Inherit the Wind (1960)

Director

• Stanley Kramer

Starring

• Fredric March
• Spencer Tracy
• Gene Kelly
• Florence Eldridge
• Dick York

Last On

23:30-01:35 Mon 2nd Feb 2009 125m
BBC4

Synopsis

This courtroom drama was inspired by the real-life trial in 1925 of a young Tennessee teacher who was charged with giving lessons on the Darwinian theory of evolution in a state school. Very much a drama of words and ideas, the film was a critical hit but a commercial flop in its day. Yes, the plot meanders and even drags at points, but ultimately it engrosses thanks to major-league performances from Spencer Tracy and Fredric March as the opposing lawyers in what became known as the "Scopes Monkey Trial". Eighty years on, we can all feel smug at the preposterousness of it all, but there is certainly no shortage of American Christian fundamentalists who would probably relish bringing to bear a similar prosecution today.