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Blu-ray Review Inherit the Wind Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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Inherit the Wind Blu-ray Review

The 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial which pitted Creationists against Evolutionists for the right to teach evolution in public school science classes was dramatized thirty years after the fact by playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee for a successful Broadway run as Inherit the Wind. The writers somewhat fictionalized the event by changing names, omitting certain aspects of the trial, and editorializing when necessary for dramatic effect; nevertheless, their version of the tale has pretty much replaced the true story as fact in the minds of many. Director Stanley Kramer brought the play to the movies in 1960 with two of the cinema’s most towering talents in the leading roles: Spencer Tracy and Fredric March, and the result is one of the finest, most electrifying courtroom dramas ever filmed, made even more important by the subject matter which rather unbelievably even half a century later still is relevant in modern discussion and debate.

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Studio: MGM

Distributed By: Twilight Time

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

Audio: English 1.0 DTS-HDMA (Mono)

Subtitles: English SDH

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 2 Hr. 7 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

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Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: All

Release Date: 12/09/2014

MSRP: $29.95




The Production Rating: 4.5/5

When biology teacher Bertram T. Cates (Dick York) dares to teach the theories of Charles Darwin to his high school students, he is ceremoniously arrested for breaking a local statute forbidding the teaching of evolution in the classroom. Since the trial will be the first of its kind, the story becomes a media sensation drawing to tiny Hillsborough huge crowds and two legal luminaries: three-time Presidential candidate Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) arguing the case for the Creationists and Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) representing Cates’ right to teach the scientific truth. With acerbic commentary from Baltimore reporter E. K. Hornbeck (Gene Kelly) whose newspaper is paying Drummond’s fee, the trial becomes a torture test for the unbending wills of the two giants arguing for their respective sides.Screenwriters Nathan E. Douglas and Harold Jacob Smith (who earned an Oscar nomination for their adaptation of the Lawrence-Lee play) have opened up the drama to include much local color allowing us see the division of support for each side (mostly the older generation supporting fundamentalist interpretations of The Bible and the younger generation representing a curiosity about other explanations). Cates’ fiancé Rachel Brown (Donna Anderson), the daughter of the hellfire and damnation local minister, finds herself trapped between the two extremes, and her conversion from one side to the other pretty much symbolizes the events as they transpire in the movie. Director Stanley Kramer captures continuously the frightening zeal of the older populace as they voice loudly and with much fanfare their support of their religion and of Brady whom they consider their own prophet, so that when a turning point occurs within the trial and half of the courtroom erupts into applause for the defense rather than for the prosecution, it’s an electrifying moment.But then, with two-time Academy Award-winning actors like Spencer Tracy and Fredric March thundering away at one another for almost two hours, one expects such electricity. It’s there in spades (no more so than when Drummond puts Brady on the stand as an acknowledged expert on The Bible as the movie reaches its unparalleled climax), but there’s much to be said for a much earlier scene when the two long-time acquaintances, once friends and now separated by Brady’s thirst for acclaim at all costs, find themselves quietly talking on a hotel porch, reminiscing about old times and discussing one another’s changes down through the years. These two great actors take turns dominating the screen, and if Tracy got more domestic acclaim at the time of the film’s release (Golden Globe and Oscar nominations though March did win in Berlin), the finished work seems to suggest the two actors in more like a photo finish now. It must be said, too, that the make-up personnel have done an astonishing job on Fredric March turning him into the spitting image of the man he’s actually impersonating William Jennings Bryan.In addition to the two triumphant leading performances, there is great work turned in by Gene Kelly as the H.L. Menken substitute E. K. Hornbeck, a cynical albeit uncharitable voice of disdain for the bigoted and ignorant, and Fredric March’s real-life wife Florence Eldridge as Brady’s quiet, composed, understanding spouse who has long since accepted her husband for his vanity and bombast. Dick York is perfect as the nondescript Bert Cates, and Donna Anderson as his fiancé is believably troubled and torn. Among the many famous faces who do sterling work in supporting roles are Harry Morgan as the presiding judge, Claude Akins as the fiery local minister (though his demonizing sermon does go on too long midway through the movie giving a very stagey feel to the picture), Noah Beery Jr. as a local man whose child was demonized by Akins’ preacher, and Elliott Reid as Brady’s co-counsel in the prosecution. Look quickly and you’ll see familiar faces like Hope Summers, Norman Fell, and Paul Hartman completely in character in tiny parts.


Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA

The film is presented in 1.66:1 with 1080p resolution using the AVC codec (the liner notes err stating the aspect ratio is 1.85:1). It’s a beautiful transfer with solid clarity and excellent sharpness and a grayscale that offers good, dependable black levels and outstanding whites with impressive shadow detail. Contrast has been consistently applied throughout the film’s running time. Age-related artifacts like dirt and scratches are not present constituting an advance on the previous DVD release.



Audio Rating: 4/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 sound mix offers a solid aural experience. The dialogue has been recorded expertly and is delivered with no inherent problems. Ernest Gold’s background score (and a few spirituals “Give Me That Old Time Religion” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” with altered lyrics) add color to the proceedings without infringing on the delivered dialogue. No age-related problems like hiss, crackles, pops, or flutter are present either.


Special Features Rating: 2.5/5

Isolated Score and Effects Track: offered in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono.Theatrical Trailer (4:05, SD): Stanley Kramer introduces the film and boasts of its already impressive international reception winning two awards at the Berlin Film Festival.MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (2:06, HD)Six-Page Booklet: contains an interesting collection of stills, poster art on the back cover, and film historian Julie Kirgo’s effusive analysis of the movie.


Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Highly Recommended! One couldn’t ask for a more engaging and involving screen version of a celebrated Broadway play than Inherit the Wind. Twilight Time has brought us a gorgeous looking transfer that makes the best possible case for the film’s greatness. There are only 3,000 copies of this Blu-ray available. Those interested should go to www.screenarchives.com to see if product is still in stock. Information about the movie can also be found via Facebook at www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies.


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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Robert Crawford

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A lot of critics were down on Kelly in this role by saying he was miscast, but I always thought he did a very fine job with this role. IMO, he's one of the best things about this film besides the two lead actors. A agree with your review as I thought the video and audio presentations were very good to excellent.
 

Matt Hough

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Tony Randall played the part in the original Broadway production, and I could see the acerbic quality of the character maybe being a slightly better fit for him, but Kelly's wide smile masking his disdain I think works wonderfully well in the movie. I think critics at the time were just too ingrained in thinking of him as a song and dance man.
 

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Robert Crawford said:
A lot of critics were down on Kelly in this role by saying he was miscast, but I always thought he did a very fine job with this role. IMO, he's one of the best things about this film besides the two lead actors. A agree with your review as I thought the video and audio presentations were very good to excellent.
I've always believed that if anyone in Inherit the Wind was miscast it was Claude Akins.
 

Mike Frezon

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Thanks for the review, Matt.

Whenever I pay Twilight Time's prices on their titles, I am always relieved to hear such good things about the presentation--not that I really expect anything to the contrary.

My copy is still on its way to me from SAE.
 

Ejanss

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Gene Kelly could always project a certain...insincerity to his Don Lockwood smile when he needed to. (Considering he got his start playing Pal Joey on stage.)
It takes a little getting used to, but it's not too miscast--It's not as much of a problem as the play's reporter character meant to be the straw-man "bad" obnoxious world-cynic placed in the story to make Spencer Tracy's "good" atheist seem like a reasonable, misunderstood guy.
The paranoid pro-atheist fantasy soapboxing of the events borders on Birth of a Nation subtlety (the real Scopes wasn't a poor victim-in-the-crowd Dick York shlub, but a teacher-activist who supported resisting the law), and you start to pity what Frederic March is put through to achieve it, but it's the first movie to pick when trying to explain why Tracy was the class actor of the 40's.
 

Richard Gallagher

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Ejanss said:
the real Scopes wasn't a poor victim-in-the-crowd Dick York shlub, but a teacher-activist who supported resisting the law.
That strikes me as being an unfair characterization of Scopes. In fact, he wasn't a biology teacher (although he occasionally substituted in biology classes), and it isn't clear that he ever actually taught evolution to his students. He supported academic freedom and challenged what he believed was an unjust law, which is not the same as supporting resisting the law.
 

Ejanss

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Richard Gallagher said:
That strikes me as being an unfair characterization of Scopes. In fact, he wasn't a biology teacher (although he occasionally substituted in biology classes), and it isn't clear that he ever actually taught evolution to his students. He supported academic freedom and challenged what he believed was an unjust law, which is not the same as supporting resisting the law.
Like Rosa Parks and the buses, there were a group of teachers objecting to the law who set out to challenge the statute in court and teach evolution just to get caught; Scopes was just the first one in the docket.
That's still a good long mile from the movie's atheist-"martyr" view of a poor why-me? character being besieged by bloodthirsty Bible-thumpers (nearly every theist in the script is, with a few minor exceptions), who want to "hang him from a tree".
And while Wm. Jennings Bryan did die five days after the trial, it was more due to a longstanding gastric/diabetes case rather than being Scienced to Death. (The real judge reportedly struck most of Darrow's Creation-baiting against Bryan from the case.)

Not to mention, the whole point of the trial wasn't whether the law was correct or the Bible was credible (even if they spend the whole play pretending only half of it existed), it was simply about whether he'd broken the state statute; anything else was for the appeals court. It was turned into a show trial for a lot of attention-hungry people who needed the off-topic soapbox (more the defense than the prosecution), but Scopes did receive his "penalty"--A $100 fine.
 

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From the 1997 article

The Truth About Inherit the Wind

"While Inherit the Wind remains faithful to the broad outlines of the historical events it portrays, it flagrantly distorts the details, and neither the fictionalized names nor the cover of artistic license can excuse what amounts to an ideologically motivated hoax. The film, for example, depicts Cates arrested in the act of teaching evolution by a grim posse of morally offended citizens, while in fact no effort was made to enforce the Butler Act. What actually brought the issue to light-never mentioned in play or film-was that the American Civil Liberties Union advertised for someone to challenge the law. Several Dayton citizens, hoping the publicity would benefit their town, approached Scopes as a possible candidate. Scopes was actually a mathematics teacher and athletic coach and had only briefly substituted as a biology teacher. He did not remember teaching evolution, but he had used the standard textbook, Hunter's Civic Biology, which contained a short section on the subject. Scopes was surprised to hear how relatively knowledgeable the student witnesses were, and he speculated that they must have picked up what they knew somewhere else and come to associate it with his class. Scopes himself knew little beyond the rudiments, and the defense thought it best to keep him off the stand, where his lack of knowledge (not to mention his uncertainty as to whether he had taught the subject) might prove embarrassing..."
 

Richard Gallagher

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Ejanss said:
Like Rosa Parks and the buses, there were a group of teachers objecting to the law who set out to challenge the statute in court and teach evolution just to get caught; Scopes was just the first one in the docket.
That's still a good long mile from the movie's atheist-"martyr" view of a poor why-me? character being besieged by bloodthirsty Bible-thumpers (nearly every theist in the script is, with a few minor exceptions), who want to "hang him from a tree".
And while Wm. Jennings Bryan did die five days after the trial, it was more due to a longstanding gastric/diabetes case rather than being Scienced to Death. (The real judge reportedly struck most of Darrow's Creation-baiting against Bryan from the case.)

Not to mention, the whole point of the trial wasn't whether the law was correct or the Bible was credible (even if they spend the whole play pretending only half of it existed), it was simply about whether he'd broken the state statute; anything else was for the appeals court. It was turned into a show trial for a lot of attention-hungry people who needed the off-topic soapbox (more the defense than the prosecution), but Scopes did receive his "penalty"--A $100 fine.
None of what you just said addresses my point, which is that Scopes never advocated resisting the law, and in fact he likely never broke the law (one reason why Darrow didn't call him to the stand was that Scopes couldn't remember if he had ever discussed evolution in a class). The ACLU was looking for a test case to challenge the Butler Act, and Scopes agreed to be the defendant. That is the way the system works.

It was the trial judge, John Raulston, who introduced the Bible into the case when he quoted from Genesis at the outset of the trial. As for the film, it is not history - it is based upon history. And while it is true that the relevant legal issue was whether Scopes broke the state law, the trial did in fact turn into a show and that is what the film depicts.
 

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Mark McSherry said:
From the 1997 article

The Truth About Inherit the Wind

"While Inherit the Wind remains faithful to the broad outlines of the historical events it portrays, it flagrantly distorts the details, and neither the fictionalized names nor the cover of artistic license can excuse what amounts to an ideologically motivated hoax. The film, for example, depicts Cates arrested in the act of teaching evolution by a grim posse of morally offended citizens, while in fact no effort was made to enforce the Butler Act. What actually brought the issue to light-never mentioned in play or film-was that the American Civil Liberties Union advertised for someone to challenge the law. Several Dayton citizens, hoping the publicity would benefit their town, approached Scopes as a possible candidate. Scopes was actually a mathematics teacher and athletic coach and had only briefly substituted as a biology teacher. He did not remember teaching evolution, but he had used the standard textbook, Hunter's Civic Biology, which contained a short section on the subject. Scopes was surprised to hear how relatively knowledgeable the student witnesses were, and he speculated that they must have picked up what they knew somewhere else and come to associate it with his class. Scopes himself knew little beyond the rudiments, and the defense thought it best to keep him off the stand, where his lack of knowledge (not to mention his uncertainty as to whether he had taught the subject) might prove embarrassing..."
If you are going to quote an article the discusses the film's bias, you may want to find one from a source that isn't the exact opposite of balanced.

This is a film that I look forward to picking up. While, like most films 'based' on real events, liberties are taken for dramatic effect, it is the performances that draw me to the movie.

Thanks for the review, Matt.
 

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I first bought this film thirty-some years ago when a VHS copy ran 60+ dollars so I've nothing against the movie. But I would suggest that watching the movie AND reading that article may better meet the definition of "balanced".
 

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Neil Middlemiss said:
If you are going to quote an article the discusses the film's bias, you may want to find one from a source that isn't the exact opposite of balanced. This is a film that I look forward to picking up. While, like most films 'based' on real events, liberties are taken for dramatic effect, it is the performances that draw me to the movie. Thanks for the review, Matt.
Is the quoted article innacurate?
 

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"The quoted article is pushing a religious viewpoint, and we don't want this thread to degenerate into an argument about evolution v. creationism."

I agree that "....we don't want this thread to degenerate into an argument about evolution v. creationism." I posted the article for the author's concise reciting of the historical record. The article does end with the professor's interpretation (refutation?) of the movie's theme but even then I would hardly call it "pushing" a religious viewpoint when she quotes Andrew Sarris or points out that a year earlier Darrow had defended Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb.
 

Robert Crawford

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Mark McSherry said:
I first bought this film thirty-some years ago when a VHS copy ran 60+ dollars so I've nothing against the movie. But I would suggest that watching the movie AND reading that article may better meet the definition of "balanced".
I don't need to read that article because I'm not really interested in the historical accuracy of this film. I love this film because of the brilliant acting and sharp dialogue which entertains me to no end even today, 50 years after I first viewed this film.

Anybody interested in the trial and historical accuracy have several references readily available to them in this instant informational world we live in today.
 

Robert Crawford

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Richard Gallagher said:
The quoted article is pushing a religious viewpoint, and we don't want this thread to degenerate into an argument about evolution v. creationism.
That's not going to happen. :)
 

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Robert Crawford said:
That's not going to happen. :)

Well, I wasn't going for any religious discussion, I was going for the "Bill Maher's Fantasy World" aspect of the play/movie's bias, from the complete absence of any other Testament mentioned in the play, to the distinct "Tough beans, losers, suck up and live with it!" tone of Tracy's "We sacrifice our naivety for every new idea" speech at the climax.

It was based on historical events, yes, but at least the real Darrow was treating the trial as just another legal gig, and not as the Final Apocalyptic Battle of Flawed Western Thought, and doing the victory dance on Bryan's grave at the end.
(Oh, sorry, it's Kelly who does the victory dance, but Tracy distances himself with the nice-guy "He was a good guy, even if he was a lunatic" backpedaling in the final lines.)
 

Robert Crawford

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Ejanss said:
Well, I wasn't going for any religious discussion, I was going for the "Bill Maher's Fantasy World" aspect of the play/movie's bias, from the complete absence of any other Testament mentioned in the play, to the distinct "Tough beans, losers, suck up and live with it!" tone of Tracy's "We sacrifice our naivety for every new idea" speech at the climax.

It was based on historical events, yes, but at least the real Darrow was treating the trial as just another legal gig, and not as the Final Apocalyptic Battle of Flawed Western Thought, and doing the victory dance on Bryan's grave at the end.
(Oh, sorry, it's Kelly who does the victory dance, but Tracy distances himself with the nice-guy "He was a good guy, even if he was a lunatic" backpedaling in the final lines.)
I don't know what your motivation is, but I'm not going to allow any religious or political references to interfere in this thread. As to the real Darrow and Bryan, that's a topic for another discussion and forum.

To each his own, but the ending sequence between Tracy and Kelly is among my favorite parts of the film.
 

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