Directed by: Robert Mulligan
Starring: Robert Duvall, Gregory Peck, Frank Overton, Brock Peters, John Megna, Rosemary Murphy
Revealing mistake: When Atticus kills the mad dog, you can see its hind legs being pulled by someone off screen. (00:43:05)
Revealing mistake: Scout's hand is made of fiberglass as can be seen in the close up when they are attacked.
Revealing mistake: In the final wide shot of the courtroom scene, as Atticus sits down, Phillip Alford (Jem) seems to think the shot has cut, as he suddenly hops up from his position slumped against the banister and playfully drums his hands on the railing.
Factual error: The time period of the film is 1932. In the opening title sequence, you see someone playing with Crayola Crayons (I assume it's Scout). One of the Crayons is labeled "Melon". Binney & Smith didn't sell the Melon colored crayon until 1949. Crayons produced from 1903 to 1948 sold for a nickel and contained only eight colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black.
Atticus Finch: Did you rape Mayella Ewell?
Tom Robinson: I did not, sir.
Atticus Finch: Did you harm her in any way?
Tom Robinson: I did not.
Trivia: Mary Badham was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role as Scout. At the age of nine, Badham became the youngest ever nominee in that category.
Question: Why did everybody in the courtroom go silent when Tom said that he did chores for Mayella because he felt sorry for her?
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Answer: At that time in history, Tom, a black man, was considered inferior to Mayella, a white woman. When he says he "felt sorry" for her, it is interpreted as him thinking he is above her or better off in some way. Regardless of his good intentions, for him to think of himself as being in a superior position to help her was considered unacceptable because it was seen as a black person rising above their lower place in society.
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