Obama hosts screening of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Washington: US President Barack Obama celebrated the 50th anniversary of Gregory Peck starrer ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by hosting a special screening of the beloved Hollywood classic in the Family Theater at The White House. Among specially invited guests at the yesterday`s screening were students and the actors of the 1962 film. "The President welcomed guests including local students from Washington-Lee High School, Mary Badham Wilt, the actress who played Scout, and Veronique Peck, widow of Gregory Peck who played Atticus Finch," the White House said. Obama also acknowledged the American Film Institute for their commitment to the fine arts and NBC Universal and USA Network for their efforts to commemorate this important film. The President thanked Wilt for "bringing the character of Scout to life" and Veronique Peck and her family for coming to the White House in support of the late Gregory Peck who would have been 96 years old today. Obama described Harper Lee`s novel as a timeless American classic and one of his favorite books. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a film adaptation of Harper Lee`s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. The film features Peck as a Depression-era lawyer struggling against a prejudiced system to exonerate an African-American man falsely accused of raping a white girl even as he struggles to protect his children --Scout and Jim-- from the social backlash. The coming-of-age story has been told through the eyes of six-year-old Scout as she learns about injustice, human frailties and the definition of heroism through his father and his fight for justice. PTI