didi-5
As a standalone TV movie, this version of 'Inherit The Wind' has some value, and has interesting leads (Jason Robards and Kirk Douglas). The trouble is it doesn't quite work, and was preceded by perhaps the greatest version (with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March) and followed by a superior television production (with Jack Lemmon and George C Scott).This version seems slow and, because it was made with commercial breaks in mind, doesn't flow that well even if you watch it with the breaks omitted. For a script and film which relies on some quite deep dialogue which requires some concentration to keep the interest and the mood, having the breaks was a major mistake.Not the best of the three versions by any means, but interesting to see. It just isn't the version I'll be going back to the most. Robards is OK, Douglas less so (he feels miscast), but the film is a bit of a turkey.
dbborroughs
Weakest of the three versions of the story of the Scopes Trial this version suffers from shortening, rewriting and worst of all commercials.This isn't to say its bad, its not. The problem is that compared to the original Spencer Tracy film this film comes off as a good summer stock to the originals Broadway show case.The cast is game. Kirk Douglas is perhaps a bit odd at first as the William Jennings Bryan character, but after a few minutes he slips into the groove and all is fine. Jason Robards' is excellent, unfortunately there is something about the way this was put together for TV that kills his momentum in the home stretch.Seeing this with out commercials doesn't help since the pauses still are there.If its on try it, but if you must see some version of this go for one of the other two.
Ed
I thought Jason Robards was good as Darrow even if he didn't erase the memory of Spencer Tracy from my mind but I thought the usually fine Kirk Douglas was miscast as William Jennings Bryan (who was a glutton, not a movie star!) and didn't come close to Frederic March who even looked like Bryan. (Admittedly, Spencer always looked like Spencer.) He was reduced to playing the part as if it was Elmer Gantry and when Jason said that "a giant once lived in that body!" I didn't believe him for one second.And where the old black and white version suggested the oppressive heat and humidity of Dayton, Tennessee, this one didn't even come close. Darren McGavin who played H. L. Mencken was quite good though and I've always adored Jean Simmons in most of what she did. Kyle Secor was the Scopes character (I mistook him for Matthew Broderick) and was very adequate.
I'd be interested to see (again?) the 1965 TV version with Melvyn Douglas and Ed Begley but I don't remember it at all if I did see it.
CheshireCatsGrin
Although it was not as good as the first, Inherit the Wind was as enjoyable. The performances changed the characters without changing the script much, and the acting was strong enough to pull it off. I did like both leads and have seen this version 5+ times. I have rented them both back to back, and enjoyed both versions as if they were totally different movies-believing this one can stand on it's own.I have gone back and forth on which is better.
AD
