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Two of the juiciest roles in the American theater fall at the feet of Spencer Tracy and Fredric March, and both men make a meal of it. Inherit the Wind, based on the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is a slightly fictionalized account of the Scopes Monkey Trial, that galvanizing legal drama of the 1920s. When a young Tennessee teacher is prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution in a public school, he receives unwanted public attention as well as the legal advice of a giant. Tracy plays the role based on Clarence Darrow, the eloquent defense attorney, and March storms his way through a part based on Williams Jennings Bryan, the failed presidential candidate (and famed orator) who prosecuted the case. Gene Kelly plays a character based on the acid-penned H.L. Mencken, reporting on the trial and caustically commenting on the absurdity of the human animal. Stanley (Judgment at Nuremberg) Kramer's direction is not especially subtle, but the verbal fireworks unleashed during the trial sequences are still stirring. Even the different styles of the actors are intriguing: March is all mannerism and false padding around the belly, while Tracy does his patented naturalistic grumbling. It would be nice if this story were a quaint period piece, but its issues and arguments keep reemerging in the headlines with each new generation. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (60)

Don't monkey around with religion
This film is based on the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee about the 1925, Scopes Monkey Trial. It is tricky to keep the differences between this play and the real trial apart in one's mind. Spencer Tracy (Henry Drummond) and Fredric March (Matthew Harrison Brady) spar over the legality of teaching of evolution in Tennessee. This combination is guaranteed to keep you glued to your seat. In this movie Scopes, while teaching evolution to a high-school biology class is arrested and placed in jail.

Some time the other characters get lost in the shuffle yet one other will show through. That is Gene Kelley who plays E. K. Hornbeck who reports the trial.

I will not give a blow by blow of the trail but to say it gets rather heated and is broken up with several adjournments with time to reflect on what was said and going to be said.

If you are interested in the real thing then read Scopes Autobiography "Center of the Storm."

Pr 11:29... "HE WHO TROUBLES HIS OWN HOUSE WILL INHERIT THE WIND."

"Sit down, Sampson, you're about to get a haircut"
Although Inherit the Wind was made in 1960 about a trial in 1920, it retains a surprising amount of bite.

In the film, based on the stage play of the same name, in turn based on the famous Scopes Monkey Trial, a biology teacher is jailed for teaching evolution. This sets up the film's centerpiece: a courtroom battle between famed attorneys, portrayed by acting heavyweights Spencer Tracy and Frederic March.

Gene Kelly is surprisingly good in a non-dancing role, and gets the best lines as the cynical journalist from Baltimore ("Sit down, Sampson, you're about to get a haircut," he says to the teacher when his girlfriend is called to testify).

Directed by the great Stanley Kramer, the film works well on a number of levels: comedy, courtroom drama, and commentary on religion's place in society.

A unforgettable tour de force and superb script!
This film is a triumph against the intolerance and the dark sides of the reason. The dreams of the reason produce monsters.
The generated legal battle between a Mathew Brady the hard fan religious and politician and Henry Drummond an opened mind lawyer about the Darwin ideas , keep full intensity all the film.
This historical process lets you thinking about the imaginary circunstance about what would the destiny of USA if Brady would have been President?
Spencer Tracy and Frederic March are like the alpha and the omega in this match . One timeless classic film in any age.
Don't even doubt it. This film is for you and for a wide target in the social spectre.
A must and a winner movie!

Incredibly Boring at Best
This movie is terrible. When people make a movie, you assume they would try to make it entertaining at the very Least. Don't waste your time viewing this film. It lasts way too long and you'll be happy when its over. Even if you do like the movie, it has a terrible ending. Hardly any of the conflicts are solved, and you're left with a feeling of disgust. That is only if you manage to make it through the entire movie. The songs in it as well are way too long and sound terrible. To sum it up, this movie is terrible.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
As previous reviewers have noted, _INHERIT THE WIND_ is a work of fiction that is based on what came to be known as "The Scopes Monkey Trial." Also previously noted is the fact that Spencer Tracy, as Henry Drummond, the character adapted from the real life Clarence Darrow, and Frederic March, playing the role of Matthew Harrison Brady, whose character is based on William Jennings Bryan, engage in a carefully choreographed and outstandingly acted "pas de deux" that, to this day, has rarely been matched in any movie.

It should be understood that this is a work of fiction, and is not meant to duplicate the facts of the Scopes trial. That's why the names have been changed -- to allow literary license for dramatic purposes.

With this as background, one needs to understand the political climate that prevailed when the play from which the movie was adapted was written. The play was written in 1950, in the middle of what has come to be known as the "McCarthy Era." The anti-Communist hysteria of the time was seen by many as a threat to intellectual freedom. It was politically dangerous, at that time, to directly take on those threats to freedom of ideas, so the playwrites (Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee) came up with the idea of using the Scopes Trial, which was safely in the past, as a vehicle to express the importance of the constitutional guarantees of such things as freedom of speech. That the play they wrote in 1950, and its 1960 movie version, were of such dramatic intensity was just icing on the cake.

I think that looking at _INHERIT THE WIND_ from the standpoint of historical perspective should do away with some reviewers beliefs that it is some sort of atheistic plot to challenge their belief systems. Also, repeating myself, I believe that it is important to realize that it is a work of fiction and need not accurately reflect the details of the real trial.

It's worth seeing from several perspectives. As a well acted movie; as one that creates an atmosphere that makes the viewer feel that he is in that hot, humid courtroom; and as one that expresses how important our freedoms really are. ... Read more

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Two innocent sisters from Ohio hit Greenwich Village and must cope with wall-shaking subway construction, the neighborhood kooks, and a whopping $65 a month for an apartment. My Sister Eileen is one of those "Look out, world, we're conquering Manhattan!" movies, with Betty Garrett as a plain, would-be writer and Janet Leigh as her knockout sister, an aspiring actress who draws men like milk draws kittens. The 1955 movie's well-scrubbed Greenwich Village is a delightful fantasy playground. The city wasnever like this, but it probably should have been. In one of his early roles, Jack Lemmon (crooning one of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin songs quite charmingly) plays a magazine publisher, one of the many Young Men with Ideas he would play in the subsequent decade. Even more interesting is the presence of future director Bob Fosse, as a soda jerk who romances Leigh. Fosse also choreographed the film's musical numbers, and his dances include a delightful quartet at a bandstand and a sensational showdown with Tommy Rall. Fosse and Rall try to outdo each other in a male rivalry dance that will remind Fosse fans of his obsession with hats. The breezy direction is by Richard Quine, who cowrote the script with another future director, Blake Edwards. The original source material, stories by Ruth McKenney, formed the basis for a play and a nonmusical 1942 Rosalind Russell movie, also called My Sister Eileen (in which Quine played the Fosse role); there was a Broadway musical adaptation of the stories, Wonderful Town, which is not related to this film. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A charming, screwball musical
Most folks will pay attention to this film becuase it's an early piece by choreographer Bob Fosse -- but it is a fun bit of froth that easily stands on its own. An absolutely delightful musical comedy, starring Betty Garrett as a smart smalltown girl determined to make it in New York City. She moves there with her with her glamourous, ditzy sister Eileen, whose good looks open more doors than do Garrett's brains and moxie. A nice film about struggling to get ahead in the Big Apple, with a script that takes its time and several exuberently goofy dance numbers, gleefully choreographed by a young Bob Fosse, who also plays one of the sister's avid suitors. The penultimate dance scene is side-splittingly hilarious, featuring a swarm of recently disembarked Cuban sailors on the prowl for American women, who form an inexhaustable conga line that snakes chaotically through the gal's tiny apartment. Thoroughly entertaining... a great, lighthearted film with some fabulous acting and bright, winning performances by all involved.

A Nice Musical Comedy With a Young Bob Fosse
"My Sister Eileen" was Fosse's first official assignment as a film choreographer. He had already co-choreographed his dances for three musicals he made at MGM but didn't get any credit for it.
This film offers a rare chance to see him perform his own steps in front of the camera. He wasn't just a legendary Broadway director and choreographer, he was also a brilliant and nimble dancer with a sweet singing voice. His early stuff was influenced by Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Jack Cole, so don't expect the small intricate dancing with bowler hats that became his trademark.
Fosse is featured in three numbers: the quartet "Give Me A Band and My Baby", which is pure fun, the romantic ballroom routine "There's Nothing Like Love" where he partners "Psycho"'s Janet Leigh, and the explosive "Alley Dance" in which he competes with one of the best yet underrated dancers of Hollywood's Golden Age: the versatile Tommy Rall. The number shows a couple of early Fosse favorites such as the "Steam Heat" hat trick, cartwheel jumps and somersaults.
The rest of the cast is also quite remarkable: Betty Garrett is adorable with her dead-pan humour and Janet Leigh is simply sweet as Darlin' Eileen. And if you ever wanted to hear Jack Lemmon sing, here's your chance.
Director Richard Quine and young Blake Edwards wrote a rather unspectacular screenplay. Jule Styne and Leo Robin did a decent job with the songs but I definitely prefer Leonard Bernstein's "Wonderful Town".
"My Sister Eileen" is a nice little musical comedy. It's ideal to cheer yourself up on a dark and rainy evening.
By the way, this film isn't presented in its original Cinemascope format. The video version was slightly formatted. Well, let's hope for the DVD release.

Entertaining Classic!
What a great movie! It is refreshing to see so much energy brought to the silver screen. The casting makes this movie! It has something for everyone: dancing, singing, funny misunderstandings, apartment problems and much more. This movie provides the entire family with good clean entertainment which is almost extinct in today's Hollywood. Jack Lemmon is wonderful opposite Betty Garrett. Janet Leigh also does a superb job as the sister with everything!

Good Star Vehicle
Although the first version,starring Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair,is by far superior,this musical version with Janet Leigh and Betty Garrett as the two sisters in Greenwich Village is quite a good romp. Bob Fosse and Jack Lemmon (in a rare musical role )add the needed chemistry to make the girls sparkle. The story was later musicalized on Broadway as 'Wonderful Town',which again starred Rosalind Russell as Ruth Sherwood,and won a Tony for her work.

Watching a young Bob Fosse dance is incredible
A great cast with Jack Lemon and Betty Garrett doing a great job together and Bob Fosse showing why he is among the greatest dancers of our time. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Butchered Masterpiece
THEY CAME TO CORDURA was originally 148 minutes. It was hailed by critics who saw this version, including the NY Times, which gave it a rave. But Columbia grew nervous, it was dark, grim, downbeat. The army looked like it was filled with cowards, rapists, murderers. Columbia took the film away from director Robert Rossen and lopped off 35 minutes, then added back in several minutes of exposition. The resulting film is maddening. At times brilliant, at times clumsy; it's pacing is awkward, the editing downright amateurish. The minions at Comubia hadn't a clue what they were doing whgen they butchered and re-editied the film. Even so, it is still a fine, fine film. The writing is spot-on, some of the dialogue scalding; the acting is flawless, and many of the sequences take your breath away. An extraordinary score. And Cooper is heart-breaking in his depiction of the coward. The scene between him and Rita Hayworth, in which he tells of cowering in the ditch, is screen acting of the highest order. Rossen was in the process of buying the film back from Columbia to return it to his original vision when he died. Perhaps it will yet happen. But not by Columbia, which has dropped this DVD onto the market with no extras and no attempt to restore it. Even so, CORDURA is well worth the purchase. Truly, a butchered masterpiece.

TOTALLY BORING MOVIE !
This movie is a failure in every way - I do not know what the
other reviewers are talking about...
This movie is about a bunch of people wandering around in the desert through the whole movie until the end.
Cooper is too old and one does not like him playing a coward.
Hayworth is the only good thing about it. She plays great
and looks great. This was her last A-movie for Columbia.
Afterwards her big career was over in 1959.

At What Price Courage
This 1959 film from director Robert Rossen sets out to define the meaning of courage. Set in 1916 Mexico during General Pershing's Expedition to capture Poncho Villa in revenge for his raid into New Mexico, the US Army sets out to find soldiers worthy of the Medal of Honor. Ironically, a branded coward Gary Cooper is given the task. This is a slow and deliberate movie. It is noteworthy not for its script but for its depth of well constructed characters and their motivations. By the end of the film you may ask yourself if cowards and heroes walk the same thin line. Van Heflin gives a standout performance and he is the real catalist behind Cooper's internal struggle that manifests itself visually on the screen.

The last great cavalry charge
This fictitous dramatisation based around the last cavalry campaign and the heroic exploits of some troopers at the almost last mounted pistol charge(the last mounted pistol charge was lead by Ed Ramsey in charge of G troop,26th Cavalry regiment(P.S)against Japanese during the defense of the Phillipines during WW2) shines on despite the rough as guts editing . The real charge at Ojos Azules was lead by Apache scouts serving alongside the 11th Cavalry regiment.The regiment in this movie is the 28th Cavalry(the real 28th didnt exist until 1943 and when it did it was a negro regiment).The charge is an action milestone,over 300 horses where used. Cooper plays an officer who has officialy been shamed for cowardice in the face of the enemy,he is given a"deskjob" for his cowardice and must escort a mixed group of citation winning heroes back to base at Cordura.This rag tag detachment are ambushed on route and are forced to surrender there horses,and it is after this that the real nature of the "heroes" becomes apparant. The real star of the movie is Van Heflin,he steals the show and runs rings around the other actors.The editing is abrupt and obtrusive at some moments(much of the film is reversed and to a uniform collector like myself it becomes very distracting)but the A-list cast peform beyond these shortcomings. This movie has more in common with Treasure of the Sierra Madre than it does with The Wild Bunch but somehow seems at home between the two. A great movie that could only be improved by a DVD release. Thanks for your time Golpeo Rapidamente

They Came to Cordura
This film is set in 1916 Mexico during General Pershing's Punitive Expedition to capture Poncho Villa. Gary Cooper plays Maj. Thomas Thorn, an Army officer accused of cowardice, sent to observe and deliver five men (Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Richard Conte, Michael Callan and Dick York) for consideration to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Rita Hayworth is an American accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The film is rather tedious as it ever so slowly tries to discern the meaning of courage. Its greatest assets are the beautiful color cinematography by Burnett Guffey and an underrated and powerful performance by Van Heflin. I have never seen Heflin better, as he remains a constant thorn in the side of Cooper. Heflin plays one of the crudest and potentially violent characters I have ever seen. He physically looks the part and plays it with incredibly subdued menace. The film was directed by Robert Rossen and co-written by Rossen and Ivan Moffat. ... Read more

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This sturdy Delmer Daves picture--his third with Glenn Ford, following Jubal and 3:10 to Yuma--is one of the most offbeat Westerns ever. And it must be the most writerly, with Frank Harris's memoirs as the source and a picaresque screenplay by Edmund H. North and Dalton Trumbo (a blacklistee, credited only posthumously). There's a pileup of oddities and complications at the outset, with Chicago hotel clerk Harris (Jack Lemmon) already in mid-romance with a daughter of the Mexican aristocracy (Anna Kashfi--Mrs. Marlon Brando at the time), and Texas cattleman Tom Reese (Ford) storming in to commandeer an entire floor of the hotel for him and his drovers so they can party till, well, the cows come home. Partying is curtailed when Reese loses big at cards; Harris bails him out with his savings, and Reese finds he's taken on not only an unwanted partner but a tenderfoot besides. Soon everyone is headed south.

Cowboy merits its bedrock title. This is a rare Western in which the job of breaking horses, trail herding, etc. figures as a dynamic aspect of the storytelling. The film also has a blunt and original way of looking at death, not as a genre convention but as something abrupt, ungainly, and often absurd, in both senses of the word. (This applies equally to men and cattle, by the way.) The camerawork is trim, angular, and somehow precarious, and the jagged editing hustles the very eventful proceedings to a close in barely an hour and a half. Saddle up. --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Rafael Mendez
I like that Mr.Mendez. He can really play that horn. Hot i tell you.. hot! Anyways folks, I recommend that you awll buy this fantastic root in tootin' slam here footin' horse riding shootin' movie! You'll love it and as for Mendez. He is the greatest.

How could they release this in Pan & Scan????
This is a wonderful look at the "real" West for a change; warts and all. BUT, and it is a big BUT, it needs to be seen as originally filmed not cut for television. Neverthless I'll keep this copy and then buy it again when it is released in Widescreen. Why do those who support the rights of directors and complain when someone "messes" with "their" product think nothing of chopping a film to fit a televion screen.

Western Fan
This moive had everything that made it easy to remember. Glen Ford was always a standup kind of guy and could be hard as nails, or gentle. Jack Lemmon was like a new born calf looking for how to walk on his unsteady legs. The other actors were very good and there was no over acting, they fit their roles perfectly, as a person that enjoys good stunts this one was not lacking in that department. I would watch this moive often,as it is good entertainment.

Giddy-Up!
Very amusing western with Jack Lemmon learning the cowboy-way by pro Glenn Ford. Colorful and entertaining and one of the classics. Waiting only for "The Sheepman".

Watch out for saddle sores!
This "fish-out-of-water" story has Jack Lemmon turn from a dude into a hard-bitten cowhand in this enjoyable trail drive western. Glenn Ford, who always looks at home in a saddle, is along for the ride as the trail boss. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Scratches the surface
This video documents the heyday of the gruesome driver's safety films that used to be shown to students in many schools. Renowned for their use of actual footage of dead and injured people from traffic accidents, they have become the stuff of urban legend over the years. This film chronicles how a small group of Ohio volunteers began recording the aftermaths of accidents, the evolution of the films, and how they were received by their audiences.

I'm sure that there is an interesting film to be made here, but this one misses the mark. I wanted to know more about those people who began shooting these pictures and what motivated them to do it. After all, it's a very strange hobby to take up: dragging oneself out of bed at a moment's notice to rush out to an accident site and take a gruesome photo or film. Once their Highway Safety Films business was a going concern, there was a profit motive, but the filmmakers never push hard enough to find out what had them out there in the first place, before the first film or safety presentation had ever been made.

The film is unfocused as well. It wastes time on sketchy allegations of mob connections and illegal porno production, passing up the opportunity to spend more time with a small-time video dealer who packages those films for the current generation as gory freak-shows along the lines of the "Faces of Death" series. It would have been interesting to know what the makers of the original films think about how they are being received today. Other aspects of the topic, such as the essentially hostile and abusive nature of showing this material to young kids is touched on, but not examined adequately. ... Read more