Mulligan handles the kids so well, whether Mary Badham and Phillip Alford are lying on handrails, zipping in and out of the house with huge energy, clambering around trees, or just looking bashful, they appear perfectly natural. I had forgotten though that while it's Scout's coming of age story it's also Jem's - his two key moments are when he bravely refuses to leave Atticus while the lynch mob's there, then when he insists on accompanying Atticus to tell Tom Robinson's wife he's dead.
The maid Calpernia (Estelle Evans) is a sort of step-mother.
Broken, I realised, is a sort of update. Gregory Peck's performance is beautifully understated - he won the Oscar. His court summation is mainly played in a beautiful single take. With John Degna (Dill), Brock Peters, Frank Overton (sheriff), Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, James Anderson, Collin Wilcox Paxton.
It's beautifully lit by Russell Harlan and Elmer Bernstein's score is wonderful (both were Oscar nominated). Produced by Alan Pakula. Horton Foote won Oscar for his screenplay, art direction won for Alexander Golitzen (with Henry Bumstead and Oliver Emert).
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