In January 2012, Universal Studios Home Entertainment will bring To Kill a Mockingbird to Blu-ray. Director Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, an Alabama lawyer who defends an African-American man accused of raping a white woman. Finch’s legal efforts profoundly affect his two young children who are already struggling with the challenges of early adolescence.
The winner of three Academy Awards – Best Actor: Gregory Peck; Best Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead, & Oliver Emert; and Best Adapted Screenplay: Horton Foote – To Kill a Mockingbird also features James Anderson, Frank Overton , Brock Peters , William Windom , and, Robert Duvall in his feature-film debut .
Newly restored from high resolution 35MM original film elements, Universal’s Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack presents the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with both 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 DTS audio tracks. In addition to Universal’s U-Control, BD-Live, pocket BLU, Keyboard, and uHear functionalities, the disc contains a number of bonus materials, including:
- Feature commentary with director Robert Mulligan and producer Alan Pakula
- Fearful Symmetry feature-length documentary
- A Conversation with Gregory Peck feature-length documentary
- 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics featurette on the film’s restoration process
- Gregory Peck’s 1963 Academy Award acceptance speech and his remarks upon receiving the AFI Life Achievement Award
- Excerpt from Cecilia Peck’s Tribute To Gregory Peck
- Scout Remembers featurette with actress Mary Badham
- Original theatrical trailer
Universal is also releasing a commemorative Limited Edition Collector’s Series Blu-ray edition with all of the same features.
