The Making of "To Kill a Mockingbird" Quiz

Answer: Harper Lee

This was the first book she ever published. She won a Pulitzer Prize for it. Her second book was published in 2015.

Answer: Monroeville, AL

Harper Lee based the book on her experiences growing up in Monroeville. There are characters in the book that were based on real people, or her ideas of what they were like, such as with the Radley house. There was a real house on her street, that people would not walk in front of, because they were afraid of the people inside.

Answer: False

Unfortunately, it was impossible to film in Monroeville. Although the movie was filmed in the 1950s, there were already strip malls, Dollar Stores, etc. that changed the old-fashioned image as beautifully described by Harper Lee. They found a town in San Fernando Valley, CA to use in the filming, but they ended up building a set on a backlot of Universal Studios.

Answer: True

Talent scouts combed the south for talented children. Jem, played by Phillip Alford, and Scout, played by Mary Badham were respectively 13 and 9. They did not know each other.

Answer: What children did when they sat in front of the piano

When he began composing the score, he sat in front of his piano, and thought about the children, and how the audience was seeing the movie through the eyes of children. What did children do when they sat in front of the piano? They played and made up simple compositions.

Answer: Truman Capote

Truman Capote was shipped off to stay with his aunt in a small southern town every summer. He was a runt of child, abandoned by his father and mother, who needed to cut loose, and explore the dark side of his aunt's neighborhood. When Horton Foote, the screenwriter, found out about this, his creative juices took flight.

Answer: He dyed his hair white.

On his first day of shooting, Robert Duvall appeared on the set with white hair. This was his idea. It gave him a look of transparency, or of being ghost-like.

Answer: True

He disliked her so much that he secretly wanted her to die when he let go of the tire. He hoped that she would go crashing into a tree, or some other solid object.

Answer: Her father's watch

Gregory Peck used the watch many times during the filming of the movie. One of the most memorable scenes was with Scout at her bedside. She asked to see the watch. Atticus told her that Jem would get the watch someday, and she would get a ring, and a pearl necklace that belonged to her deceased mother.

Answer: Bacon and eggs

They had to actually eat their food over and over, until they got the scene right. Phillip and Mary really acted like brother and sister off camera. The scenes where he was annoyed with her were easy, because he really was annoyed with her! She made fun of him all the time.