To Kill a Mockingbird to be shown at Movies on Market Square, Friday, October 17

Knox County Public Library's Movies on Market Square will show To Kill A Mockingbird this Friday, October 17, in downtown Knoxville. The free outdoor movie will start at dusk. Movie goers should bring a blanket or lawn chair for the event. Prior to the presentation of the feature film, the Library will screen a 3-minute newsreel compilation from TAMIS, its archive of moving image and sound. Much of the news footage being shown was taken during Civil Rights protests in 1963 in front of the Tennessee Theatre when To Kill A Mockingbird was first released to the public.

The 1963 classic movie is based on the Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by the same name. Set in 1930s rural Alabama, Atticus Finch is asked to defend a black man in a rape trial against a white woman, played by former Knoxville resident, Collin Wilcox. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice--but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

On Friday, October 24, the Library will close out the 11th annual movie series with O Brother, Where Art Thou, which was rescheduled due to rain from its original date on October 10.

Movies on Market Square is made possible through the generous support of Lusid Media, Downtown Knoxville, The Trust Company, Pilot Flying J, Knox Life Church, The Tomato Head, the City of Knoxville, KUB, Knoxville News Sentinel, the former Metro Pulse, WBIR, B97.5 and Springboard AudioVisual.

“Actress Collin Wilcox was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Highlands, North Carolina, and her interest in theater was sparked by her parents, Jack H. and Virginia Wilcox, who founded the Highlands Community Theatre (now known as the Highlands Playhouse) in 1939. She made her acting debut there as a young girl and appeared in various productions, including "Our Town". In later years, Collin would dutifully return from time to time and perform at her theater alma mater in appreciation.

She attended high school in Knoxville, Tennessee and became the resident ingénue at the regional Carousel Theatre. She majored in drama at the University of Tennessee and studied performing at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, Illinois, as well as improv at The Compass (a forerunner of the Second City troupe) where Paul Sills was the director. There, she worked alongside up-and-coming talents Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Barbara Harris, Severn Darden and Shelley Berman. She eventually migrated to New York in 1957 and earned membership with Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio, who saw great potential in her. She worked there for eight years.” - Excerpt of Collin Wilcox's Bio from IMDB

Published October 16, 2014