Movies
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Screens at The Hi-Pointe Saturday Morning
“One time Atticus said you never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them; just standin’ on the Radley porch was enough. The summer that had begun so long ago had ended, and another summer had taken its place, and a fall, and Boo Radley had come out.”
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD plays at The Hi-Pointe Theater ( 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117) Saturday, August 8th at 10:30am as part of their Classic Film Series
Come to the Hi-Pointe Saturday and see Atticus Finch before he became a racist! Harper Lee’s new book Go Set a Watchman – written in the 1950s but only now being published – is turning out to be a hugely controversial. In Watchman, we discover that Atticus Finch, the heroic father figure from Lee’s beloved 1960 Southern novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is a bigot who attends KKK meetings! Yikes! For fans of the book and the beloved 1962 film adaption, it’s like learning there is no Santa Claus.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is one of the few examples where novel and movie for one really have something to say and where both versions are outstanding achievements in their own right. Harper Lee’s bestseller won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the movie – made with Lee’s full support and produced with the same love for the material – received eight well deserved nominations for the Academy Award. The film won three, including Best Actor for Gregory Peck, a portrayal tailored so convincingly after Harper Lee’s real life father that a lifelong friendship between actor and writer developed. Even Peck’s granddaughter would bear the name “Harper”, to appreciate the mutual appreciation. Family is also on the forefront of the film: Peck really epitomizes the role of the Southern lawyer Atticus Finch who is set to defend a black man (Brock Peters) accused of raping a while girl, convinced of his innocence. Finch has two children he needs to teach values of humanity, and these are based on compassion, courage and fighting for the right cause – against all odds. Actor and character shared these principles, and it shows.
What makes book and movie so special is that everything is seen through the eyes of the children rather than from a more objective perspective. That way the storytelling provides an unusual and fresh angle when we find ourselves stumbling into events more or less by accident and learn what’s really at stake as the youngsters go along. Yet while Atticus’ fight against prejudices may seem to be doomed, hope never dies – and it is a given that the viewer will walk away deeply moved by this picture. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a masterpiece about childhood, racism, prejudice, integrity and love, and it excels in dealing with all of these issues.
Now you’ll have the chance to see TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD on the big screen when it plays as part of The Hi-Pointe Theater’s Saturday Morning Classic Film Series! Doors open at 10am TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD begins at 10:30! Admission is only $5!!
The Hi-Pointe is located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117. Their website can be found HERE
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