Inherit the Wind (1960 film)

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Inherit the Wind
Inherit-the-Wind-poster.jpg
Directed by Stanley Kramer
Screenplay by
Based on
Produced byStanley Kramer
Starring
Cinematography Ernest Laszlo
Edited by Frederic Knudtson
Music by Ernest Gold
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
  • June 25, 1960 (1960-06-25)(Berlin Film Festival)
  • July 21, 1960 (1960-07-21)(Dayton, Tennessee)
[1]
Running time
128 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million [2] [3]
Box office$2 million (worldwide) [3]

Inherit the Wind is a 1960 American drama film directed by Stanley Kramer and based on the 1955 play of the same name written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. It stars Spencer Tracy as lawyer Henry Drummond and Fredric March as his friend and rival Matthew Harrison Brady. It also features Gene Kelly, Dick York, Harry Morgan, Donna Anderson, Claude Akins, Noah Beery Jr., Florence Eldridge, Jimmy Boyd and Gordon Polk.

Contents

The script was adapted by Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith. [4] Kramer was commended for bringing in Young, as the latter was blacklisted and forced to use the pseudonym Nathan E. Douglas.

Inherit the Wind is a parable that fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means to discuss McCarthyism. [5] Written in response to the chilling effect of the McCarthy era investigations on intellectual discourse, the film (like the play) is critical of creationism.

A television remake of the film which starred Melvyn Douglas and Ed Begley was broadcast in 1965. Another television remake that starred Jason Robards and Kirk Douglas aired in 1988. It was remade for television again in 1999, co-starring Jack Lemmon as Drummond and George C. Scott as Brady.

Plot

In the 1920s, in the town of Hillsboro in an unknown state, a female voice sings "Old-time Religion" as schoolteacher Bertram Cates is arrested for violating state law by conducting a lesson on Charles Darwin's Descent of Man. The event makes headlines around the world. Matthew Brady, statesman, three-time presidential candidate and Biblical scholar, volunteers to assist Prosecutor Tom Davenport.

A huge parade welcomes Brady, who asks Rev. Jeremiah Brown to stand beside him as he addresses the crowd. Witty and cynical E.K. Hornbeck of the Baltimore Herald, an influential newspaperman, seizes the opportunity to announce that Cates' defense attorney will be the equally well-known Henry Drummond, one of America's most controversial legal minds and a notorious agnostic.

Tourists begin to flood the town. Hornbeck welcomes Drummond and takes him on a tour of the circus Hillsboro has become. Meanwhile, in the courtroom, Judge Coffey deals with reporters, Hornbeck and photographers. Later, at the hotel Brady, his wife Sarah, and Drummond reminisce, regretting the loss of the close friendship he once had with the Bradys. That night, Rev. Brown rallies the townspeople, calling down God's vengeance. When his daughter Rachel, who is engaged to Cates, protests, he condemns her. Brady admonishes Brown by quoting Proverbs 11:29: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind", and sends the crowd home.

Taking advantage of her confiding to him and Sarah, Brady calls Rachel to the stand, forcing her to tell how Cates left the church when her father declared that a child who drowned was not worthy of heaven because he was not baptized. He browbeats Rachel until Sarah cries out, "Matt!", and Brady seems to come to himself. Cates tells Drummond not to cross-examine Rachel.

Drummond has six scientists as witnesses, but the prosecution successfully objects. In an impassioned speech, Drummond paints a grim picture of the consequences of allowing a wicked law to prevail and asks to withdraw from the case. The judge orders him to show cause the next morning for why he should not be held in contempt. John Stebbins, the father of the boy who drowned, offers his farm as collateral for Drummond's bail.

That night, the crowds march with a burning effigy singing that Cates should be killed. When Drummond tells Hornbeck he needs a miracle, Hornbeck tosses him a Bible, exclaiming, "Here's a bagful!". Drummond clasps the Bible to his chest, beaming.

In court, he calls Brady as a witness. Brady welcomes this challenge, but becomes increasingly flustered by Drummond's questions, until he is forced to confess that some Biblical passages cannot be interpreted literally. He loses control, and court is adjourned. In their hotel room, Brady weeps on Sarah's shoulder.

WGN Radio is in court to announce the verdict, which is "guilty". Lacking a precedent, the judge fines Cates only $100. Brady tries to enter a speech into the record, but Drummond successfully moves that the court be adjourned. Brady begins his speech, but in the chaos, few pay attention. He becomes increasingly agitated, and after stating, "Faith of our fathers… we shall be true to thee…'til death", he collapses and dies.

In the courtroom, Hornbeck and Drummond are alone. For the obituary, Hornbeck asks what Brady said to Rev. Brown, to which Drummond cites chapter and verse. Hornbeck marvels at how Drummond can call himself an agnostic in spite of this. Drummond accuses Hornbeck of being a heartless cynic, a lonely man who will be buried alone, yet Hornbeck states that Drummond will be there, as he leaves.

Drummond picks up the Bible and Darwin's book in either hand, balancing them as the voice from the beginning sings, "Mine eyes have see the glory…". Drummond slams the books together, and the camera focuses on his face as he walks out with them under his arm.

Spencer Tracy, Harry Morgan, and Fredric March during the questioning of Brady by Drummond Inherit the Wind trial.jpg
Spencer Tracy, Harry Morgan, and Fredric March during the questioning of Brady by Drummond
The film's trailer

Cast

Uncredited roles include Richard Deacon, George Dunn, Snub Pollard, Addison Richards, Harry Tenbrook, Will Wright. Actress and singer Leslie Uggams sings both the opening and closing songs a cappella.

Kramer offered the role of Henry Drummond to Spencer Tracy, who initially turned it down. Kramer then sought March, Kelly, and Eldridge as co-stars, and Tracy eventually agreed to make the film. However, none of the other co-stars had been signed at the time; Tracy was the first. Once Tracy signed on, the others signed too. [6]

Production

Background

Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial, which took place between July 10 and July 21, 1925, and resulted in John T. Scopes's conviction for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to a high school science class, contrary to a Tennessee state law. The characters of Matthew Harrison Brady, Henry Drummond, Bertram Cates and E. K. Hornbeck correspond to the historical figures of William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow, Scopes, and H. L. Mencken, respectively. However, Lee and Lawrence state in a note at the opening of the play on which the film is based that it is not meant to be a historical account, [7] and many events were substantially altered or invented. [8] [9] [10] For instance, the characters of the preacher and his daughter were fictional, the townspeople were not hostile towards those who had come to Dayton for the trial, and Bryan offered to pay Scopes' fine if he was convicted. Bryan died shortly after the trial's conclusion. He died in his sleep five days later, on July 26, 1925, at the age of 65. [9] [10]

Political commentator Steve Benen said the following about the drama's inaccuracies: "Scopes issued no plea for empathy, there was no fiancee and the real Scopes was never arrested. In a 1996 interview, Lawrence stated that the play's purpose was to criticize McCarthyism and defend intellectual freedom. According to Lawrence, "we used the teaching of evolution as a parable, a metaphor for any kind of mind control ... It's not about science versus religion. It's about the right to think." [5]

Adaptation changes

The film includes events from the actual Scopes trial, such as Darrow's citation for contempt of court when he denounced the court by stating that it was prejudiced and his subsequent act of contrition and his request that the charge be dropped. Both events occurred the next day. [11] The film also expands on the relationship of Drummond and Brady, particularly when the two opponents have a respectful private conversation in rocking chairs, in which they explain their positions in the trial. The film also has a sequence occurring on the night after the court recessed and Cates and Drummond are harassed by a mob even as the lawyer is inspired how to argue his case the next day.[ citation needed ]

Historical inaccuracies

In the play, Brady is a more extreme Christian fundamentalist than Bryan was. According to historian Ronald Numbers, author of The Creationists , Bryan should be considered a day-age creationist. [12]

Because the judge ruled that scientific evidence was inadmissible, a ruling which the movie depicts, Darrow called Bryan as his only witness and then he attempted to humiliate Bryan by asking him to interpret Scripture. When Darrow, in his closing remarks, called upon the jury to find Scopes guilty so he could appeal the verdict, Bryan was prevented from delivering his summation. The guilty verdict was overturned two years later. [13] [14] Bryan suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep five days after the trial ended. [15]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 10th Berlin International Film Festival on June 25, 1960. [1] Its U.S. premiere was in Dayton, Tennessee on July 21, 1960. [1] [ where? ]

Box office

The film grossed $2 million ($20,000,000 in 2022) worldwide and recorded a loss of $1.7 million ($16,800,000 in 2022) [3]

Critical reaction

Harry Morgan as the judge, Spencer Tracy as Drummond and Fredric March as Brady Inherit the wind trailer (1) Spencer Tracy Fredric March.jpg
Harry Morgan as the judge, Spencer Tracy as Drummond and Fredric March as Brady
Gene Kelly as Hornbeck Inherit the wind trailer (5) Gene Kelly.jpg
Gene Kelly as Hornbeck
Stanley Kramer receives an award at the 1960 Berlin Film Festival for Inherit the Wind. Krameraward.jpg
Stanley Kramer receives an award at the 1960 Berlin Film Festival for Inherit the Wind.

Thomas M. Pryor of Variety described it as "a rousing and fascinating motion picture ... roles of Tracy and March equal Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan who collided on evolution ... a good measure of the film's surface bite is contributed by Gene Kelly as a cynical Baltimore reporter (patterned after Henry L. Mencken) whose paper comes to the aid of the younger teacher played by Dick York. Kelly demonstrates again that even without dancing shoes he knows his way on the screen." [16] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised the performances of Tracy and March, and further praised Kramer for displaying "not only a graphic fleshing of his theme but he also has got one of the most brilliant and engrossing displays of acting ever witnessed on the screen." [17] Harrison's Reports praised the cast as "superb", but cautioned that "it will be difficult to sell the average movie-goer unless the limited romantic sequences are exaggerated. It is principally a wordy, philosophical courtroom drama, splendidly produced. Direction is top-notch; photography, excellent..." [18]

In 2006, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film four stars, referring to it as "a film that rebukes the past when it might also have feared the future". [19] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 93% approval rating, based on 27 reviews with an average rating of 8.1/10. [20]

Awards and nominations

YearAward ceremonyCategoryNomineeResult
1960 Berlin International Film Festival [21] Golden Bear Stanley KramerNominated
Best Actor Fredric MarchWon
Best Feature Film Suitable for Young PeopleStanley KramerWon
National Board of Review Awards Top Ten Films Inherit the WindWon
1961 Academy Awards [22] Best Actor Spencer Tracy Nominated
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith Nominated
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Ernest Laszlo Nominated
Best Film Editing Frederic Knudtson Nominated
BAFTA [23] Best Film from Any Source Stanley Kramer Nominated
Best Foreign Actor Fredric March Nominated
Best Foreign Actor Spencer TracyNominated
Golden Globes [24] Best Motion Picture – Drama Stanley KramerNominated
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Spencer TracyNominated

See also

Related Research Articles

The Scopes trial, formally The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it illegal for teachers to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Jennings Bryan</span> American politician (1860–1925)

William Jennings Bryan was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1896, 1900, and 1908 elections. He served in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895 and as the Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915. Because of his faith in the wisdom of the common people, Bryan was often called "the Great Commoner", and because of his rhetorical power and early fame as the youngest presidential candidate, "the Boy Orator".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Tracy</span> American actor (1900–1967)

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations. During his career, he appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen's greatest actors. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. L. Mencken</span> American journalist and writer (1880–1956)

Henry Louis Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, and contemporary movements. His satirical reporting on the Scopes Trial, which he dubbed the "Monkey Trial", also gained him attention. The term Menckenian has entered multiple dictionaries to describe anything of or pertaining to Mencken, including his combative rhetorical and prose style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fredric March</span> American actor (1897–1975)

Fredric March was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated stars of the 1930s and 1940s. As a performer he was known for his versatility. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and two Tony Awards as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and three Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence Darrow</span> American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union

Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century century for several criminal matters, including the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes "monkey" trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a prominent advocate for Georgist economic reform. Darrow was also well known as a public speaker, debater, and miscellaneous writer. He is considered by some legal analysts and lawyers to be the greatest lawyer of the 20th century. He was posthumously inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.

Inherit the Wind may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John T. Scopes</span> American schoolteacher and Scopes Trial figure (1900–1970)

John Thomas Scopes was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, who was charged on May 5, 1925, with violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee schools. He was tried in a case known as the Scopes Trial, and was found guilty and fined $100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Kramer</span> American film director and producer (1913–2001)

Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message films" and a liberal movie icon. As an independent producer and director, he brought attention to topical social issues that most studios avoided. Among the subjects covered in his films were racism, nuclear war, greed, creationism vs. evolution, and the causes and effects of fascism. His other films included High Noon, The Caine Mutiny, and Ship of Fools (1965).

John Tate Raulston was an American state judge in Rhea County, Tennessee, who received national publicity for presiding over the 1925 Scopes trial, a famous creationism–evolution debate.

<i>The Great Monkey Trial</i> 1968 book on the Scopes Trial by L. Sprague de Camp

The Great Monkey Trial is a book on the Scopes Trial by L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1968. The book is a non-fiction account of the trial, as well as its social and political context and impact. This history of the trial was based on the archives of the A.C.L.U., assorted newspaper files, correspondence and interviews with over a dozen of those present at the trial, books and magazine articles written on the trial, and a couple of visits to Dayton. The book also contains several political cartoons published at the time of the trial. Several critics have referred to the book as the definitive or comprehensive account of the Scopes Trial.

"The Monkey Suit" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 14, 2006. In the episode, Ned Flanders is shocked after seeing a new display at the museum about evolution. Together with Reverend Lovejoy, he spreads the religious belief of creationism in Springfield, and at a later town meeting, teaching evolution is made illegal. As a result, Lisa decides to hold secret classes for people interested in evolution. However, she is quickly arrested and a trial against her is initiated.

The 18th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1960, were held on March 16, 1961.

The 14th British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1961, honoured the best films of 1960.

Inherit the Wind is an American play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, which debuted in 1955. The story fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means to discuss the then-contemporary McCarthy trials.

<i>Inherit the Wind</i> (1999 film) American TV series or program

Inherit the Wind is a 1999 American made-for-television film adaptation of the 1955 play of the same name which originally aired on Showtime on May 29, 1999. The original play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials. It was George C. Scott's final film role. In the 1996 Broadway revival, he had played Drummond.

Inherit the Wind is a 1988 American legal drama television film directed by David Greene and written by John Gay, based on the 1955 play of the same name by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The film stars Kirk Douglas, Jason Robards, Darren McGavin and Jean Simmons. It aired on NBC on March 20, 1988.

Inherit the Wind is the November 18, 1965 episode of the American television series Hallmark Hall of Fame directed by George Schaefer. A videotaped adaptation of the 1955 play of the same name, it shortened the text of the original 1955 play which was written as a parable fictionalizing the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Tracy filmography</span>

Spencer Tracy (1900–1967) was an American actor. His film career began in 1930 with Up the River ; and ended in 1967, with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner alongside Sidney Poitier and his longtime screen partner, Katharine Hepburn. Within this 37-year career, Tracy starred in 75 feature films and several short films.

<i>Monkey Town</i> (novel)

Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial is a 2006 novel written by American author Ronald Kidd. The story is set in summer 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, and is based on the Scopes Trial.

References

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