Brian Trenchard-Smith on Inherit The Wind

1960 audiences who saw Stanley Kramer's film version of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's fictionalized 1955 theatrical treatment of the 1925 Scopes monkey trial assumed that its pro-Darwin evolutionary stance was theoretically accepted by the broad population. But over 50 years later we find, incredibly, that the argument is still not settled. A 1988 tv movie remake starred Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards, and another in 1999 featured Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott. In any case, neither were as effective as Kramer's well-cast production, which was popular in its day and still makes for riveting viewing.