Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee: From Scout to Go Set a Watchman by Shields Charles J

Author:Shields, Charles J. [Shields, Charles J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, History, Classics, Writing
ISBN: 9781250119452
Goodreads: 29370405
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 2006-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

ten

“Oh, Mr. Peck!”

“He’s got a little pot belly just like my Daddy!”

—HARPER LEE

One cold night in early January 1962, Wednesday night services had just ended at the imposing First Baptist Church on Monroeville’s town square when a stranger made his way up the front steps through the trickle of worshippers exiting the sanctuary. By his downcast and rough appearance, he appeared to be homeless.1

“May we help you?” asked one of the ushers.

“I’d like to see the reverend,” came the gruff reply.

The usher assured the man that if he needed a meal or a place to stay, then that could be taken care of. No, that wasn’t the problem, said the stranger. He needed to see the reverend. The usher, beckoning over a couple of gentleman who were busy returning hymnals to the backs of pews, explained the situation. They agreed to accompany the visitor to Dr. L. Reed Polk’s office.

Reverend Polk was just hanging up his vestments when the little group appeared on the threshold of his office. He thanked the ushers, invited the tall and rather well built man in, and shut the door so they could have some privacy.

“What can I do for you?” asked Reverend Polk.

Looking up suddenly and extending his hand, the stranger said, “How do you do, sir—I’m Gregory Peck.”

Peck was in town to meet the Lee family and to soak up some of the setting for the character he was going to play in the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird. The reason he had stopped at the First Baptist Church, he told Dr. Polk, was that he wanted to speak to someone who knew the town and its people. Polk had been the minister at First Baptist for more than fifteen years. Peck apologized for the disguise, but he didn’t want word to get around that he was visiting before he’d gotten a chance to get his bearings and meet the reverend. Dr. Polk was amused and flattered that Peck had come directly to him.

For the next hour, the two men talked about the town and about the man Peck was going to play. The actor asked for particulars about Mr. Lee’s standing in the community, his thoughts and behaviors—anything that “set Mr. Lee apart” would be helpful. Polk stood up and demonstrated how Lee had a tendency to fumble with his pocket watch as he talked and how he paced back and forth. Peck watched intently, making mental notes about how he was going to embody Atticus Finch on the screen.

* * *

Gregory Peck had not been Universal Studios’ first choice for the role. Rock Hudson was offered the part, and he was prepared to do it when the project entered what is now sometimes called “development hell” in Hollywood—the period of massaging the screenplay and wrangling over creative control. But, in a nutshell, Pakula didn’t want Hudson for the part; he wanted Peck. The studio agreed that if the latter would sign on, then they would provide the financing. Pakula sent the actor a copy of the novel.

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