The Anthem Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 I doubt it. It was a black and white film made a long time ago. It was based loosely on the Scopes Monkey Trial but dramaticized it and added different names. Basically, Bertram Gates taught evolution in his science class, which is illegal. He is thrown in jail. The whole country goes in an uproar around this controversy. Matthew Harrison Brady, a fundamentalist christian lawyer comes down to prosecute Scopes. Henry Drummond, another famous lawyer, comes to defend him. Much of it is in the court scene where Darrow spouts some beautifully objectivist and anti-religous stuff. Drummond may very well be an objectivist, he certainly knows the importance of thinking. Here are some awesome quotes from Henry Drummond: "Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!" "As long as the prerequisite for that shining paradise is ignorance, bigotry and hate, I say the hell with it." "Yes. The individual human mind. In a child's power to master the multiplication table, there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "amens" and "holy holies" and "hosannas." An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters." I still can't believe I got to watch this in science class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Mac Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Well, 1960, it wasn't that long ago. http://forum.objectivismonline.com/uploads/emoticons/default_laugh.png' alt=':lol:'> Yes, I've heard of it and it's quite famous with an all star cast. It was originally a play and it was remade as a television show several years ago. It sounds like you saw the 1960 version with Spencer Tracey and Gene Kelly. I caught it on Turner Classic Movie (TCM) channel once a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadkat Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Saw it. Loved it. Although I did get irate when one of my friends used a line from the movie against me (a liberal relativist buddy) - "Behold, the atheist who believes in God!" That was, in the movie, the reporter to the defense lawyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myself Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 (edited) Inherit the Wind is one of my favorite movies. Henry Drummond, was in my opinion, Spencer Tracy's greatest role (and given who we're talking about, that's saying something!). The one thing that always struck me was how hands off the directing was in the movie. The writing was superlative and every role so perfectly cast that the director left the camerawork to a minimum and let the actors and script work their magic. One of the truly great movies ever made. If you like Inherit the Wind you might check out the Sidney Lumet version of 12 Angry Men. The movie is a real time deliberation of a jury determining the guilt or innocence of a young ethnic boy accused of murdering his father. Henry Fonda plays the main character, a calm, rational, architect who take it upon himself to cut through the prejudices of the other jurors to determine the truth of the case. It's an incredible movie, an incredible performance by Fonda, and left me wishing he had played that other calm, rational, architect instead of Gary Cooper! Edited June 7, 2008 by Myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena glaukopis Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 (edited) I doubt it. It was a black and white film made a long time ago. <snip> Does that mean my parents, born in 1960 were made a long time ago? My mom wouldn't like to hear that ^^ But as K-Mac pointed out, this film has an all-star cast, so those of us who didn't see it the first time around, would be inclined to see it (on TCM) or at least have heard of it. Many fans of classic films will systematically watch the filmography of their favorite actors, especially those as talented and prolific as Gene Kelly and Spencer Tracy. Many films from this era had a sense of life totally different from films made today. If you like the affirmable classic films of that era you should see "Executive Suite" if you haven't already, it's mind-boggling that a film like that was even made; it's so good! In short, its about the event of finding the next man (in a board of directors, each of their own personality and character) to run the furniture company whose owner just died. In the end, the rational, able, efficacious man with great business sense and morals gets the spot... after an exciting "board room" speech at the end.. very "roarkian" Edited June 7, 2008 by athena glaukopis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anthem Posted June 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Oops, sorry for implying anyone was old. I'm just going to blame it on the naiivety of my youth. I'll check out those other movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruveyn ben yosef Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 "Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!" There is a somewhat similar sentiment expressed in the movie -A Man for All Seasons-. Thomas More (played by the late Paul Schofield) berates his son-in-law ( Will Roper) for wanting to bypass and skirt laws just to get at the Bad Guys: More responds thus: William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that! Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake! Hoo - ee! ruveyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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