Inherit the Wind (1960)

Stanley Kramer's Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized retelling of the Scopes Trial where all names are changed. The general premise is about the same - a man is arrested for teaching his students Darwin's theory of evolution and put on trial. The film is mostly a courtroom drama and is fairly entertaining throughout.

The film stars Spencer Tracy as the defense attorney, Fredric March as the prosecuting attorney, and some other people. Tracy's performance in the film is quite superb and he was nominated for an Oscar, although he did not win. The rest of the characters are well-acted, but Tracy's performance stands out the most.

Thematically, the film is intended to criticize McCarthyism and how McCarthyism is a threat to intellectual freedom. More literally, the film could be looked at as an interpretation of the evolution versus creationism argument. The film may come off as offensive to the select few that do not believe in evolution despite overwhelming evidence in favor of it as the film does come off as pro-evolution and presents the creationists as hostile, hate-filled bigots.

Overall, this film is quite good. The film is not an exact retelling of what happened during the Scopes Trial, which is unfortunate as the viewer is left with an impression that it does. The ending wasn't quite as interesting as the rest of the film, but it suffices. Parts of the trial seemed somewhat unrealistic, but I am not a legal expert so I cannot be certain that this is the case. The film is definitely worth checking out for fans of courtroom dramas.

91.5/100
A-

UP NEXT: The Searchers.

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EDIT: My 150th review!

In a bit of random trivia, this is the only film ever made that stars two people (Tracy and March) who had each won two Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role prior to making the film.