This movie is supposed to be a retelling of the 1925 Scopes Trial (aka The Scopes Monkey Trial) in Dayton, TN. The names of people and places have been altered slightly. Nevertheless, the movie (and play) hardly resemble what really took place in Dayton that summer. It was illegal to teach evolution in the classroom in Dayton at that time. John Scopes (Bert in the movie), who happened to be a substitute biology teacher - normally the PE teacher, was on trial for allegedly teaching that man evolved from the apes. The ACLU defended Scopes with well-known defense attorney Clarence Darrow. The prosecution was headed by William Jennings Bryan, a popular politician and self-proclaimed theologian. The townsfolk in the movie are portrayed as cruel and intolerant and in one scene want to lynch Scopes. In real life, Clarence Darrow remarked that the people of Dayton, TN were some of the nicest people on earth and had treated him and his client with great respect. This is just one of the many misrepresentations of what really happened. The actual transcript of the trial has recently been made available. I would encourage anyone who is interested in the truth of this event to read that. Unfortunately, this movie (and play) are nothing more than an attack on the Christian faith, especially concerning the Genesis account of creation. While Bryan had great intentions, he did a poor job of defending Christianity yet still won the case. This movie could have been very good if it accurately portrayed what happened and it still would have succeeded in making Christians look bad because Bryan performed poorly when he took the witness stand. Don't waste your time with this propaganda piece unless you have read the transcript or watched Dr. David Menton's video entitled "Inherently Wind" which compares and contrasts the movie with the facts of the case.
Review of Inherit the Wind
