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Inherit The WindInherit 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, and John Scopes is remade in the character Bertram Cates. 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. Inherit the Wind and history Inherit the Wind, in both the movies and the play, takes much poetic license, meaning they 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 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. 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, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York, Harry Morgan, Claude Akins, Noah Beery Jr., Florence Eldridge and Jimmy Boyd. It was adapted by Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith 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. 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 dont 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 bodys partany 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, including at the trial itself.
- 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. Links
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