In Other Words: Pacific Whims

As an Asian film fan, it's a miracle I keep my day job at this time of year.

In Other Words: Pacific Whims

As an Asian film fan, it's a miracle I keep my day job at this time of year.

Donnie Yen, "Flashpoint"

Here Donnie Yen wears two hatsÑas an actor in his signature role of a dedicated cop , and as an action choreographer who stages electric fight sequences using Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Bollywood By the Bay

Every morning I wake up with Bollywood movie tunes going through my head. Every. Single. Morning.

Bollyhood, a Concept, a Cafe

Ivan Jaigirdar's joint offers a screen filled with Bollywood eye candy, plates filled with South Asian food, and drinks to warm both.

Frameline, Scalped

Jeff Iorillo on the fourth festival trailer that he's written and directed for the S.F. International LGBT Film Festival.

Frameline, Scalped

Jeff Iorillo on the fourth festival trailer that he's written and directed for the S.F. International LGBT Film Festival.

Frank Lee on 4 Star Theatre's Second Life

Last week, theater operators Frank and Lida Lee won the battle to save the 4 Star, and announced they'd purchased the building.

Mary Badham, On a "Mockingbird" Mission

I was six months old when I went to my first movie — and I swear I remember images from it. You see, I sometimes have flashes of shots from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” but all of them are upside-down. My mother tells me that I saw the film from a bassinette on the theater seat — thus began my life-long love affair with the film. I grew up in Alabama, which is also the setting of the book and the film. Every year, one of the three television stations we received would show “To Kill a Mockingbird.” My mom would gather the whole family in front of the TV, and we would watch the film — again. One year, it was opposite the Super Bowl. Now, the two things you don’t mess around with in the South are religion and football. But despite my brothers’ pleas, Atticus Finch took precedence over the Super Bowl at our house.

What is it about this film that — even today — inspires such devotion? Mary Badham, who played the memorable tomboy, Scout, believes as long as racism, bigotry, and intolerance exist, the film and the book provide a starting point for discussion and self-examination. Hence her own dedication to a film that has remained a driving part of her life for over 40 years — a dedication which prompted her to travel the world with the film sharing her experiences while making the film, growing up in the South, and fighting to spread the film’s message of tolerance and compassion. Badham visits San Francisco with the Marc Huestis program “In Praise of Mockingbirds,” Sun/19 at the Castro. I got a chance to speak with her last week.

SF360: Despite the fact that you never acted before, why do you think the filmmakers cast you as Scout?

Mary Badham: I think because I was a tomboy. The coloring was right. I looked like I could have been Gregory Peck’s daughter. I had a real big imagination as a kid — which they were looking for. The haircut was right. Everything they were lookin’ for just kind of jelled in me. They wanted kids who were real Southern children who were very natural and not actors.

SF360: When I watch the film, I’m struck by how natural you seem with Phillip Alford (who plays Scout’s brother Jem) and John Megna (Dill). It feels like we’re watching a real brother and sister.

Badham: Yes, they would let that happen on the set naturally because here were John and Phillip, and John just idolized Phillip and followed him around like a puppy dog. And here was this ratty little girl who wanted to get in the middle of whatever they were doing. You know, I just wanted somebody else to play with. And so, evidently we would have these big fights — I don’t remember any of it, but Phillip seems to think we fought all the time.

SF360: Phillip says he tried to kill you by rolling you in the tire toward a truck.

Badham: (Laughing.) Yeah, when it came to the tire scene they were so excited because ‘Oh, finally we can get rid of this menace.’ They thought they were going to do away with me. Too bad, so sad.

SF360: It’s seems like many women, including myself, see themselves in Scout. Why do you think the character is so memorable to women and girls?

Badham: I think because she was allowed to just be herself. Even Miss Dubose fussed at Atticus because he allowed her to wear the clothes that her brother had outgrown. But it was the Depression, a dress at that point would have been very expensive and money was in tight supply. And the fact that she was so educated. Atticus let her read and had real conversations with her. That’s the main role of a parent — to engage their children in conversation and teach them basically how to function in an adult world. Scout took to that tooth and nail. She wasn’t cut in the same mold as the little proper Southern young lady who had to wear dresses and not discuss anything important. It was that way even when I was growing up. Women were to be seen but not heard. They were not engaged intellectually much. So for Scout to be able to put her ideas out there, to see her think through situations is really important because you don’t see that very often. Most children when they would ask a question — I see it today with parents working and being tight on time — parents will be short with their kids… not wanting to engage the kids in conversation because they’re tired and they don’t have time. But that’s so critically important. I think that’s what we see with Atticus. He does engage his children in conversation, and he does try and let them think through situations and expand on them.

SF360: And that’s especially true in this film wi