Adrian Villagomez

Condensing a beloved work of literature into a feature film must be one of the most daunting tasks an artist can face. Characters are cut, plot lines trimmed, and something is inevitably lost in translation. But rarely, perhaps once a decade if we're lucky, a novel's characters and story are truly brought to life before our eyes. Such is the case with To Kill a Mockingbird.

Gregory Peck lives and breathes as Atticus Finch, a devoted father and lawyer who is steadfast in his pursuit of justice when asked to defend a black man in the racially segregated South. This was the role of a lifetime for Peck, and he carries the film to the same renowned status occupied by the novel it's based on. It has been a few years since I first read To Kill a Mockingbird, but after watching this 1962 classic, I feel I've read it again.