To Kill a Mockingbird

Two people sitting on a porch swing; the adult is wearing a suit and vest, while the child leans against them in a light-colored shirt, with a house in the background.

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.

From Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, director Robert Mulligan created a memorable film worthy of its Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. By presenting his adaptation through a child’s eyes, Mulligan vividly visualizes the racial tensions found in Lee’s classic novel, conjuring powerfully innocent emotions about racism at its worst and a man of principle at his best.

Gregory Peck won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the upstanding lawyer Atticus Finch, whose closing argument has continued to inspire generations of viewers to stand up for justice and the truth.

Part of our "Cinematic Court Cases" series. Courtesy of Universal Pictures and Swank Motion Pictures.