Jul 26th  
To Kill a Mockingbird*** (PG)  
(Ipswich Film Theatre)                    

(US 1962)

In the deep South of the 1930s, an upstanding lawyer defends his honour and that of his young children to represent a black man falsely accused of rape.
Despite some jarring Southern drawls on the younger child actors, and grainy black-and-white photography which drains some of the humanity but points up the drama, this is a beautifully sympathetic adaptation of an acclaimed novel (for which a high profile follow-up has recently been published), with quintessential performances and the maximum amount of understanding for its material by the filmmakers, creating quite a unique atmosphere of poignant power.

Written by: Horton Foote, from the novel by Harper Lee.
Producer: Alan J. Pakula.
Director: Robert Mulligan.
Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Brock Peters, Frank Overton, Ruth White, Estelle Evans, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox, James Anderson, William Windom, Robert Duvall, Kim Stanley (narrator).
Photography: Russell Harlan.
Music: Elmer Bernstein.