Inherit the Wind

I am sad that these two great actors are no longer with us. They both gave so much to us via Hollywood. This movie is one of many productions where their talent shined.

Inherit the Wind -1999- is about a teacher who was tried for teaching evolution back in 1925. The writers and director portrayed both men as honorable, intelligent members of society who simply had a different viewpoint. Unlike movies like Runaway Jury -2003- which demonized the firearm industry, and portrayed the other side as kind and caring. This film, Inherit the Wind, handled both sides of the Evolution debate seriously. Runaway Jury for example, had a jury member initiate the pledge of allegiance in court. A silly stunt that took the credibility of the movie away.

I highly recommend this film for the whole family and teachers should show this film for their students to watch. I am sure the discussions afterwards should be quite interesting.

--shutterbug--

I'm sure we'll see another version of Inherit The Wind with some of the players of a new generation. This story about religion being written into the civil law is sadly not out of style.

When the first version that starred Spencer Tracy and Fredric March came out it was heralded as the Broadway play it was based on. But in 1960 it was looked on as look back to another era where we presumably learned of the folly of imposing religious views on the body politic. I don't think anyone thought that the religious right would reawaken and become the force it has. Not in 1999 when this film came out or when another version that starred Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards, Jr. was made in 1988. All three versions have a chilling timeliness about them now.

Tom Everett Scott is the high school biology teacher who violates a newly passed law making the teaching of Charles Darwin's The Origin Of The Species a crime. He's the first charged under this new Tennessee statute and three times presidential candidate Matthew Harrison Brady modeled on William Jennings Bryan volunteers to be on the prosecution team.

Of course that generates a lot of publicity and Henry Drummond based on Clarence Darrow is brought in to defend.

In the original film Fredric March really got the Bryan character down pat. But George C. Scott is a fascinating Matthew Harrison Brady. Certainly the most fanatical of the group. Then again few actors could get as intense as George C. Scott.

Jack Lemmon is a more relaxed and low key Henry Drummond. He was not in real life as noble a character as Spencer Tracy played him in 1960. Jason Robards, Jr. in the 1988 film was the closest to the real Clarence Darrow. But closer than Robards is Orson Welles as Jonathan Wilk from the 1959 film Compulsion based on the Leopold/Loeb murder case.

Of course the highlight in the film and the real trial itself is the confrontation when Drummond(Darrow) calls Brady(Bryan) as an expert witness on the Bible. Then as now how willfully ignorant Lemmon shows Scott to be. Not just ignorant but determinedly so and determined to keep all views but his own out of our educational system.

I can hardly wait for this oft told tale to be told again. Till then this and the other version are to be seen and seen again.

The movie epitomizes what civilized debate can and should be. There are scintillating performances from Lemmon and Scott, and some very quotable lines as well. The courtroom atmosphere is well created and tension is never allowed to slack. Perhaps the most eloquent testimony paid on screen from a protagonist to his antagonist comes in the closing scenes. Although it is supposed to be based on the Scopes Monkey Trial, the closing credits state that the movie is a work of fiction. The movie raises many questions about the longstanding impasse between religion and science, between faith and reason. In a strange way, it does not conclusively resolve these issues but rather allows the viewer to decide for herself or himself. It will echo in your mind long after you have viewed it. Heartily recommended.

This version of the Scopes Trial is better than the first TV version for several reasons, the first is that its a reasonable running time. Next it doesn't have breaks for commercials, this was done for cable and not commercial TV. Lastly this has the performances of Lemon and Scott who come damn close to equaling Tracy and March in the first version of this.

George C Scott was to star on Broadway in a revival of this play a year or two before he made this film. Illness prevented him appearing in most of the run, but based on this performance seeing it live must have been electric. There are several small moments, one near the end of the film in particular where his mastery of acting shine through. In that final moment, the weight of the battle and its implications loom large, sitting on his bed with his wife he begins to break down in ways that are touching and heart breaking.

Lemmon is his equal and he easily makes this one for the ages as he spars with Scott about what is and is not history and sacred.

This is a great TV movie which only has as its flaw the fact that its not the original.

I have never seen a poor adaptation of this great American Classic,however if I were to choose the worst adaptation out of a good bunch this recent adaptation would qualify. George C. Scott made a very good Matthew Brady,However He was masterful in the role of Henry Drummond on Broadway in 1997.Jack Lemmon was merely adequate in Scott's stage role of Drummond and the two never seemed to make a connection the way Scott and Charles Durning did on stage,or the way Spencer Tracy and Frederick March did on screen.

Beau Bridges was a fine,sarcastic E.K. Hornbeck and Lane Smith was a powerful hypocrite as Rev. Brown.

The pace of this recent adaptation was slow and not as exciting as previous film versions. It was worth watching but not nearly as satisfying as the 1960 film or the Broadway revival.