Well, dear readers, what becomes a legend most? Well, I’ll tell you what becomes a legend most, for why should I keep such things from you dear readers? In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, what becomes a legend most is a gorgeous transfer on Blu and Ray. And that’s just what To Kill A Mockingbird has. Before I tell you about it, let me just say that if you were to peruse these inane discussion boards peopled by people who literally think they know everything without having any actual knowledge at all, especially in terms of not having seen these films projected, you’d think this transfer were ordinary, or worse, bad. The outcry of DNR and scrubbing and waxy faces was hilarious to read – most of which was coming from folks who hadn’t actually seen the Blu and Ray. Our very own Mr. Jeffrey Kauffman gave the transfer five stars and the outcry was loud and vociferous on that discussion board. How DARE he give it a five-star rating? The brute. The lout. Well, brute or not, lout or not, he was right. The elements of this film are not in great repair but you would not know that from this transfer. They have done spectacular work in getting everything to look rich and beautiful and very much like the 35mm release prints looked back in 1962. There is only one caveat and most people simply will not notice it or care about it. The film has about ten optical push-ins – where in post production the director decided he wanted a closer shot and so they optically zoomed in, which, of course, creates a lot of extra grain and some softness so that those shots are very obvious. The people doing the transfer made the decision to even out and remove some of the grain so that it matched the outgoing and incoming shots on either side of it. All but two of those optical zooms are less than six seconds, so those, for me at least, are not bothersome at all – you don’t even notice. But there are two shots that are of longer duration – one is Mayella Ewell’s big speech in the court room – that one lasts for over a minute and the clean up there is not good and they should not have done it. And then, in the last scene of the film, Scout has a conversation with Atticus and that one is also about a minute long and also looks terrible. For me, that is no reason to condemn an otherwise beautiful transfer, but condemn they do, along with a lot of nitpicking and niggling other comments.
To Kill A Mockingbird is a perfect film. They have lost the ability to make this kind of film and it’s a damn shame. The film has such simplicity and yet is so artful in that simplicity – it’s a textbook lesson in subtle, beautiful filmmaking. There isn’t a misstep in the entire film – from Robert Mulligan’s wonderful direction, to Horton Foote’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s masterpiece (for me, one of the two greatest book-into-film adaptations ever done – the second is Rosemary’s Baby), to the photography of Russell Harlan (and which looks stunning on this Blu-ray), and, of course, the perfectly perfect cast, starting with Gregory Peck as Atticus, the role he was born to play, Mary Badham as Scout, Philip Alford as Jem, John Megna as Dill, Frank Overton as Heck Tate, Brock Peters as Tom Robinson, the great Colin Wilcox as Mayella, and James Anderson as the loathsome Bob Ewell – and every single other person in the cast. And the icing on all of it is Elmer Bernstein’s score, which is one of the most perfect scores in all of cinema – a marriage of image and music that is simply sublime. Today, no composer would be allowed to write such a score. He’d be asked to rip off some other score, a bunch of tuneless pad that has no correlation to what’s actually going on in the film. In any case, I watched, I loved, and I’m raving. Highly recommended by the likes of me.
Yesterday, I got up early, didn’t jog, proofed, and had an early lunch meeting. After that, I picked up no packages (once again, Ontrac ultimately delivered in the late afternoon, but I didn’t feel like going back), and then came home. I then spent most of the afternoon proofing and got a huge amount done – I will definitely finish today and then begin entering fixes. I already discussed the little things I want to do in the first 300 pages with muse Margaret and she’s fine with all of it. And there really hasn’t been anything significant since then – just a few word changes and stuff like that. So, hopefully by Friday I can get this to my three proofers.
Then I watched Mockingbird and as usual was reduced to a puddle of tears at the end. I got some potential good news about a couple of Kritzerland projects, so that was nice – we need ’em. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m tired and must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall try to jog, I shall finish proofing and begin entering all the fixes, deletions, additions, I shall hopefully pick up some packages, I shall do a couple of errands and whatnot, and maybe I’ll watch another motion picture on Blu and Ray.
Tomorrow, I shall get the book to my three proofers, and then other than doing a few things, I’m going to try to relax and let my brain clear.
Once again, let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Pony, for today is the birthday of our very own dear reader and Mr. Oatmeal, Ben. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own dear reader and Mr. Oatmeal, Ben. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN DEAR READER AND MR. OATMEAL, BEN!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, finish proofing, begin entering fixes, hopefully pick up packages, eat something light but amusing, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite films of Gregory Peck, and what are your all-time favorite book-into-film adaptations? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall hopefully find out exactly what becomes a legend most.