Inherit the Wind
by Stanley Kramer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dick York, Donna Anderson, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Spencer TracyDirector: Stanley Kramer
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Ernest Laszlo
Editor: Frederic Knudtson
Writer: Jerome Lawrence
Writer: Robert E. Lee
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 128 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-12-11
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: United Artists
Movie Reviews of Inherit the Wind
Movie Review: A very good movie about religious fanaticism vs. Darwin's theory of evolution
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though this movie was made 49 years ago in 1960 its message is still completely relevant today. We see how religious indoctrination and the resulting fanaticism poison human thinking and life. The movie is based on a true story that took place in the beginning of the 20th century in a small town in the USA. The actors' performance is very good and we all have important lessons to learn from the movie.
A school teacher teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in a high school in a small town in the USA is arrested and jailed on grounds that he is teaching something that contradicts the statements in the Bible regarding creation and humans' origin. While in prison he is tried in court. His defense is a secular lawyer from Chicago. They are all labelled as atheists by the town's people. The prosecutor is a man brainwashed by Bible's teachings and a three time US presidential candidate. The whole town population is fanatically religious, condemns the teacher, the lawyer and the journalist on the defending side. The lawyer asks very intelligent questions in the court to the prosecutor about the Bible who claims to be an expert on the Bible and a devoted Christian. The lawyer shows the contradictions and the irrational thinking in the prosecutor's answers. Suddenly, it becomes religious dogma that is on trial. The teacher is found guilty of course because we see clearly that the judicial system and the way the court is conducted by the judge and jury are not secular. The verdict of penalty is ridiculous ; only a 100 dollar penalty that dissapoints the plaintiff side. The prosecutor loses all credibility and dies of a heart attack in court.
Throughout the 20th century and today this conflict between religious creationists and Intelligent Design proponents on one side and evolutionists on the other side has been continuing with fervor all over the world. There are many discussion blogs on the internet where creationists and evolutionists argue, sometimes rudely. Schools, government offices, courtrooms in the USA and in some other countries continue to be battlegrounds of this never ending controversy. One consolation is that nowadays in contrast with the film Inherit the Wind it is often religious dogma that is on trial in courtrooms. Therefore, I recommend that you also watch the NOVA documentary series about evolution especially the ones named " Judgement day : Intelligent Design on Trial " and EVOLUTION : THE MIND'S BIG BANG and WHAT ABOUT GOD ? which clearly demonstrate underlying hidden religious motives of Creationists.
It is ridiculous to equate the study of and belief inDarwin's theories with atheism. A person can believe in God and Darwin's theory of evolution simultaneously. He / she does not have to believe the 6 day creation dogma with no scientific basis to be a believer in God. Perhaps God designed evolution the way Darwin described it. Perhaps not. The only way to find out if Darwin was right or wrong is through scientific research. Not by refuting the scientific method and replacing it with some kind of religious dogma. Darwin's theory of evolution does not imply that God had no role in evolution, just that God's role is not the way Creationists, Intelligent Design proponents and the Bible describe it. Moreover, whether we believe in God or not, we should be open minded to arguments put forward by some atheists regarding the non - existence of God. Richard Dawkins' book titled " the God Delusion " states very strong arguments regarding the non - existence of God and religious perversion in thinking. It is amazing that the human mind which developed so much that it made humans the most intelligent species on Earth can be so conditioned in early childhood that it becomes a self imposed under achiever of its intellectual potential.
The mentality that has been trying to replace Darwin's theory of Evolution with Intelligent Design since the beginning of the 20th century is the same mentality that refuted Copernicus's theory and convicted Galileo hundreds of years ago for claiming that it is the Earth that revolves around the sun not the other way around as claimed by the church.
I don't know if fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Moslems around the world who hate one another so much realize that they are 100 % in agreement on this issue. It is not in just the USA and not just in the Christian world that Darwin gets regularly attacked, Intelligent Design and religious dogma try to seize education. For example just a few weeks ago as I am writing these lines the following things happened in Turkey ; a Moslem country with a secular State : anti- Darwinist Islamist Creationists made a move against Darwin in Turkey ; the monthly magazine of a government sponsored Turkish Scientific Research Organization in Turkey put Darwin's picture on the cover of the March 2009 issue and devoted 16 pages to him in commemoration of Darwin's 200th birth year. Immediately after this, the director of the organization purged the editor from the organization and had Darwin erased from the cover of the magazine. His justification was that the current situation in Turkey was too sensitive to tolerate Darwin on the cover of the magazine. For many days after this event a strong reaction continued from the secular organizations and press in Turkey and internationally. Some Turkish secular organizations conducted protest demonstrations demanding the resignation of the directors of the government sponsored Scientific Research Organization who they claimed were Islamist Creationists. The directors backed down and denied they had anything against Darwin. But the editor of the magazine who was purged subsequently claimed that the directors were lying, that she was told that she was fired for putting Darwin's picture on the cover of the magazine and that she would take the matter to court. Several days later under severe pressure from the Turkish secular community the editor was reinstated.
Since March 2009 the secular part of the academic and other communities in Turkey are active to protect Darwin's credibility. Major universities in Istanbul are organizing exhibitions, documentary movies and inviting worldwide famous evolutionist scientists to lecture in Istanbul. The lectures and movies are free and open to the public. I saw this movie " Inherit the Wind " in one of the Istanbul Universities shown as part of these programs.
Summary of Inherit the Wind
Two-time Best Actor OscarÂ(r) winners* Spencer Tracy and Fredric March go toe-to-toe in this thrilling re-creation of the most titanic courtroom battle of the century. Garnering four Academy AwardÂ(r) nominations**, including Best Actor (Tracy), and featuring Gene Kelly in a rare, critically-acclaimed dramatic role, Inherit the Wind is powerful, provocative cinema and "a heaping measure of entertainment" (The Hollywood Reporter)! The controversial subject of evolution versus creation causes two polar opposites to engage in one explosive battle of beliefs. Attorney Clarence Darrow (Tracy) faces off against fundamentalist leader William Jennings Bryan (March) in a small Tennessee town where a teacher has been brought to trial for teaching Darwinism. Let the trial begin...and watch the sparks fly!Similar DVD Movies
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