Grand Classics launched in Aspen, Colorado on December 29th 2005 with wonderful Aspen hosts Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell presenting To Kill A Mockingbird. The event was held at the beautiful Wheeler Opera House.

The evening benefited Goldie’s Bright Light Foundation which creates programs that teach children how to understand the ways their minds work, and how their thoughts and feelings affect their behavior. Uniting scientists and educators to help children collaborate, overcome conflict, and explore creativity, the Foundation currently pilots studies on how to enhance a child’s sense of self, capacity for joy, and resilience.

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell:

Kurt Russell: “… I did a movie a couple of years ago with Cameron Crowe who wrote a character in a movie. The movie was Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise and I play the psychiatrist and that character that I played was somewhat inspired by the character Atticus Finch…so that’s my connection to this movie.”

Goldie Hawn: “My connection is that it is one of my favorite movies…and the thing about film, they can be entertaining, you can laugh, you can do a lot of things…you can have action films, you can have… historical dramas and so forth but when you literally get one movie that can do everything… it’s my favorite film. And this film was beautifully directed, beautifully scored, everyone was on the same page, great acting, and it was about something. Those are my favorite movies.”

KR: “Are you saying that, To Kill A Mockingbird, is an action flick?”

GH: “No. It is an action flick. It’s a horror movie on top of everything else. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. I mean when they go into… with Boo Radley… that scared the hell out of me… it’s like the perfect movie… If you can entertain and teach… OH YEAH!”

“…this film was beautifully directed, beautifully scored, everyone was on the same page, great acting, and it was about something. Those are my favorite movies.”

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) is the much acclaimed classic film adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning first novel. Directed by Robert Mulligan, the film is a powerful, endearing, and provocative portrait of a small, racially divided Alabama town in the year 1932. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), an honorable and dignified attorney who is also the single father of two small children, Scout and Jem, agrees to defend a young black man, who is falsely accused of raping a white woman. Despite the possibility of losing the respect of his peers and colleagues and risking the safety of his own children, he pursues his quest and challenges the intolerance of the entire community. Told through the innocent perspective of a child, To Kill a Mockingbird sets out to do more than just preach about racism, it asks the viewers to question their own morals and convictions and come out of the viewing experience with a new perspective on mankind. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture (Alan J. Pakula), Best Director (Robert Mulligan), Best Supporting Actress (Mary Badham), Best Cinematography (Russell Harlan), and Best Music Score (Elmer Bernstein). It was honored with three awards, Best Actor (Gregory Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay (Horton Foote), and Best Art Direction (Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead, and Oliver Emert).

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