Sean84

No comment alone can do this show justice. You simply have to watch a few episodes to understand its appeal. It is like crossing Columbo with the Twilight Zone. I don't know why it faded into obscurity. Forget what some people say, every episode has its moments. Little things, like the Massage Parlor bust scene in "The Ripper", or the telephone tag in "bad Medicine", are what you need to look for when watching it.

Have you ever seen the four-legged fish with Darwin written in it and wondered "What's that supposed to mean?" Have you seen the current religious debates on Evolution and thought, "It's just a theory, why the big deal?" Rent "Inherit the Wind" to help you understand why. While it has been a common practice to label fundamentalists as religious zealots, this movie helps show that anti-religious zealots can be a big problem, too. Both Bridges and Lemmon portray exploitive agnostics bent on tearing down a town's cornerstone of faith, and peace. These actors deserve an award for making their portrayal of opportunists completely believable. This was George C. Scott's final role. He played it brilliantly, the final moments are some of the best. One of the most shameful parts of the movie is when the town forms a mob and chants "We shall all hang Mr. Drummond" to the tune of "Give me that old-time religion". However, the film overplays these attacks and in the process makes a point that the characters' promotion of Darwin has more to do with debasing religion than it has in promoting science, and much less in proving the innocence of their client.

Just so you don't confuse this with the actual trial: John Scopes (Cates in the movie) was a football coach/math teacher; he hadn't ever been a disciple of Darwin or champion for Science as the movie promotes him. The students were never even taught evolution. Darrow(Drummond in the movie) actually demanded that Scopes be charged guilty.

Smart-aleck wife's jaded husband passes away leaving woman with obnoxious kid to raise alone. Made in 70's when[like now]anyone in her situation could have gotten aid, but show passes over the obvious [ex.where did she get the money to drive a couple hundred miles in a gas-guzzler, when she's supposedly penniless?] because then what would it do with the remaining 105 minutes. There are some entertaining points but they are too few in a very drawn out movie that does not seem to go anywhere. There are few times when a movie becomes so boring, you're forced to fast-forward. A surprising disappointment from Scorsese. It did win several nominations and granted Ms. Burstyn an Oscar. She played the role very well, I won't deny that, but it's a shame the movie couldn't keep its pace up.