Inherit the Wind (1960)

Directed by Stanley Kramer

The screen version of the controversial stage play about the infamous (and still-relevant) Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1925 pits Tracy’s progressive defense lawyer against Fredric March’s prosecutor, in a case about a schoolteacher charged with teaching evolution in class. The aging Tracy is perfectly suited to the role of a modern great statesman, his passion for what is right tempered by a weary compassion for his adversary.

United Artists Corp. Producer: Stanley Kramer. Based on the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Screenwriter: Nathan E. Douglas. Cinematographer: Ernest Laszlo. Editor: Frederick Knudtson. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Florence Eldridge, Dick York.

35mm, b/w, 126 min.