love her?"), but also to the music, which resumes its nostalgic motif at certain moments, and the sound effects, like the faint chirping of crickets, which anchor the moment in an audible world.

More Scenes for Analysis

The objects that appear behind the opening credits include a pocket watch, harmonica, pearl necklace, whistle, marbles, and a child's drawing of a bird - items that gain meaning as the story unfolds. The sequence is a good introduction for the story's symbolism and themes. It also shows (to quote Harper Lee again) how a film can have "a life of its own as a work of art." Notice how the camera moves in, like a child's vision, to closeups of these valued objects, tracking from left to right along the row of treasures carefully arranged. Notice how the nostalgic music and humming of a child create a mood. And notice what happens to the drawing at the end of the sequence.

Boo Radley's Porch.

The night scene in which the children sneak up to the Radley house dramatizes their fascination with and their fear of the unknown. How do the filmmakers use lighting, music, sound effects, and camera work to heighten suspense? How suspenseful does the scene seem to viewers today?