Trending
NEW ULM — The New Ulm Film Society will continue to explore the evolution of legal dramas with a screening of "Inherit the Wind."
The screening starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11 in the New Ulm Public Library meeting room.
"Inherit the Wind" was released in 1960 and is based on a 1955 stage play of the same name. The original play was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee.
Though the play and film are a work of fiction, it is heavily influenced by the real-life 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial. Both the story and the real-life trial center on a schoolteacher on trial for violating a state law that forbids the teaching of human evolution at a state-funded school.
News of the trial spread around the world and it became something of a media circus. Updates from the trial were broadcast over the radio to an audience eager to learn the trial outcome. The trial became even more of a spectacle once it was learned that two famous lawyers would be serving on prosecution and defense.
In real life, William Jennings Bryan represented the prosecution while Clarence Darrow served as defense attorney for the teacher.
In writing a fictional version of the trial, the names of real-life people were changed. The teacher's name is changed from John Scopes to Bertram Cates; Bryans became Mathew Brady and Darrow became Henry Drummond. Some other aspects of the trial were changed for dramatic purposes.
Today the film version of "Inherit the Wind" is best remembered for bringing together some of the best actors of the era. Spencer Tracy was cast as defense attorney Drummond and Fredric March as prosecuting attorney Brady.
Tracy and March were both two-time Oscar winners when they began filming "Inherit the Wind." Their status as legendary actors was equivalent to the famous lawyers they portrayed.
In addition to Tracy and March, Gene Kelly was cast as newspaperman E.K. Hornbeck (a fictionalized version of H.L. Mencken). Kelly was already well-known for his singing and dance man, appearing in several beloved musicals. His role as a cynical news reporter was seen as a departure, but his performances were highly praised.
"Inherit the Wind," like other legal dramas benefits from the structure of the legal system. The real-life Scopes trial was not dissimilar to a major theatrical production. Trials, like a stage play or film, have defined roles: prosecution and defense. The two sides are given chances to speak in court to sway an audience/jury.
"Inherit the Wind" was successful on its initial release and remains one of the best-remembered legal dramas. In fact, "Inherit the Wind" has become so well known that many modern audiences shape their understanding of the Scopes trial from it. This has led to some misunderstandings about the real Scopes trial. "Inherit the Wind" used the famous 1925 trial as inspiration, but the central idea behind the story is rooted in political controversies from the 1950s.
Jerome Lawrence, co-writer of "Inherit the Wind" said the script was originally intended as a parable about McCarthyism. The original play was written in 1955, shortly after the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings were held.
Lawrence said they used the teaching of evolution as a metaphor for defending intellectual freedom. He argued the film is not about science versus religion, but a person’s right to think. "Inherit the Wind" is a story about the dangers of a community trying to suppress a person's right to independent thought and for individuals to make up their own minds.
The New Ulm Film Society's screening of "Inherit the Wind" is free to the public. Before and after the film, there will be a discussion about the film's place in film history and its importance as a legal drama.