To Kill a Mockingbird.
 

Celebrating the 50th anniversery..On USA sat nite at 8pm eastern..minimum commercials. Have seen this movie 4-5 times over the years..If you haven't seen it catch it tonite...Gregory Peck won an Oscar for his performance as Atticus Finch the defense atty...One line of his from the trial is memorable,
Mary Badham who played Scout, his daughter, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was 10 years old..

it's a fantastic book, and the movie was true to it. one of the few movies i know of that didn't significantly alter anything from the book. anyone who hasn't read it, i absolutely 100% recommend it.


and a bit of movie trivia-this was the first movie role (albeit with no lines) for the fabulous robert duvall.

Right on about the book/movie...not many movies measured up to the book..this one did..

Another movie i think came close to the book was The Exorcist...I remember reading the book and chills ran up my spine..i was spooked..lol...movie came pretty close...

My all time favorite book was the politcal thriller The Day of the Jackal..there were two movies made, both pretty bad...have read all of Frederick Forsyth's books...

To Kill a Mockingbird.
 

Classic movie. Other Gregory Peck movie I really like from the same time period is "On The Beach."


Ocala Mike

Geez, didn't know you were that old...lol...Yes, my wife and I saw it at the theater and both left with a feeling of dread...like no hope...was filmed 3 years b4 Mockingbird......There was a remake of the Beach in 2000 with
Armand Assante...didn't see that one...

You ever see the tv movie, The Missiles of October...very good..

"William Devane gives a compelling performance as President John F. Kennedy in this dramatization of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Based partly on Kennedy's book Thirteen Days, the film recounts the 13 days in October 1962 that nearly led to nuclear war."...Martin Sheen as Bobby was very good...

To Kill a Mockingbird.
 

I'm a senile citizen, big, you know that. I remember that show with Devane; biggest deal about it was how he captured the JFK look in it. Wasn't Ralph Bellamy also in that?


Ocala Mike

P.S. Alive and kicking at RP and leading at Del Mar. Got booted off at the Meadowlands tonight, though.


Ocala Mike

The look and the speech...and Sheen as well as Bobby..
Bellamy played Adlai Stevenson..

Had the winners of the first two at Rem, tho the 2nd one was a DH..

The character of Dill was modeled after Lee's childhood friend, Truman Capote, known then as Truman Persons. In the movie, Dill lived next door to Scout during the summer. In real life, Truman lived next door to Lee with his aunts while his mother visited New York City.

Love this movie. Did see it last night for the umpteenth time.

Also saw On The Beach when it was first released. Yeah, I'm old! So what!:)

Interesting...and speaking of Capote, how about his In Cold Blood 1967 with Bobby Blake...read the book and saw the movie in the theater...both chilling, really spooked my wife...

That book was a page turner. Capote can spin a phrase. Reading that book and watching the movie was like watching a train wreck. You just couldn't take your eyes away. They were two scary dudes, for sure. Capote had a "thing" for the Robert Blake character - Perry Smith.

There was a good movie about Truman Capote researching this book and the close releationship he developed with Perry Smith. Released in 2005 "Capote" starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLg-GdtHO2c

Not sure but think i saw Capote movie..Hoffman would be a perfect fit for him.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, i probably saw that one but don't remember much...seeing Lee J. Cobb's name reminded me of the great movie,
12 Angry Men , Henry Fonda, Jack Warden, Jack Klugman and other good ones..watched that one a number of times....

One more and i'll let you go...You ever see the tv movie Gideon's Trumpet..
Henry Fonda stars...His case led to the law that all persons charged with a crime have the right to an attorney..His lawyer, Abe Fortas, played by José Ferrer argued the case before SCOTUS and later became one of them..His presentation was priceless....I had my granddaughter watch it in her first year of law school...

You must be a mind reader because I can't remember mentioning 4 Horsemen on this forum:D Even though it got panned mercilessly, I still like that movie. And the music from it (Andre Previn) is my favorite movie sound track. Deja vu, right?!~:)

12 Angry Men is another classic movie. I don't think I saw Gideon's Trumpet. Will have to watch for it. Sounds good. I love movies with a legal theme. I cried when they stopped running Paper Chase on tv.

When i played your youtube clip the name 4 horseman came up and i checked it out on netflix...they also have Gideon's trumpet, yes see if you can find it somewhere...José Ferrer's presentation was stirring....

Ah, I see. I posted the wrong youtube clip.

Here's the one for Capote if you haven't checked into it yourself yet.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379725/

I will look into Gideon's Trumpet. Thanks.

Top 25 legal theme movies

http://www.abajournal.com/gallery/top25movies/

and To Kill a Mockingbird is #1.

To Kill a Mockingbird.
 

While we're on the subject of classic movies of yesteryear, I give you this one with a backstory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYbZktWNP_w

My father was a professional saxophone/clarinet player in the Stork Club rhumba band during the 50's, and was a close friend of Manny Balestrero, the subject of this film. He would have been the sax player in the clip (:38-:53), except that Warner Bros. decided not to use the real Stork Club band when filming due to union issues.

My dad had to sign a release from Warner Bros., and I think he received a small payment for it, probably because during the film he is peripherally referred to, although not by name. When the detectives are questioning Manny in the stationhouse trying to find a motive for the robbery, they ask him about his gambling on the horses, and Fonda has a line something to the effect that he plays a dollar apiece with his friend on a horse once in a while. That friend would have been my father.

The film is a very underrated Hitchcock classic, and it supposedly had a great impact on many directors of the "film noir" genre.


Ocala Mike

Great story, Mike. I did see this movie. I'll have to see it again after your telling us about your Dad.

To Kill a Mockingbird
 

I left out the fact that I met Manny and one of his sons myself once when my dad and I went to a Giants baseball game at the Polo Grounds probably in 1951 or 1952 with them. I would have been around 9 or 10, and I remember Monte Irvin hit a tremendous homer over the right field roof. My dad and Manny were inveterate Giants fans, while my brother and I were Dodgers fans; lots of arguments around the dinner table, I can assure you. The only thing I remember about Manny was that he was very unassuming and quiet; definitely not the armed robber type.


Ocala Mike

Got lots to comment on later...gotta get ready for dinner....