Directed by Stanley Kramer • 1960 • United States
Starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly
One of the twentieth century’s most spectacular trials—the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, which pitted the theory of evolution against creationism in a battle over intellectual freedom—is vividly dramatized in this sterling adaptation of the classic Broadway play. When Southern schoolteacher Bertram Cates (Dick York) is put on trial for teaching evolution in a public school, famed attorney Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy, playing a Clarence Darrow–like figure) steps in to defend him, going up against prosecutor Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March), who represents the forces of Christian fundamentalism, in a showdown that will captivate the nation.
Up Next in Courtroom Dramas
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Witness for the Prosecution
Directed by Billy Wilder • 1957 • United States
Starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles LaughtonAgatha Christie’s masterful stage play gets a brilliantly entertaining screen adaptation courtesy of Billy Wilder, who deftly balances courtroom intrigue and black comedy for a triumph of st...
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12 Angry Men
Directed by Sidney Lumet • 1957 • United States
Starring Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb12 ANGRY MEN, by Sidney Lumet, may be the most radical courtroom drama in cinema history. A behind-closed-doors look at the American legal system that is as riveting as it is spare, this iconic adap...
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Philadelphia
Directed by Jonathan Demme • 1993 • United States
Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio BanderasThe first major Hollywood film to address the AIDS crisis and homophobia is a groundbreaking, empathetic social drama directed with a humanist touch by Jonathan Demme. Tom Hanks won the Acad...
