Movie Review: Inherit the Wind (1960)

These days, with all the seminary studying and reading to do, it is not very often that I would actually watch, much less write a review on a movie that was released in 1960. If I had the time to watch a movie, it would most likely be a newer release. Honestly, if I didn’t have to watch this movie for a History of Christianity class – and then write a review of the movie for that class - I doubt seriously that the film would have ever peaked my entertainment radar.

Nevertheless, I can say that I would recommend the 1960 Stanley Kramer film, Inherit the Wind, as an absolute must see for every Christian. It’s not that I think it is a great movie. It’s not that I think the movie has a great message. In fact, it is precisely what is wrong with the movie that makes it such a must see for Christians today. In my opinion, the movie represents absolutely everything wrong with Hollywood as it relates to their perspective of Christianity. As a Christian, it is important for us to know how we are being perceived. More importantly, it is critical that we – through our actions – do not become what non-Christians perceive us to be. If we truly behave the way this film portrays us, then we deserve every bit of the ridicule it bestows upon us.

Inherit the Wind, is a dramatic reenactment of otherwise actual events surrounding the infamous 1925 Dayton, TN Scopes Trial – otherwise known as the “Monkey Trial” - in which school teacher John T. Scopes was placed on trial for teaching the Darwinian theory of evolution. The movie is based upon a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and significantly changes a majority of the historical facts – including character names and locale - as part of the dramatization. In the movie, John T. Scopes is replaced by the character Bertram T. Cates, portrayed by Dick York. Defense lawyer Clarence Darrow is replaced by Henry Drummond and is portrayed by Spencer Tracy. Prosecutor and statesman William Jennings Bryan is replaced by Matthew Harrison Brady and is portrayed by Fredric March. Finally, journalist H.L. Menken is replaced by E.K. Hornbeck and is portrayed by Gene Kelly. In the film, the trial takes place in the small town of Hillsborough, representing Dayton TN.

From the very first note of Give Me That Old Time Religion during the opening credits, it was intuitively obvious that Stanley Kramer intends for the movie to demonize the religious fanaticism that he believes characterized the motivations of those involved in the original prosecution of John T. Scopes, if not Christianity itself. Throughout the movie, the religious element is portrayed as overly zealous, gluttonous, bigoted, uncompassionate, and small-minded. By contrast, those who supported Bert Cates are portrayed as intelligent, compassionate, and temperate. In a word, Kramer portrays Christians in a manner that appears completely pagan while he portrays most of the non-Christians, particularly Cates and Drummond, in a manner that I would describe as patently Christian.

The movie depicts the townsfolk of Hillsborough as a blood-thirsty mob that would stop at nothing to prevent new ideas from infecting their world view. On several occasions, the lynch-mob townsfolk sang spirituals whose words had been changed to cry out for the death of both Cates and Drummond. At one point, the crowd carried a burning dummy, supposedly indicating its desire to burn the two at the stake. The local pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Brown portrayed by Claude Akins, went so far as to condemn not only Cates and Drummond to hell, but also his own daughter, who happened to be engaged to Cates. On the other side of the contest, journalist E.K. Hornbeck of the Boston Herald is equally determined to destroy the reputation of Hillsborough and expose them to the world for being the bigoted hypocrites he believes them to be. Only Cates, Drummond, and Brady’s wife Sara (portrayed by Florence Eldridge) appear to have any sense of self-containment and control.

The movie’s portrayal of the trial itself is as flamboyant and one-sided as one would expect given the pre-trial anti-religious hype established by director Stanley Kramer. The trial is supposed to be one that puts the “myth” of creation against the “enlightened truth” of evolution. Necessarily, then, Matthew Brady spouts religious intolerance as if it were the religious code of the country, doing all he can to demonize the defense. Henry Drummond, on the other hand, does everything he can to introduce “truth” and “intelligence” into the trial; but every effort is thwarted by the judge (portrayed by Harry Morgan) who, while seemingly not a part of the lynch-mob, still holds their views and inserts them into the judicial process as necessary to ensure that Cates does not receive a fair trial. Not surprisingly, when the trial ends with a jury verdict against Cates but the judge only issues a sentence of a $100 fine, the religious fanatics erupt and the scene quickly degrades into anarchistic mayhem.

The result of Inherit the Wind was to infamize what was otherwise one of the most famous and important trials of modern history. Instead of being a test-case for the separation of Church and Sate, the trial has become a symbol of religious intolerance and irrelevance. Surprisingly, despite the one-sided portrayal and liberal objectives of the movies producers, the issues covered by the Scopes Trial are incredibly important and relevant to current religious and political issues. Whereas the real trial dealt with important issues of Church and State, the movie dealt with the intolerance of religious bigotry. In stark irony, Christians today are faced with exactly the same bigotry against them coming from atheists over the issue of creation vs. evolution that Kramer portrayed as coming from Christians in Inherit the Wind. Turn about, however, is apparently not fair play. Attitudes of agnostic/atheistic “religious intolerance” and policies of separation of Church from State have made it illegal to teach creation in schools. Unfortunately, while Clarence Darrow and the American Civil Liberties Union were more than willing to stand up for the freedom of free-thinking desired by those wishing to teach evolution in schools, their successors in the area of civil liberties actively oppose the religious freedom desired by those who wish to teach creation along with evolution as two, equally held theories of the origins of the species.

It is probably impossible to find this movie unless you buy it, but if you are within my circle of influence… you can borrow mine.