Inherit the Wind (1960 film)

For other uses, see Inherit the Wind.

Inherit the Wind
Directed by	Stanley Kramer
Produced by	Stanley Kramer
Written by	Jerome Lawrence (play) Robert E. Lee (play) Nedrick Young Harold Jacob Smith
Starring	Spencer Tracy Fredric March Gene Kelly Dick York Donna Anderson Harry Morgan
Music by	Ernest Gold
Cinematography	Ernest Laszlo, ASC
Editing by	Frederic Knudtson
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	October 12, 1960 (1960-10-12)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Inherit the Wind is a 1960 Hollywood film adaptation of the play of the same name, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, directed by Stanley Kramer.

It stars Spencer Tracy as lawyer Henry Drummond and Fredric March as his friend and rival Matthew Harrison Brady, also featuring Gene Kelly, Dick York, Harry Morgan, Donna Anderson, Claude Akins, Noah Beery, Jr., Florence Eldridge, and Jimmy Boyd.

The script was adapted by Nedrick Young (originally as Nathan E. Douglas) and Harold Jacob Smith.

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

It was remade in 1999, co-starring Jack Lemmon as Drummond and George C. Scott as Brady.

Plot

In a small Southern town, a school teacher, Bertram Cates, is about to stand trial. His offense: Introducing to his students the concept that man descended from the apes, a theory of the naturalist Charles Darwin, though vigorously renounced by town leaders such as the Rev. Jeremiah Brown.

The town is excited because appearing on behalf of the prosecution will be the famous Matthew Harrison Brady, a noted statesman and failed presidential candidate. A staunch foe of Darwinism and a Biblical scholar, Brady will sit beside his hand-picked prosecuting attorney, Davenport, in the courtroom of Judge Coffey to teach the naive teacher Cates the error of his ways.

A surprise is in store for Brady, however. The teacher's defense is to be handled by the equally well-known Henry Drummond, one of America's most controversial legal minds and a long-standing acquaintance and adversary of Brady. An influential newspaperman, E.K. Hornbeck of the Baltimore Herald, has personally seen to it that Drummond will come to town to represent the teacher in this case, and that his newspaper and a radio network will provide nationwide coverage of what began as a minor legal matter.

Rev. Brown rails against the defendant publicly, rallying the townspeople against Cates and his godless attorney. The preacher's daughter Rachel is conflicted because Cates is the love of her life.

The judge clearly admires Brady, even addressing him as "Colonel" in court. Drummond objects to this, so, as a compromise, the judge reluctantly makes him a "temporary" colonel just for these proceedings. But each time Drummond attempts to call a scientist or authority figure to discuss Darwin's theories, the judge sustains the prosecution's objections and forbids such opinions to be heard.

His hands tied in every other way, Drummond has no other choice but to put Brady himself on the witness stand. Brady's confidence in his Biblical knowledge is so great that he welcomes this challenge, but he becomes flustered under Drummond's cross-examination, unable to explain certain apparent contradictions, until Drummond hammers home his point -- that Cates, like any other man, demands the right to think for himself.

Cates is ultimately found guilty, to the gallery's relief, but because Drummond has made his case so convincingly, the judge sees fit to do no more than make him pay a very small fine. Brady is furious at this and tries to enter a lengthy speech into the record, but Drummond persuades the Judge to disallow it since the trial has concluded. As the court is adjourned, Brady tries to give his speech but most ignore him outside of his wife and his court opponents who are concerned seeing him become hysterical. During this fit he suffers a cardiac arrest and dies in the court room.

The final scene shows Drummond walking out of the court room holding copies of both The Holy Bible and The Origin of Species.

Cast

• Spencer Tracy as Henry Drummond (patterned after Clarence Darrow)
• Fredric March as Matthew Harrison Brady (patterned after William Jennings Bryan)
• Florence Eldridge as Sara Brady
• Gene Kelly as E. K. Hornbeck of the Baltimore Herald (patterned after Henry L. Mencken)
• Dick York as Bertram T. Cates (patterned after John Scopes)
• Donna Anderson as Rachel Brown
• Harry Morgan as Judge Mel Coffey
• Claude Akins as Rev. Jeremiah Brown
• Elliott Reid as Prosecutor Tom Davenport
• Paul Hartman as Deputy Horace Meeker - Bailiff
• Philip Coolidge as Mayor Jason Carter
• Jimmy Boyd as Howard
• Noah Beery Jr. as John Stebbins
• Norman Fell as WGN Radio Technician
• Hope Summers as Mrs. Krebs - Townswoman
• Ray Teal as Jessie H. Dunlap
• Renee Godfrey as Mrs. Stebbins
• Uncredited roles include Richard Deacon, George Dunn, Snub Pollard, Addison Richards, Harry Tenbrook, Will Wright

Kramer offered the role of Henry Drummond to Spencer Tracy, who turned it down. Kramer then listed March, Eldridge, and Kelly as co-stars, and Tracy eventually signed. However, none of the co-stars had been signed at the time; Tracy was the first. Once Tracy signed to do the part, the others signed, also.

Adaptation changes

The film includes events from the actual Scopes trial, such as when Darrow was indicted for contempt of court when he denounced his perception of prejudice by the court and his subsequent act of contrition the next day to have the charge dropped. The film also expands on the relationship of Drummond and Brady, particularly when the two opponents have a respectful private conversation in which they explain their positions in the trial. Furthermore, the film 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.

Critical reception

Harry Morgan as the judge, Spencer Tracy as Drummond and Fredric March as Brady

Gene Kelly as Hornbeck

Stanley Kramer receives an Award at the 1960 Berlin Film Festival for Inherit the Wind

Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes has given the film a 90% rating with 19 fresh and 2 rotten reviews. Roger Ebert refers to it as "'a film that rebukes the past when it might also have feared the future." Variety described the film 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."

Awards

Academy Awards Inherit the Wind was nominated for four Academy Awards.

Award	Result	Nominee
Best Actor	Nominated	Spencer Tracy Winner was Burt Lancaster - Elmer Gantry
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium	Nominated	Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith Winner was Richard Brooks - Elmer Gantry
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)	Nominated	Ernest Laszlo Winner was Freddie Francis - Sons and Lovers
Best Film Editing	Nominated	Frederic Knudtson Winner was Daniel Mandell - The Apartment

BAFTA

• Nominated: Best Film
• Nominated: Best Foreign Actor (March and Tracy)

Berlin International Film Festival

• Won: Silver Bear for Best Actor (March)
• Won: Best Feature Film Suitable for Young People (Kramer)
• Nominated: Golden Bear award (Kramer)

Golden Globes

• Nominated: Best Film
• Nominated: Best Actor (Tracy)

External links and references

• Inherit the Wind at the Internet Movie Database