Inherit the Wind (1960) | |||||||||||
Plot Synopsis (continued)
Early in the Court Case - The Selection of Twelve Jurors: There was a decided contrast between the receptions afforded the two lawyers as they walked through a gauntlet to enter the Hillsboro Courthouse building for the case already in session:
The presiding Judge Merle Coffey (Henry Morgan) called the trial to order. There were two desks facing the judge: the sole defense attorney Drummond on the left, and Matthew Brady with Tom Davenport on the right. Throughout the entire proceedings, Brady cooled himself with a 'Funeral Parlor' fan - a humorous criticism of his 'old-time' dying religious stance.
The selection of the members of the 12-person jury was already in progress. Inside the stifling hot courtroom, the Judge became exasperated by the flashes of the newspaper photographer's pictures, and reporters who loudly called in their stories on telephones (reporting via radio) within the courtroom. Hornbeck reported to his Baltimore paper:
The 12th and final juror was in the process of being chosen. Before proceeding, Brady (who was called "Colonel" by the Judge) was permitted to make a motion for a procedural change - that the lawyers be allowed to shed their "few superfluous outer garments" since the temperature in the courtroom was 97 degrees F - and it would be "getting hotter." Drummond showed off his fancy suspenders that he claimed were not purchased in his hometown of Chicago, but bought in Brady's hometown - "Weeping Water, Nebraska."
At first, Tom Davenport questioned a personally-biased juror Jessie H. Dunlap (Ray Teal), a farmer, who affirmed his strong belief in the Bible ("I believe in the holy Word of God") and in the prosecution's lead lawyer: ("I believe in Matthew Harrison Brady"). He was accepted by the prosecution - solely for his strong religious beliefs. Under pressure from Brady, Drummond was forced to ask the same juror only one question - an unrelated and simple "How are ya?" - and then pronounced that the man was unacceptable to the defense and he was "excused."
When Brady objected to Drummond's "levity" brought into the courtroom, Drummond counter-objected to the use of the prestigious title of "Colonel" for Brady:
To assuage Drummond, the Mayor also named the defense lawyer as "a temporary honorary colonel in the state militia" and from then on in the trial, Drummond was addressed as "Colonel Drummond."
Another possible juror appointee was dim-witted, local feed store clerk George Sillers (Gordon Polk), who was pointedly questioned by Brady: "Do you have any personal opinions with regard to the defendant that might prejudice you on his behalf?" Sillers responded that Cates was a one-time customer who bought peat moss and paid his bill. Brady accepted Sillers as an acceptable 12th juror - hastily judging him as an "honest, God-fearing man." When Drummond began his cross-interrogation, he determined that Sillers let his wife tend to all of the family's religious matters:
Drummond realized that the selection of the less-than-religious juror by Brady might have been too impulsive, and that the prosecution was entertaining second thoughts about withdrawing their approval: "I have already established that Mr. Sillers is not working very hard at religion. Now, for your sake, I'm trying to establish that he is not working at evolution." Drummond scolded Brady for choosing jurors who all had the same mind-set: "Oh, conform, conform. What do you want to do? Run the jury through a meat grinder to have them all come out the same?" And then, he promptly approved Sillers as the last juror. The court trial was adjourned until 10:00 am the following morning, due to the heat. As the courtroom cleared out, Reverend Brown passed a note to the Judge, informing everyone of a prayer meeting to be held that evening at the picnic grounds: ("Pray for justice and guidance"). Drummond objected to the Judge's biased endorsement and promotion of a "commercial announcement" and insisted to be fair that the courtroom entry's sign ("Read Your Bible") be taken down in exchange, or replaced with another comparable sign - "Read Your Darwin." Brady was upset with Drummond's coarse and vulgar behavior:
A woman from the courtroom shouted at Drummond, calling him an "atheist." Hornbeck told the woman: "He that sups with the devil must have a long spoon." Another man chastised Cates: "We'll fix you, Cates. We'll run you out of town." The Difficult Dilemma Facing Rachel and Bert Cates: Rachel rushed to Bert's side to compel him to pull out of the case, but Drummond defended the 'rightness' of Bert's stand against injustice, even if it meant the ruination of his life and reputation:
Drummond reminded the disillusioned and distraught Cates that he had chosen and volunteered to enter the case - by and for himself:
Cates hadn't foreseen the personal backlash he would face: "I didn't believe it would happen this way," although Hornbeck cautioned him that it would get worse: "Those people are in a lean and hungry mood." The teacher was dismayed: "They look at me as if I was a murderer." Drummond agreed and explained the terrible price of challenging long-held notions:
Drummond assured Rachel, but then gave Cates the choice to back down and change his plea, or to proceed with the trial:
Cates realized he must remain steadfast even though Rachel felt that his opposition to the town's prevailing attitudes would jeopardize their future married life there:
Dinner Conversation at the Mansion House: Over a banquet dinner that evening, Brady was holding court among the other guests as he lectured about his strict and doctrinal interpretation of the Bible - in direct opposition to the tenets of science. According to his viewpoint, the ways of God were in conflict with the "gods of science" and "the way of scientism" - and godless city life:
Brady was confident that his anti-evolutionist views were in the majority: "There isn't one state in the union where the evolutionists are in the majority." And he downplayed the personal attacks that his crusade was facing from the liberally-biased, city-oriented press: "The attacks upon me stem from a vociferous minority which happens to control the press." And then he commented:
He bragged how he had received letters of support from the governors of 22 states. Sara Brady graciously joined Henry at his separate dining table, and they reminisced about their past positive associations. She realized that her husband was in the fight of his life with Henry, and they were being drawn apart: "You don't make many good friends in a lifetime. I never dreamed our ideas would separate us." Drummond was opposed to Brady's conformist doctrines "about how everybody else should live." However, he gave her a compliment: "I don't think Matt would have made a great president, but I would have voted for him for king - just to have you for queen." Then, Drummond added how he would have served as "your Majesty's loyal opposition." Evening Prayer Service with Fanatical Reverend Brown: That evening at the town's picnic grounds, Reverend Brown held a prayer meeting (attended by Rachel, Hornbeck, Drummond, and the Bradys). He delivered an impassioned and fervent sermon to the impassioned crowd, to denounce Cates and the teachings of evolutionism. He told the literally-interpreted story of creation that was accomplished in one week - as described in the Biblical book of Genesis:
After the Biblical rendition, Rev. Brown then roused the wild-eyed and frenzied crowd with a series of shouted questions:
Then, he condemned Cates to be punished and struck down by God: "O Lord of the tempest and the thunder, strike down this sinner as thou did thine enemies of old in the days of the pharaohs. Let him know the terror of thy sword! Let his soul for all eternity writhe in anguish and damnation!" Rachel cried out to her father: "Don't pray to destroy Bert!" The Reverend sought to accuse her also, even though she was blood-related: "Lord, we ask the same curse for those who ask grace for this sinner, though they be blood of my blood and flesh of my flesh!" Matthew Brady intervened to side with Rachel, to admonish the Reverend to curb his "overzealous" accusations. He urged moderation and prayers for forgiveness - by quoting Proverbs 11:29:
Brady called for the meeting to disperse: "My good friends, return to your homes." Although comforted by Mrs. Brady, Rachel was devastated by her hateful father's denunciations of her: "He hates me...He damned me. My own father damned me to hell...He's always done it." She brought up examples in the past of how her father had unfairly damned to hell both Bert and a young and innocent Stebbins child, without going into further detail. The Brady's accompanied her home. A Private Conversation Between Brady and Drummond On Mansion House's Porch - Differing Viewpoints: After returning to the Mansion House later that evening, Brady shared a few words with Drummond. Both were seated on side-by-side rocking chairs (out of synch with each other) on the outdoor porch lit by the moonlight. Brady expressed how religion was comforting and "something beautiful" to believe in, while Drummond (after speaking about his own childhood's hope for a beautiful rocking horse) called it a false but promising "shining paradise" riddled with bigotry, lack of substance, and hate:
Trial Testimony in the Courtroom: The Prosecution's Case - Witness Howard, A Student: The trial resumed the next morning, when Brady interrogated Howard (Jimmy Boyd), one of Cates' young male students, on the witness stand. Testimony revealed that Cates' was teaching evolution from Darwin's 'Origin of Species':
Brady was interested in knowing how man had evolved from the lower forms of life, asking: "How does man come out of this slimy mess of bugs and serpents?" Howard's further clarifications about man's evolution from monkeys were mocked by Brady:
As Brady was about to launch into a long-winded 'Chautauqua-style' lecture or speech, Drummond objected, but then had to endure Brady's lengthy lecture to the packed courtroom:
Drummond dramatically paused for a few moments, then sarcastically joked: "I sure am glad the Colonel didn't make a speech." During Drummond's questioning of Howard, the defense attorney learned that Cates had taught the students from a book titled: "Charles Darwin's Theory of the Evolution and the Descent of Man" - it was held up for the court to see. He then asked for the boy's personal opinion: "Do you think there was anything wrong in that?", but the prosecutor Davenport objected - and was sustained by the Judge. Drummond argued with the Judge that the "right to think" was the crux of the trial -- much more so than the debate between science and religion:
Drummond rephrased his question to Howard: "All this fuss and feathers about evolution - Do you think it hurt you any?...Did it do you any harm? Still feel reasonably fit? What Mr. Cates told you, did it, ah, did it hurt your baseball game any? Did it affect your pitching arm?...Still honor your father and your mother?...Haven't murdered anybody since breakfast, have you?" The prosecution again objected to the false premise, using an unknown word: "This is an absurd piece of jactitation." Brady suggested a new question to ask: "Ask him if his faith in the Holy Scriptures has been shattered." Ignoring Brady's unprovoked interruption, Drummond pursued a new line of questioning: "Did you believe everything Mr. Cates told you?" Howard replied: "I'm not sure. I gotta think about it." Drummond was pleased by Howard's response revealing independence of thought. Drummond hypothesized how many other elements of human life were not endorsed or mentioned in the Bible:
Brady jumped to his feet to invalidate Drummond's questions: "Your honor, the defense makes the same old error of all godless men. He confuses material things with the great spiritual value of the revealed Word. Why do you bewilder this child? Does right have no meaning to you, sir?" Drummond caused a stir and murmuring in the courtroom when he asserted the primacy of truth, not morality or ethics:
Realizing that his questions were only confusing Howard, Drummond dismissed the boy from the stand, and then defended himself against Brady's assertion that he was twisting, confusing and tangling the truth for the jury:
Brady accused Drummond of using distracting tactics:
Trial Testimony in the Courtroom: The Prosecution's Case - Witness Rachel Brown: The prosecution called for a surprise witness - Rachel Brown, causing Hornbeck to alert the alarmed Cates: "Sit down, Samson. You're about to get a haircut." When Rachel began her testimony, it was revealed that Brady (while comforting her the night before after the prayer rally) had allowed her to confide in him so that he could slyly betray her and use her personal testimony against Cates. He insisted that she repeat what she had explicitly told him the previous evening, including:
She told how at the funeral, her father had "preached that Tommy didn't die in a state of grace because, because his father wouldn't allow him to be baptized." Cates stood up and insisted that she speak more emphatically: "Tell him what your father really said, that Tommy's soul was damned, writhing in hellfire!" When called "a sinner" by a member of the audience, Cates yelled back: "Religion's supposed to comfort people, not frighten them to death!" When Cates was subdued by the Judge, Rachel explained her understanding of Bert's reasoning:
Brady urged Rachel to further make the conclusion that Bert had been "led astray" by the Stebbins incident, bringing Drummond to his feet with a sustainable objection about Brady's interpretative statement. Brady pressed further for more of Cates' opinions about religion, but again, Drummond objected that the question was improper and "inadmissable" because he was asking for hearsay. However, the Judge overruled Drummond and permitted the line of questioning. Cates stood and begged for Rachel to not divulge his most private religious doubts and "questions - questions you ask your own heart. If you say those things out loud, he'll make them sound like answers." Brady continued to cruelly badger the witness into continuing her damning, blasphemous testimony against Cates - he also put false words into her mouth:
From the audience, Brady's wife shouted for him to stop causing Rachel to sob! The Judge offered Drummond the opportunity to postpone his cross-examination, but the defense attorney couldn't let the moment pass: "The defense must have a chance to challenge the words put into the mouth of the witness by the prosecutor." Drummond turned to convince the reluctant Cates of his need to cross-examine her in an attempt to repair the damage: "Do you want every word he just put in her mouth to go in to the record?" Hornbeck added: "He just pulled you apart like a plucked chicken." But Cates insisted that they leave Rachel alone: "Let her go." Hornbeck knew that Rachel's testimony would jail Cates and seal his fate: "You all-American idiot. She just handed them your head on a silver platter." Cates threatened: "Let her go, or I'll change my plea to guilty." Frustrated, Drummond was forced to concede and the witness was excused. The prosecution rested its case.
Trial Testimony in the Courtroom: The Defense's Case - Science Witnesses: To begin Drummond's defense of the case, he first called Dr. Amos Keller (Stuart Hall), the head of the Department of Zoology at the University of Chicago. When Brady objected, Drummond justified calling on six scientists and knowledgeable experts on the meaning of the theory of evolution:
Brady stipulated the opposite side of the argument: "I hold that the very law we're here to enforce excludes such testimony! The people of this state have made it very clear that they do not want this zoological hogwash slopping around the schoolrooms, and I refuse to allow these agnostic scientists to employ this courtroom as a sounding board, as a platform from which they can shout their heresies into the headlines." The Judge sustained the prosecution's objects and forbid such testimony, ruling that Zoology was "irrelevant" to the case's trial. Drummond's second witness was Dr. Allen Page, Deacon of the Congregational Church and Professor of Geology and Archaeology at Oberlin College (in Ohio). Immediately, the Judge also sustained the prosecution's objections, prompting Drummond to ask: "Does your honor deny in one breath the existence of Zoology, Geology and Archaeology?" The bigoted Judge answered: "We do not deny the existence of these sciences, but they do not relate to this point of law."
A third witness, Walter Aaronson, anthropologist, philosopher, author, and "one of the most brilliant minds in the world today," was also denied the opportunity to testify. Drummond had brought six witnesses (all "noted scientists") - "at great expense and great inconvenience" to Hillsboro, and felt exasperated that he could not prove his case:
Tom Davenport argued that the Hillsboro community (in the sovereign state of Tennessee) did not need "experts." Drummond responded: "What do you need? A gallows to hang him from?...This community is an insult to the world!" At the end of his rope, Drummond requested that he could never win against such odds. He asked to withdraw from the case, and when asked why by the Judge, he stated that the packed courtroom was not impartial: "Well, there are 200 of 'em! And if that's not enough, there's one more. I think my client has already been found guilty." He also bitterly denounced Brady - and the Judge - for believing that the trial and state laws were fair. He denounced censorship with a profound speech about the spread of "fanaticism and ignorance" that was sending the human race backwards:
The judge, feeling personally assailed as a bigot, held Drummond in "contempt of court." He ordered him jailed in the custody of the Bailiff (with bail fixed at $2,000 dollars), and told Drummond to show cause by 10:00 am the next morning why he should not be held in contempt of court.
Hornbeck offered to have his newspaper post the bail bond (doubled to $4,000 dollars), but until legal approval was received, Drummond would still be jailed. Farmer John Stebbins (Noah Berry, Jr.), whose boy had drowned and was supported by Cates, approached the bench and offered to put up his farm as collateral for Drummond's bail. The town's banker also reinforced Stebbins' offer by backing it up with guaranteed cash from the farm's considerable equity: ("My bank will honor the offer on the security of this farm"). Drummond was noticeably puzzled by the stranger's act - until he learned the man was the father of the boy who drowned. The court was adjourned until 10:00 am the next day. |