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Inherit the Wind (1960)

Drama | 128 minutes
3,74 153 votes

Genre: Drama

Duration: 128 minuten

Country: United States

Directed by: Stanley Kramer

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Gene Kelly and Fredric March

IMDb score: 8,1 (35.132)

Releasedate: 7 July 1960

Inherit the Wind plot

"It’s all about the fabulous “Monkey Trial” that rocked America!"

In 1925, a small American provincial town is thrown into turmoil by a lawsuit. Overly orthodox Protestants had accused a young teacher, BT Cates, of violating an article of the US Constitution by teaching his students Darwin's theory of evolution. Famous lawyer Henry Drummond defends him, and fundamentalist politician Matthew Brady charges him. Based on the true 1925 "Scopes monkey" lawsuit.

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Full Cast & Crew

Actors and actresses

Henry Drummond

Matthew Harrison Brady

E.K. Hornbeck

Bertram T. Cates

Rachel Brown

Rev. Jeremiah Brown

Prosecutor Tom Davenport

Bailiff Mort Meeker

Mayor Jason Carter

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avatar van Woland

Woland

  • 4796 messages
  • 3815 votes

This movie has been on my watchlist for quite some time. I had some trouble getting into the story at first, but Inherit The Wind turned out to be a solid courtroom drama. The story is based on the Scopes Monkey trial, in which a high school teacher in the 1920s was charged for teaching evolution instead of creationism. Apparently some liberties were taken with reality, and if you place the movie in the time of McCarthyism and the Red Scare, many of the speeches also take on an extra charge.

But anyway, after some getting used to it, I watched most of the film with great interest. The show is stolen by a strong Spencer Tracy as lawyer Drummond who defends the teacher in question and passionately represents reason and the freedom to think for yourself, and his nemesis Fredric March as the devout politician Matt Brady is also strong. The film is largely set in court, but there are also a few strong scenes outside of court, in which I think especially of the marching Christian fundamentalists who, as American Taliban, want to hang both Drummond and the teacher from the highest tree. Unfortunately, with the current political situation, it gets an extra sinister charge. I think that every right-thinking person now agrees on which side history is, and the makers of the film are also unequivocally on the side of Drummond and co. Rightly so, and the substantive points are also made eloquently, but it is presented rather pre-digested. Nevertheless, I am satisfied. 4.0*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Movsin

Movsin

  • 8264 messages
  • 8426 votes

Based on the Monkey Trial of 1925.

Not the first time Spencer Tracy makes a splash in a court case. A few years later, he will do it again in "Judgment at Nuremberg", also by Stanley Kramer.

Interesting of course -and the main part- is the dichotomy religion versus Darwin. Theme that has occurred quite often and will probably continue to do so.

Handsome film with a solid script and good to very good acting.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Bobbejaantje

Bobbejaantje

  • 2260 messages
  • 2062 votes

The film is based on a play and that is obvious because it is mainly talking. Although it is based on true events - The Monkey Trial in the 1920s - of the last century - it is not a complete historical account. For the sake of the drama they have given it a twist here and there (for example the relationship between the accused and the minister's daughter is pure fiction that Hollywood needs). And that is certainly understandable and also because of the spectacle value of a product that has to sell. The core of the film - the right to think freely - is impressive in any case. And although the film is set a hundred years ago, the subject is still relevant I suspect. There are still enough people (within the Abrahamic religions) who have a narrow view of the world and man.

It is a very high-quality production with top actors who each intrigue in their own way and bind the viewer to them. The b&w fits the story and the philosophical content of the dialogues completely. What struck me as a possible anachronism were the greased quiffs of, among others, the minister (!) and the schoolboys: that seems to me more something from the '50s than the '20s. All in all a nice anachronism.

Positive verdict. Strangely enough a film that is not dated one bit and still relevant to be seen.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original