“Liberal” in the classic sense. It’s a little dicey for me because of the politics of Gregory Peck (I did read the book too).
Yes, I thought it was very interesting because I always felt Peck was the ideological counterpoint to Finch.
I taught a review of the film for middle schoolers and held Atticus out as a model ~ a somewhat conflicted model ~ of conservative virtue, but especially prudence and forebearance.
We discussed the scene with the rabid dog and how it wa a metaphor for evil, which you always want to keep at a distance and the conflict that transpires when evil has to be directly confronted.