Inherit the Wind

It’s all about the fabulous “Monkey Trial” that rocked America!
Inherit the Wind (1960)
2:08 (128 min)
8.1/10
37 485
—
no scores
7.6/10
498
8.1/10
35000
Rate the movie:
Release date
Budget
$2 000 000
Revenue
$2 000 000
Director
Scenario
Photo Nedrick Young
Nedrick Young
Composer
Producer
Actors
Photo Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Henry Drummond
Photo Fredric March
Fredric March
Matthew Harrison Brady
Photo Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
E.K. Hornbeck
Photo Dick York
Dick York
Bertram T. Cates
Photo Donna Anderson
Donna Anderson
Rachel Brown
Photo Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Judge Mel
Photo Claude Akins
Claude Akins
Rev. Jeremiah Brown
Photo Elliott Reid
Elliott Reid
Prosecutor Tom Davenport
All actors and roles (10)

Short description

Inherit the Wind is a courtroom drama set in a small Southern town where a schoolteacher, Bertram Cates, is put on trial for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution to his students, in violation of local law. The case draws national attention, and a newspaper reporter brings in the celebrated attorney Henry Drummond to defend Cates. Prosecuting him is Matthew Harrison Brady, a former presidential candidate and prominent religious figure who is also an old opponent of Drummond. The trial becomes a battle over science and faith as much as over the teacher himself. The story draws on the 1925 Tennessee case that became known as the Scopes trial.

Stanley Kramer directed, following The Defiant Ones and On the Beach, and produced through Stanley Kramer Productions for United Artists. The screenplay was written by Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith and Jerome Lawrence. Spencer Tracy plays Drummond and Fredric March plays Brady, with Gene Kelly as reporter E.K. Hornbeck, Dick York as Cates, Donna Anderson as Rachel Brown and Harry Morgan as the judge.

The film was released in July 1960 and runs 128 minutes. Made for about 2 million dollars, it took in roughly the same amount at the box office. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 8.1 out of 10 from 28 reviews, while on TMDB it scores 7.7 out of 10 from 489 votes.

What's left behind the scenes

  • Unlike the fictional Matthew Harrison Brady, William Jennings Bryan never claimed that a $100 fine was too lenient a punishment. In fact, he offered to pay the fine himself. Bryan supported laws prohibiting the teaching of Darwin's theory in schools, but did not believe that violating this prohibition should be punishable.
  • The scene of Spencer Tracy (1900-1967)'s character addressing the jury was shot in one long take.

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