"He who troubles his own house will inherit wind, and
the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted."
-Proverbs 11:29
A dramatization of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial as a
backwoods school teacher finds himself under arrest after deliberately teaching
evolution and knowing the consequences. He finds himself defended by the most
reputed and aggressive defense attorney in the country (Spencer Tracy) as the
local religious majority rallies behind a long-winded three-time Presidential
candidate (Frederic March). Made with Stanley Kramer's typically overlong
progressive moralizing, Inherit the Wind is nonetheless intelligently written
and just as salient today as it was when released or set, and even retains much
of its edge. A smarmy Gene Kelly is badly miscast in the H.L. Mencken role and
exists solely for comic relief and to push the story along but Tracy and March
both have their moments of humor and power.
*** out of ****
