Search - Inherit the Wind on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Profanity Movie Release: 1960 DVD Release: 12/11/2001 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 8 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 13 Genres: Drama, Courtroom Drama, Message Movie See Also: Inherit the Wind [O-Ring]

The Evolution vs. Creationism argument is at the center of the Jerome Lawrence-Robert E. Lee Broadway play Inherit the Wind. Lawrence and Lee's inspiration was the 1925 "Monkey Trial," in which Tennessee schoolteacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in violation of state law. Scopes deliberately courted arrest to challenge what he and his supporters saw as an unjust law, and the trial became a national cause when The Baltimore Sun, represented by the famed (and atheistic) journalist H. L. Mencken, hired attorney Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes. The prosecuting attorney was crusading politician William Jennings Bryan, once a serious contender for the Presidency, now a relic of a past era. While Bryan won the case as expected, he and his fundamentalist backers were held up to public ridicule by the cagey Darrow. In both the play and film versions of Inherit the Wind, the names and places are changed, but the basic chronology was retained, along with most of the original court transcripts. John Scopes becomes Bertram Cates (Dick York); Clarence Darrow is Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy); William Jennings Bryan is Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March); and H. L. Mencken is E. K. Hornbeck (Gene Kelly). Dayton, Tennessee is transformed into Hillsboro -- or, as the relentlessly cynical Hornbeck characterizes it, "Heavenly Hillsboro." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spencer Tracy - Henry Drummond
Fredric March - Matthew Harrison Brady
Gene Kelly - E.K. Hornbeck
Florence Eldridge - Sarah Brady
Dick York - Bertram T. Cates
Henry "Harry" Morgan - Judge

Spencer Tracy and Fredric March square off with man vs. monkey in the classic 1960 drama Inherit the Wind. MGM has cleaned up this 1.66:1 non-anamorphic print with above-average effect. While there is a surprising lack of grain, dirt, or scratches (except for the very beginning of the film), it is still a shame to see this film ignored in the anamorphic enhancement department. However, the black-and-whites are very pleasing to the eye and should make fans happy. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and sounds flat and uninspired. However, since this film is a dialogue-driven drama, the lack of a full-scale sound mix can be forgiven. Also included on this disc are French and Spanish subtitles. The only extra feature available on this DVD is a theatrical trailer for the film featuring director Stanley Kramer (doing an Alfred Hitchcock-like cameo) elaborating about his film. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide