Looking very much like a eight-year-old Katharine Hepburn, Mary Badham's gangly tomboyish Scout Finch turned out to be the best part of To Kill a Mockingbird. Gregory Peck is restrained and serious and his interpretation of Atticus Finch is an appropriate homage to one of the most beloved characters in American literature. I wish the film had been longer, that some of the characters had been fleshed out more vividly – Miss Maudie was too bland and Mrs. Dubose was mostly absent except for one acidic dialogue. The voiceover – spare and melodramatic – grew on me towards the end, and I was sad when the film ended with Scout lingering on Boo Radley's porch. It reminded me strongly of my own childhood when, innocent of television and video games, kids could still have their trysts with the uncertain outdoors.
Mirkwood 