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“To Kill A Mockingbird” will return to movie theaters around the country for a limited two-day event later this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the film’s release.
As part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series, Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies will offer two days of special showings of the iconic 1962 movie. In addition to the original film, viewers at these special showings on Sunday, Nov. 13, and Wednesday, Nov. 16, will see special behind-the-scenes material provided by Turner Classic Movies.
“Experience one of the most significant milestones in film history like never before with To Kill a Mockingbird,” Fathom Events wrote on the event page. “Screen legend Gregory Peck stars as courageous Southern lawyer Atticus Finch — the Academy Award-winning performance hailed by the American Film Institute as the Greatest Movie Hero of All Time. Based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about innocence, strength, and conviction and nominated for 8 Academy Awards, watch it and remember why ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.'”
The American Film Institute (AFI) named “To Kill A Mockingbird” the best courtroom drama of all time. In fact, the film appears on five of the AFI’s lists celebrating excellence, including greatest films, most inspiring stories and best film score.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” began as a groundbreaking novel written by Harper Lee and released in 1960. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book, which is widely read in schools around the country, delves into serious topics of racial inequality and rape. Lee based her story on life in Monroeville, Alabama, the town where she grew up.
Lee told The Guardian back in 2015 that she and Peck became close during the making of the film.
“In that film, the man and the part [Atticus Finch] met,” Lee said during the interview. “As far as I’m concerned that part is Greg’s for life.”
Lee died in 2016. During her lifetime, she resisted other attempts to adapt “To Kill A Mockingbird” for stage and screen.
Currently, a theatrical adaptation of the book written in 2018 by Aaron Sorkin is playing at The Kennedy Center as part of a national tour. Actress Mary Badham, who played protagonist Atticus’ daughter Scout in the original film, takes on the role of Mrs. DuBose in the stage production.
Badham, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Scout, couldn’t resist the chance to tackle a different version of the beloved story.
“I went to see the Broadway production and was just totally overwhelmed,” Badham told WTOP. “It was so brilliantly done. Aaron is a magnificent writer. I never thought to be a part of it at all, then they called and kept asking … I was totally unsure about doing the part … It’s been a real learning experience for me. Theater is something totally new to me.”
If you want to find where the two-day screenings of the original “To Kill A Mockingbird” will be shown in your area in November, head to the Fathom Events event website to enter your ZIP code and get the details. Then mark your calendars for an unforgettable experience at the movies.
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