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Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. It is frequently cited as being a fictionalized account of the Scopes Trial.

The real-life opposing attorneys William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow are roughly portrayed as Matthew Harrison Brady and Henry Drummond respectively, while John Scopes is remade in the character Bertram Cates and journalist H.L. Mencken becomes E.K. Hornbeck. But despite the similarities, the play is not intended to be a historical documentary-drama, but a fictional social commentary based loosely on an historical event. Although the play reflects on what has been claimed as one of the darkest events in American history, it has been hailed one of the great American plays of the 20th Century, with themes about religious tolerance, belief and freedom of thought that have considerable resonance to this day.

The play's title comes from Proverbs 11:29, which in the King James Bible reads:

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.
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Inherit the Wind and history

Inherit the Wind, in both the movies and the play, takes much poetic license, meaning that the writers do not try to present things as they actually happened, but instead use key events to craft a story, embellishing them according to the needs of drama. It is, like Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, a literary device wherein historical events are retold as an exploration of events and ideas of the times. In this case, authors merely use the historical Scopes trial as the background for a drama that comments on and explores the threats to intellectual freedom presented by the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era. The script of the play, however, actually does use multiple excerpts taken directly from the actual court transcripts.

The play includes a note from the playwrights reminding the reader that "Inherit the Wind is not history." They state that the characters have different names from the historical figures on whom they are based, and that the play "does not pretend to be journalism." Rather, they argue that "the issues of [Bryan and Darrow's] conflict have acquired new dimension and meaning" in the thirty years since the actual courtroom clash. They do not set the play in 1925 but instead say that "It might have been yesterday. It could be tomorrow." This timelessness setting could be seen as a warning about repeating the wrongs of the past, which, without vigilance, always have the possibility of recurring.

It should be noted that despite the comments of the authors, much of the marketing of the play today portrays it as a basically true account of the Scopes Trial, and many still unknowingly interpret the work as a documentary-drama. The Scopes trial did not appear in the Encyclopædia Britannica until 1957 when the inclusion was spurred by the successful run of Inherit the Wind on Broadway, which was mentioned in the citation. It was not until the 1960s that the Scopes trial began to be mentioned in the history textbooks of American high schools and colleges, usually as an example of the conflict between fundamentalists and modernists, and often in sections that also talked about the rise of the Klu Klux Klan in the South. Most entries followed the play's lead and focused on Darrow reducing Bryan to a figure of ridicule and several substituted the substance of the drama for the reality of the actual trial.

Inherit the Wind in film

The play has been made into three made-for-television movies and a 1960 screen film. The movie stars Spencer Tracy (Drummond), Fredric March (Brady), Gene Kelly (Hornbeck), Dick York (Cates), Harry Morgan (Judge), Donna Anderson (Rachel Brown), Claude Akins (Rev. Brown), Noah Beery Jr. (Stebbins), Florence Eldridge (Mrs. Brady) and Jimmy Boyd. It was adapted by Nedrick Young (originally as Nathan E. Douglas) and Harold Jacob Smith (Howard) and directed by Stanley Kramer.

The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Spencer Tracy), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

The 1960 film makes several departures from the play, most notably in that it tones down the single-mindedness of the characters. For example, a scene is added where Brady and Drummond sit and have a polite discussion about their past friendship. Likewise, the character of the journalist, Hornbeck (based on H.L. Mencken) is presented an intolerent athiest in the play, but in the movie, a scene is added near the end to tone down his views as well. Unlike in the play, the character of Cates does not outright disown the town and leave at the end. The screenplay also used a bit more of the actual trial transcript than the stage play, most notably including the incident where Clarence Darrow was cited for contempt of court.

Differences between Inherit the Wind and history

Inherit the Wind portrays the Cates/Scopes character as unfairly persecuted. In the actual event, however, the ACLU had allied with Dayton businessmen to persuade Scopes to be a test case in order to challenge a law banning the teaching of evolution.

Inherit the Wind has been criticised for unfairly portraying or stereotyping Christians as hostile, hate-filled bigots. Thus there is Reverend Jeremiah Brown who whips up his congregation into a frenzy and calls down hellfire on his own daughter for dating Cates. There was no such reverend, prayer meeting or girlfriend in the real Dayton. The townspeople were generally very kind and cordial to Drummond/Darrow in both the fiction and reality. Speaking of the townspeople, the real Darrow said:

I don’t know as I was ever in a community in my life where my religious ideas differed as widely from the great mass as I have found them since I have been in Tennesee. Yet I came here a perfect stranger and I can say what I have said before that I have not found upon any body’s part—any citizen here in this town or outside the slightest discourtesy. I have been treated better, kindlier and more hospitably than I fancied would have been the case in the north (trial transcript, pp. 225–226).

Other differences

  • Brady refused to read Darwin, yet Bryan was very familiar with his writings and quoted them extensively.
  • Brady claimed that sexual intercourse was original sin, yet nothing was said about sex in the actual trial.
  • Brady betrays Cates' girlfriend, the local preacher's daughter. In actuality, the real Scopes didn't have a girlfriend at all.
  • Brady protested that the fine was too lenient; in reality, Bryan offered to pay the fine.

Other views on Inherit the Wind

In one view, the play is seen as a veiled attack on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) under the control of Senator Joseph McCarthy and his assistant Roy Cohn. What has been termed the "McCarthy Witch Hunt" came to an end in June, 1954. The play first appeared on Broadway in January, 1955, and the first film version was released in 1960.

Brady's final fit of ranting and raving in the courtroom has no counterpart in the 1925 trial. It is, however, seen in some interpretations of the play as a very direct depiction of Senator McCarthy's behaviour on June 17, 1954, when the proceedings of the HUAC were brought to an abrupt end.

However, McCarthy was a Republican while Bryan was a progressive Democrat who was an outspoken advocate of pacifism, women's suffrage and prohibition.

Inherit the Wind on Television

In 1965 the play aired on television with Melvyn Douglas as Drummond and Ed Begley as Brady. In 1988, a rewrite of the Kramer movie shown on NBC starred Jason Robards as Drummond and Kirk Douglas as Brady. Another version aired in 1999 with another pair of Oscar winners, Jack Lemmon amd George C. Scott as Drummond and Brady. Robards won an Emmy and Lemmon won a Golden Globe award for their performances. The 1988 production also won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special.

External links and references

Last updated: 05-21-2005 15:12:45