In 1925, a schoolteacher is arrested for teaching Darwinism in the community of Hillsboro, where such scientific refutations of the Bible are illegal. Scott plays prosecutor Matthew Brady (based on politician Williams Jennings Bryan), bringing majesty and tragedy to a character many would find repugnant, as he prophetically bemoans a society moving "from love of God to love of self." Jack Lemmon plays attorney Henry Drummond (based on the legendary Clarence Darrow) and brings his trademark portrayal of the "little guy" to a man determined to protect a citizen's basic right to freedom of thought, proclaiming, "An idea is a greater monument to God than a cathedral." The wonderful supporting cast, including Beau Bridges, Piper Laurie, and John Cullum, all demonstrate their love of a multilayered drama filled with conundrums of faith and contradictions of philosophy. Veteran director Daniel Petrie helms with little flash, but his production offers so many concepts and emotions that the high points of drama remain with the viewer after the film is over. --Lloyd Chesley
What I find a real shame is that MGM/UA has still NOT released this movie in DVD format, and that both editions of this movie (the 1960 original and this remake) are "out of stock" even in vhs format.
What are the movie studios up to?. I want to buy the movie and I can't. Maybe they are cornering us into piracy?.Which side on you on? The Bible or the Periodic Table? This 1999 TV reproduction is not as funny as the 1960 movie version with the same title, but it is still very good. The content is almost identical to the earlier movie version, but the actors are less funny. The whole thing is based on the 1925 Monkey Trial in Tennessee where a high-school teacher called Scope was arrested for having once taught evolution in class. The ensuing trial attracted international attention. Though Scope was convicted and fined $100, the fundamentalist Christians who interpret the Bible literally are depicted as clowns in the movie.
Much of the brilliance of the new version of Inherit the Wind comes from finding two old fogeys who have the same love/hate chamistry brought to life in the original by Frederic March and Spencer Tracy; in this case, the friendly adversaries are George C. Scott, in his last performance before his death, and Jack Lemmon. Toss in Beau Bridges as the wisecracking journalist and a surprisingly downbeat performance by Thom Evertt Scott as the teacher who ends up a guinea pig in one of the biggest trials of the century, and you got yourself a fine film. The comic timing is impeccable on all counts, the lines from the film that have become cliche are delivered with the same freshness that ignited them decades ago, and one can almost believe that Scott and Lemmon actually are Bryan and Darrow haggling it out in a Tennessee courtroom.
If you've never seen _Inherit the Wind_, start with the classic Spencer Tracy/Frederic March version from 1960. If you're a fan of the film already, and have been avoiding this remake because nothing can do the original justics, well, you're right... but it comes as close as possible.
