Nominated for eight Academy Awards, “To Kill A Mockingbird” is powerful cinema that takes on issues large and small and succeeds in a way few dramas – few movies – do, and it’s returning to downtown Peoria’s Apollo Theater on Saturday, August 20.

The 1962 motion picture was last screened as part of 2007’s “Peoria Reads!” program.
Starring Gregory Peck in his Oscar-winning role as small-town lawyer Atticus Finch, “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written by Horton Foote, whose screenplay also won an Oscar. It was based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic novel of intolerance set in the Depression-era South.

The tense and tender film also touches on family and childhood innocence, as its story is recalled through the eyes of “Scout,” Finch’s 10-year-old daughter.

The cast also features Brock Peters, William Windom, Alice Ghostly, Paul Fix and, in his debut, Robert Duvall.

The National Film Preservation Board in 1995 named the 129-minute feature to the National Film Registry; the American Film Institute (AFI) named it the 25th greatest movie of all time and in 2003 named Atticus Finch the 20th century’s greatest movie hero.

Show times at the Apollo are at 7:00 p.m. Donations are $5 and $4 for kids, students and seniors. For details call (309) 673-4343.