Original subtitles

BOY: Here's a fat one.

Do worms feel anything?

Are you crazy? They're worms.

So was we, once...

That's what Mr. Cates said.

Just blobs of jelly comin' out of the sea a jillion years ago.

And then, about a hundred million years

from the death of the dinosaurs,

we have

the ice age,

which is also known as the...

P-L...

S-T...

O-C-E...

N-E.

Pleistocene...

E-P...

O-C-H.

Pleistocene epoch.

And that's when the first humans reached Europe.

And where did these humans come from?

How did they evolve?

Well, we do know

from the study of animal fossils found in Africa...

-That the African ape... -That's enough!

What?

What are you doing here?

You are in violation of public act

volume 37, statute #31428.

You have been warned, Cates.

You can't come bargin' into my classroom like this.

This is a public classroom.

You are under arrest. Take him.

(STUDENTS SHOUTING)

Come on, this is ridiculous.

This is a school! This is my school!

Mayor... Reverend Brown, you can't do this!

CATES: You can't! Let go of me!

What are you doing?

Stop!

You stay out of this, Rachel. Now, go on back to your class.

(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)

Hey, it's coming! He's coming!

Hey, everybody! He's coming!

MAN: Stand back! Stand back!

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(BAND PLAYING)

Shield your gaze, madam.

Huh?

You are about to meet the mightiest of the mighty,

Matthew Harrison Brady.

A man who wears a cathedral for a cloak

and a church spire for a hat.

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

I voted for him twice for President.

Once in nineteen-aught-aught

and again in nineteen-aught-eight.

(BAND CONTINUES PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

-MAN: There he is! -(ALL APPLAUDING)

♪ For the bible tells me so ♪

MAN: Welcome, Mr. Brady, to the city of Hillsboro.

And as mayor, let me assure you, sir,

that we are proud to have with us

the warrior who has always fought

for us ordinary people.

(ALL CHEERING)

God bless you.

And god bless those beautiful children.

Mr. Brady and I are delighted to be among you.

♪ Little ones to him belong

♪ They are weak, but he is strong ♪

(BAND PLAYING)

ALL: ♪ Give me that old-time religion

♪ Give me that old-time religion

♪ Give me that old-time religion

♪ It's good enough for me

♪ It's good enough for me

♪ If it's good enough for Brady

♪ If it's good enough for Brady

♪ It's good enough for me

♪ Give me that old-time religion... ♪

Mr. Meeker?

Mr. Meeker?

MAN: Yeah! Comin'.

Oh, for goodness sakes. Rachel!

You're not leavin' now, are ya?

The excitement's just startin'.

Mr. Meeker, don't let my father know I came here.

The Reverend don't tell me his business,

I don't see why I should tell him mine.

I want to see Bert.

Is it all right?

Rachel...

This ain't a proper place for a minister's daughter.

I only want to see him for a minute.

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Meeker.

(KEYS JINGLE)

Come on.

You know, it feels kind of queer

havin' a schoolteacher in jail here.

Might improve the writin' on the walls, though.

I guess our best catch was that fella from Minnesota.

The one that chopped up his wife?

But we had to extradite him.

Come on.

Oh. I'll leave you two alone.

Bert, don't run off.

(CHUCKLES)

Hello, Bert.

Rachel, I told you not to come here.

I stopped by your place, picked up some of your things.

Got you a clean shirt,

some handkerchiefs, your best tie.

Thank you.

Bert, why can't you just tell them you're sorry,

that you didn't mean to break the law?

Tell 'em it was all a joke and that you'll never do it again.

A joke?

Admit that you're wrong.

I'm not wrong.

They why is a great man like Matthew Brady

comin' here on a special train?

Matthew Brady can go jump in a lake.

Bert!

Rachel, I happen to believe in evolution,

and nobody can tell me

that man was just stuck here on earth

like a geranium in a flower pot.

We come from a long, long miracle,

and that didn't just happen in seven days.

You can't teach that, Bert.

There's a law against it.

I know that there is a law against it.

Damnit, Rachel, why do you think I'm here?

Okay, I-I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to cuss.

Everyone says what you did is bad.

Did you know that at the top of the world,

that the twilight there is six months long?

We don't live at the top of the world,

we live in Hillsboro.

And when the sun goes down, it's dark.

Why do you try to make it different?

Why can't you just be on the right side of things?

Your father's side?

(BAND PLAYING)

Get your red hots! Hey, hot dogs here!

Hot dogs! Hot dogs!

(SHRIEKING)

Hello there, grandpa!

Well, have you come to testify for the defense or the prosecution?

You got a penny? He'll take it.

You bet he will.

He's the father of the human race. (CHUCKLES)

See?

All right, could I have your attention, please?

Everybody quiet!

Quiet, please!

Let me have your attention.

Thank you.

At this time I would like to make the announcement

that the governor of our state

has vested in me the authority

to confer upon Mr. Brady

the commission of Honorary Colonel in the state militia!

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

My friends of Hillsboro,

I want to thank each and every one of you,

and I have a little surprise for you.

It was on this very day in 1892

that I married this beautiful woman you see by my side.

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

God love you.

Oh, Lucy, look at this truly magnificent watermelon.

-Congratulations. -Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Mmm.

Mr. Brady, my husband and I have voted for you twice.

Thank you. I hope it wasn't in the same election.

(CHUCKLES)

Uh, Mr. Brady.

I don't believe you've met Mr. Davenport.

He's our local prosecutor.

Of course.

We'll be on the same team, you and I.

-Glad to have you aboard. -Thank you, sir.

Is it true, sir, that you're gonna have another run at the presidency?

Well, it's not exactly a secret any longer...

Can I quote you on that, Mr. Brady?

Are you definitely running?

Who are you?

E.K. Hornbeck, Philadelphia Bulletin.

I've covered most of your campaigns, Mr. Brady,

but the Bulletin has sent both of us down here to cover this trial.

-Both of you? -Yes, sir.

The most brilliant reporter in America today, sir, myself...

And the most agile legal mind of the 20th century.

And who is that?

-Henry Drummond! -(CROWD GASPING)

He got those child murderers off last year.

Perverting evidence,

casting the guilt away from the accused and onto society.

I saw him in a courtroom once.

You look into his face and you wonder why God could make such a man.

(ALL SHOUTING)

Ladies and gentlemen, please!

I think you're letting your emotions run away with you.

Henry Drummond is an old friend.

He'll be a worthy adversary.

I welcome him.

You welcome him?

The enemy has sent their Goliath to confront us...

This can only magnify our cause.

Thank you, son.

A toast to tomorrow

and to the beginning of the trial

and to the success of our cause.

A toast in good old American lemonade!

(CROWD LAUGHING)

Ladies and gentlemen...

To our victory over Henry Drummond!

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

(SIGHS)

What a day, Lucy, what a wonderful day.

Indeed, glorious.

These people... The very salt of the earth.

This town, Hillsboro...

That's what America is all about.

Mmm. Thank you.

Were you surprised at Henry's coming here?

No, Drummond likes to fight.

Remember the way he fought for me in that first election?

Yes, but this time he's not on your side.

Well, he'll do his job, and I'll try to do mine.

Mr. Brady...

I love you very much.

You look just like you did the very first day I saw you

standing in front of Clarendon Hall on the college campus.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

Do you remember that white hat you wore?

Thank God for that hat.

If it hadn't blown off, if I hadn't chased after it...

We might never have met.

Yes, we would.

It didn't actually blow off.

-Lucy! After 32 years? -(BOTH LAUGHING)

Happy anniversary.

It's late, Mr. Brady. Let's go to bed.

Good morning.

Inspecting the battlefield?

(CHUCKLES)

Did you read my column yesterday?

I sang a sweet song about the hometown heretic here in heavenly Hillsboro.

"Bert Cates, boy Socrates, latter-day Dreyfus,

"accused and soon to be condemned

"by a cruel and indifferent authority."

This boy isn't a latter-day anything.

Oh, come on, Henry.

I know I may be rancid butter to you,

but I am on your side of the bread.

I doubt very much if you're on anybody's side.

(CHUCKLES)

Well, you might have something there.

I'm admired for my detestability.

Would you, uh...

Like a bite from the tree of knowledge?

Awful good.

Well, devil...

Welcome to hell. (CHUCKLES)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

BAILIFF: Fast and easy, folks.

If you could stay against the wall,

we can keep the passageway through here for others to get through.

You're gonna get in, Herb, don't you worry about it.

Everybody's gonna get inside.

I've never seen anything like it, Ed.

Most people try to stay out of jury duty.

BRADY: And do you attend church regularly, Mr. Bannister?

Only on Sundays.

Well, that's good enough for the prosecution.

Your Honor, we accept this man as a member of the jury.

JUDGE: One moment, Mr. Bannister.

You're not excused.

I wanted a front row seat in the jury box.

Hold your horses, Bannister. You may get it yet.

(DRUMMOND CHUCKLES)

-JUDGE: Proceed, Mr. Drummond. -Thank you, Your Honor.

Now, Mr. Bannister,

what makes you so anxious

to get that front seat over there?

Everybody says it's gonna be quite a show.

Yeah, so I hear.

Have you ever read anything in a book about evolution?

Nope.

About a man named Charles Darwin?

Um...

Well, can't say as I have.

I'll bet you've read your Bible, though.

No.

How come?

Can't read.

(SCATTERED LAUGHTER)

Oh.

You are fortunate.

He'll do.

Take your seat on the jury.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Is the counsel for the defense showing us the latest fashion

of the great metropolitan city of Chicago?

I'm glad you asked me that.

I brought these along special.

Just so happens I bought these galluses

at Peabody's general store in your hometown, sir,

weeping water, Nebraska.

Oh. I believe the French have a saying, touche.

JUDGE: Gentlemen, please.

Let us proceed.

BRADY: Your occupation, Mr. Dunlap?

Farmer.

Do you believe in the Bible?

I believe in the holy word of God.

This man is acceptable to the prosecution.

Defense?

No questions. Not acceptable.

Does Mr. Drummond refuse this worthy citizen

a place on the jury simply because he believes in the Bible?

Well, if you find an evolutionist in this town, you can refuse him.

Your Honor, I must object to the defense counsel

refusing a worthy citizen without even asking him a question.

All right, I'll ask him a question.

How are you, Dunlap?

I'm fine.

So am I. Excused.

(SCATTERED LAUGHTER)

You may step down, Mr. Dunlap.

You are excused.

Your Honor,

I can appreciate a jest as well as anyone,

but the note of levity which the defense counsel

is introducing into these proceedings is demeaning.

The bench agrees with you in spirit, Colonel Brady.

Thank you.

"Colonel" Brady?

What, may I ask, is all this damn "colonel" talk?

I'm not familiar with Mr. Brady's military record.

Well, he was recently made an Honorary Colonel in our state militia.

(CHUCKLES) Well, sir, the use of this title

prejudices the case against my client.

It conjures up a picture of a colonel on a white horse

with all the forces of right and righteousness behind him.

What do you suggest?

Break him. Make him a private.

I have no serious objection

to the honorary title of Private Brady.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(WHISPERING)

By authority of...

I'm sure the governor won't object, uh...

I hereby appoint you, uh,

temporary Honorary Colonel in the state militia.

Gentlemen, what can I say?

It isn't often in a man's life

that he attains the exalted rank

of temporary Honorary Colonel.

BRADY: Your name and occupation, sir.

Uh, George Sillers.

I work at the feed store.

Do you consider yourself a religious man?

I guess I'm as religious as the next man.

In Hillsboro, sir, that means a great deal.

Do you have any children?

Not that I know of.

If you had a son or daughter,

what would you think if that child came home from school

and told you that his teacher had insisted, without question,

that somehow all of us evolved from a gorilla?

Objection.

We're supposed to be choosing jury members.

The prosecution is denouncing the defendant

before the trial has even begun.

Objection sustained.

Mr. Sillers seems like a good, honest man.

We accept him.

Thank you, Colonel Brady.

Colonel Drummond?

Sir, you just said you were a religious man.

Do you work at it very hard?

Well, I'm pretty busy down at the feed store.

My wife tends to the religion for both of us.

In other words, you take care of this life,

and she takes care of the next one.

Objection!

Objection sustained.

(SIGHS)

While your wife was tending to the religion,

did you ever bump into a fella named Charles Darwin?

Not till recent.

From what you've heard of this Darwin,

do you think your wife would want to have him over for Sunday dinner?

Your Honor, I have no idea what kind of dinner companion Mr. Darwin might prove to be,

but I do think my worthy opponent

is cluttering the issue with hypothetical questions.

I'm doing your job, Colonel.

Thank you, sir, but I think the prosecution

is perfectly capable of handling its own arguments.

I've established that Mr. Sillers here

isn't working very hard at the religion.

For your sake, I want to make sure he isn't working at evolution.

I'm just workin' at the feed store.

(CHUCKLES) This man is all right. Take a box seat.

We're not altogether satisfied that Mr. Sillers...

You're out of order!

The prosecution has already accepted this man.

Yes, we have,

but I can't help but continue to question your lack of seriousness.

I want a fair trial.

So do I.

Any jury should at the very least

conform to the laws and patterns of society.

Conform?

What do you want to do, run 'em all through the Brady meat-grinder

so they all come out the same?

I've seen what you can do with a jury, sir, twist and tangle them.

But you won't get away with that here!

All I'm trying to do, Colonel,

is to prevent you clock-stoppers

from dumping a load of medieval nonsense

into the United States constitution.

It's gotta stop somewhere.

My life has been devoted to upholding the constitution!

-(GAVEL BANGING) -JUDGE: You are both out of order!

The bench holds that the jury has already been selected!

Because of the lateness of the hour,

this court is now recessed until 10:00 tomorrow morning.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

REVEREND BROWN: One moment.

One moment, please.

I wish to announce that Colonel Brady

will be speakin' to us tonight at our prayer meeting at Beacon Hall.

You're all invited.

I object to this commercial announcement!

Commercial announcement?

For the Reverend Brown's product.

DRUMMOND: Why don't you announce an evolutionists' meeting?

I have no knowledge of any such meeting.

Yes, that's understandable.

It's bad enough that everybody coming into this courtroom

has to walk under a banner saying "Read your Bible daily."

I want that sign taken down.

Or, if not, I want another one put up,

just as big, which says, "Read your Darwin daily."

That's preposterous.

It certainly is.

And you are out of order. This court is in recess.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

God loves you. God loves you.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you. God loves you.

Thank you.

-Mr. Drummond? -Hmm?

Please, you've got to call this thing off.

It's not too late.

If Bert just admits what he did was wrong,

it'll stop all this fuss and everything could be like it was.

Who are you?

I'm...

I'm a friend of Bert's.

You wanna quit?

Yes.

Well, I can change the plea.

I can call off this whole business right now.

But only on one condition.

If you honestly believe

that you have committed a criminal act

against the people of this state and the minds of their children,

if you honestly believe that you're wrong

and the state and the law is right...

Well, then I'll pack up my grip and go back to Chicago.

He knows he broke the law.

He knows he's wrong.

Don't prompt the witness.

What's the verdict, Bert?

Gonna find yourself guilty before the jury does?

No, sir.

RACHEL: Bert!

I'm not gonna quit.

JAILER: Let's go, Bert.

I gotta bring you back in.

(DOG BARKING)

(APPLAUSE FROM CHURCH)

BRADY: To people who ask whether this trial

should be held in the simple town of Hillsboro,

I say to them, the greatest man

that ever walked the face of the earth

was born in a little town.

That town was called Bethlehem.

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

We don't measure greatness by the size of where we live,

we measure greatness by those principles we live by!

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

Ah, my dear friends.

Yesterday at that marvelous picnic they gave Lucy and me,

they were serving watermelon.

-Mmm, mmm. Delicious. -(ALL LAUGHING)

I couldn't help thinking about that watermelon last night.

I know...

You're all looking at yourselves and saying,

"Watermelon, what is Brady talking about?"

My dear friends,

I'm talking about the sheer glory

of God's creations.

Beautiful, lustrous green on the outside,

and inside the green, a layer of white,

and within that white,

a core of red.

And scattered within that red are little black seeds.

Now, each of these seeds gathers from somewhere...

Ten thousand times its own weight

to construct another glorious watermelon.

Who drew the plan

by which these little seeds worked their wonders, huh?

Who?

Until the scientists of this world

can explain to me a watermelon,

never let them question the power of the almighty!

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

Tonight,

in this Godly, Christian town,

there is a young man who has turned his back upon God.

Shall we call hellfire down upon this man?

ALL: Yes!

For all eternity, to let his soul writhe in anguish and damnation?

(ALL CHEERING)

Yes, even though he be thine own brother?

-(ALL CHEERING) -ALL: Yes!

MAN: Sinner!

No...

No, my friends.

We must never destroy that which we hope to save.

Remember the wisdom of Solomon in the book of proverbs.

"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."

Forgive him.

Forgive this young man.

Let the sweet love of our savior

enter his heart tonight

and turn away those demons that would destroy him.

We love you, Bert Cates, we love you, we love you.

Glory be to God in His Heaven!

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

REVEREND BROWN: An inspiration. Truly inspiring.

Well, Henry.

I hardly expected to see you here tonight.

Oh, I like to hear the word once in a while, see what I'm missing.

You're very good, Matt. Make one helluva minister.

Coming from someone like you, I really appreciate that.

They tell me you're gonna make another run for the presidency.

It's possible.

What is it you want to accomplish, Matt?

It's very simple.

There's a new spirit in the land,

and I want to bring this country back to the values it once had.

I want to bring this country back to God.

I didn't know he left.

Unfortunately, there are still those

who want to drive God out of the universe.

Oh, yes.

They search for him in microscopes,

but he's too small to see.

They look for him in telescopes, but he's too large to see.

They can't find him among the stars,

so they declare there is no God.

Are you one of those, Henry?

Is that why you're here?

I'm here to defend a young man holding a candle.

I don't want him to get burnt.

(CHUCKLES)

Henry...

What is it?

What happened?

We were good friends once.

That's true.

We had mutuality of understanding

and admiration, didn't we?

Yes.

I can never forget...

You spoke for me in my first run for the presidency.

I did it gladly.

I did it because I believed in you.

Because I thought you had a certain quality of character

and spirit that the country desperately needed.

Well, then, tell me, my dear friend...

Why is it that you've moved so far away from me?

All motion is relative, Matt.

Perhaps it's you who have moved away by standing still.

LUCY: Matthew.

Evenin', Lucy.

Hello, Henry.

You look lovely, Lucy.

You never change.

It's good to see you again.

I mean that.

Thank you, Henry.

BRADY: Henry.

Someday, somehow,

I'm going to bring you back to the Lord.

I am, Henry.

God loves you.

He wants you back.

(DOOR CLOSES)

And then he said, well, uh...

Go on, Howard.

What did Mr. Cates tell you in the classroom?

He said that at first the earth was too hot for any life.

And then it cooled off some, and cells and things began to live.

Cells?

Well, little bugs, like in the water.

And then the little bugs got to be bigger bugs,

then they sprouted legs and crawled up on land.

And how long did this all take, according to Mr. Cates?

Couple of million years.

BRADY: Million?

Maybe longer.

And then comes the fishes, the reptiles and mammals.

Man's a mammal.

Along with the dogs and the cattle in the field.

Did he say that?

Yes, sir.

Howard, how did man emerge

from this slimy mess of bugs and serpents,

according to your professor?

Man was sort of...

Evoluted from the old world monkeys.

Did you hear that, my friends?

Old world monkeys.

According to Mr. Cates,

you and I aren't even developed from good old American monkeys!

(ALL LAUGHING AND APPLAUDING)

Now, Howard, listen carefully.

In all this talk of bugs and evolution

and slime and ooze,

did Mr. Cates ever make any reference to God?

Not as I remember.

Or the miracle he achieved as described in the beautiful book of Genesis?

No, sir.

Ladies and gentlemen...

Objection. I ask the court to remind the learned counsel

that this is not a prayer meeting.

He's supposed to be submitting evidence to the jury.

There are no ladies on the jury.

Mr. Drummond,

I have no intention of making a speech.

But everyone within the sound of this boy's voice

is moved by his tragic confusion.

He has been taught that he wriggled up like an animal from the filth and muck below.

These Bible-haters,

these evolutionists are brewers of poison!

And thank god this state has had the wisdom to demand

that these peddlers of poison label their products!

(ALL CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

Well, I'm sure glad Colonel Brady didn't make a speech.

Now, Howard,

I heard you say the earth used to be pretty hot.

Mr. Cates read it to us from a book.

Do you know what book?

I guess the one Mr. Darwin thought up.

You figure anything's wrong about that, Howard?

I don't know.

Objection!

BRADY: The defense is asking that a 13-year-old boy

hand down an opinion on a question of morality.

Your Honor, I am trying to establish that Howard

or Mr. Brady or Charles Darwin or anyone in this courtroom

or you, sir, has the right to think.

The right to think is not on trial!

With all respect to the bench,

I hold that the right to think is very much on trial.

It is fearfully in danger in the proceedings of this court!

A man is on trial!

A thinking man!

And he is being threatened with fine and imprisonment

because he chooses to speak what he thinks!

Colonel Drummond, would you rephrase your question?

Please, sir!

(SIGHS) Yes, Your Honor.

Let's put it this way, Howard.

All this fuss and feathers about evolution...

Did it hurt you any?

Sir?

Well, did it harm you?

You still feeling fit?

What Mr. Cates told you,

did it hurt your baseball game any?

Affect your pitching arm?

No, sir. I'm a leftie.

Southpaw, huh? (CHUCKLES)

Do you still honor your father and your mother?

-Sure. -Haven't committed murder since breakfast?

-Objection! -Objection sustained.

Once again Mr. Drummond attempts to make light of this proceeding.

Let him ask this boy if his faith in the scriptures has been shattered.

When I need your valuable help, Mr. Brady,

you may rest assured I shall most humbly ask for it.

Now, Howard, do you believe everything that Mr. Cates told you?

I'm not sure. I gotta think it over.

Good for you.

-Your pa's a farmer, isn't he? -Yes, sir.

-Got a tractor? -Brand-new.

Is your tractor sinful because it isn't mentioned in the Bible?

Don't know.

Moses never made a phone call.

Do you suppose the telephone is an instrument of the devil?

I never thought of it that way.

Neither did anyone else, Howard.

BRADY: Members of the jury,

the defense makes the same old error of all Godless men,

confusing material things

with the great spiritual message of the Bible.

Why do you bewilder this child?

Does right have no meaning to you, sir?

Realizing it may prejudice the case against my client,

I must say that right has no meaning to me whatsoever.

It doesn't surprise me.

The truth has meaning, has a direction.

But it is one of the imbecilities of our time

that we place this grid of morality on human behavior

so that every act of man must be measured

against an arbitrary latitude of right

and longitude of wrong

in exact minutes, seconds, and degrees.

Have you any idea what I'm talking about, Howard?

No, sir.

Well, maybe you will... Someday.

That's all, son. Thank you.

The witness is excused.

Howard, we don't need you anymore.

Go on back to your pa, now.

BRADY: (WHISPERING) We don't need this. Not now.

Does the prosecution wish to call any further witness?

No, Your Honor. Not at this time.

MEEKER: Well, sure.

Yeah, sure, there's no rules against it.

(CHUCKLES)

I mean, after all...

You are his lawyer.

Yeah.

Hiya, Bert. How you holdin' up, son?

I guess I'm as well as can be expected.

I'm a little more uneasy.

Yeah, I thought you might be.

What's gonna happen, Mr. Drummond?

What do you think's gonna happen?

Are they gonna send me to prison?

Well, they could.

You know, when they started this fire here,

they didn't figure they'd light up the whole sky.

A lot of people's shoes are gettin' hot.

Can't be sure.

Mr. Brady seems sure.

He seems to know exactly what the verdict's gonna be.

No, nobody knows.

I got a pretty good idea.

When you've been a lawyer as long as I have,

a thousand years, more or less,

you get so you can smell what the jury's thinking.

And what are they thinking right now?

(SIGHS)

Someday I'm gonna get me an easy case,

an open and shut case.

I got a friend up in Chicago,

a big lawyer.

Lord, how the money rolls in.

(CHUCKLES)

You know why?

He never takes a case unless it's a sure thing.

It's like a jockey who won't go into a race

until he's riding the favorite.

Well, you sure picked a longshot this time, Mr. Drummond.

Golden dancer, that was my first longshot.

She was in the big side window

of the general store in Wakeman, Ohio.

I used to stand out in the street and say to myself,

"If I had golden dancer...

"I'd have everything in the world I wanted."

I was seven years old,

and a very fine judge of rocking horses.

She had a bright red mane and blue eyes

and she was gold all over, with purple spots.

And when the sun hit her stirrups...

Oh, it was a dazzling sight to see.

But she was a week's wages for my father,

so golden dancer and I always had a plate glass window between us.

And let's see...

It wasn't Christmas,

must have been my birthday.

I woke up in the morning...

looked across the foot of my bed...

And there was golden dancer.

My mother had skimped on groceries,

my father worked nights for a month.

And I jumped in the saddle

and I started to rock...

And it broke.

It split in two.

The wood was rotten.

The whole thing was put together

with spit and sealing wax.

All shine, and no substance.

Bert,

whenever you see something bright and shining,

perfect-seeming,

all gold with purple spots...

Look behind the paint.

And if it's a lie,

show it up for what it really is.

JUDGE: Gentlemen, we will now hear

some words from the defense. Colonel Drummond?

Your Honor, I want to call Dr. Amos d. Keller,

head of the department of zoology of the University of Chicago.

Objection.

On what grounds?

What possible relevance

can the testimony of a zoology professor have in this trial?

Every possible relevance.

My client is on trial for teaching evolution.

Any testimony relating to the alleged infringement of the law

must be admitted.

Irrelevant, immaterial, inadmissible.

Why? If my client were on trial for murder,

would it be irrelevant to call expert witnesses to examine the weapon?

Would you rule out testimony that the murder weapon

was incapable of firing a bullet?

I fail to grasp learned counsel's meaning.

Your Honor,

we simply want Dr. Keller to explain to the jury

exactly what the evolutionary theory is.

How can they pass judgment on it

if they don't know anything about it?

They know what the law is all about in this state.

They don't need an expert to tell 'em what the law means

or to try and defeat it in this courtroom

simply because he disagrees with it.

The court rules that zoology is irrelevant to the case.

All right, then.

I'd like to call Dr. Allen page,

deacon of the congregational church

and professor of geology at overland college.

Objection.

Objection sustained.

In one breath

does the court deny the existence

of zoology and geology?

No, we do not deny the existence of these sciences,

but they don't relate to this point of law.

Well, I call Walter Aronson,

philosopher, anthropologist, author,

one of the most brilliant minds in the world today.

Objection, Colonel Brady?

Objection, Colonel Drummond.

Your Honor...

The defense has brought to Hillsboro

at great expense and inconvenience

these noted scientists,

the great thinkers of our time.

Now, their testimony is basic to the defense of my client,

for I intend to show this court

that what Bert Cates spoke in school was no crime.

It is as incontrovertible as geometry

in every enlightened community of minds.

The language of the law is clear,

and we don't need experts

to argue the validity of a law that's already on the books.

(SIGHS) Well...

In view of...

The court's decision.

The defense...

The defense requests a court recess until tomorrow morning.

Does the prosecution have any objections?

In the interests of justice, we wish to try and give the defense every opportunity

to try and support its insupportable position.

Well, this court is in recess until tomorrow morning, ten o'clock.

(INDISTINCT MURMURING)

Oh, God bless you, God bless you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Rachel, I told you to keep away from here.

It's only going to upset you.

Come along.

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it,

"but whosoever will lose his life for my sake,

"the same shall save it.

"For what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world

"and lose himself or be cast away?"

Amen.

Oh, yes, yes.

I could feel it, Lucy.

I could feel the Holy Spirit in that courtroom today.

It was all around me, guiding me.

A judgment will be brought against that young man.

Don't be too severe in your judgment, Matt.

Not mine. Not the court's not the jury's.

God's own judgment will be brought against him.

-And when the jury hears... -(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

I'll get it, darling.

LUCY: Hello.

-It's Rachel Brown, dear. -Who?

Uh, the Reverend Brown's daughter.

Oh, yes.

-Come in. -Thank you.

I hope I'm not interrupting anything.

Not at all, not at all.

Well,

Reverend Brown must be very proud to have

such a beautiful and charming daughter.

Mr. Brady, I don't quite know how to...

Well, that is, I...

Good heavens, child, you seem very upset.

If you'll excuse me.

Please, won't you sit down?

What is it, dear? What troubles you?

It's Bert.

-Bert Cates. -Yes?

You see, we...

We plan to be married in the spring, and...

Now, I just don't know anymore.

It's like everything's caving in on us now.

I'm a teacher too, at the same school,

-and ever since this happened... -Of course.

I can understand your loyalty to this young man.

Isn't there some other way out of this?

Could I ask you some personal questions about Mr. Cates?

Well, I...

Now, then, Rachel...

May I call you Rachel?

Let's have a nice, long chat.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

BAILIFF: I told you fellas, no radio stuff allowed in there.

Not till they hand down a verdict.

Keep the center aisle clear, please!

Please, no standin' in the center aisle!

All rise!

Hear ye, hear ye!

The case of the State versus Bertram Cates is now in session!

Be seated.

Colonel Brady,

do you have any other witnesses you wish to produce?

We'd would like call upon, Mr. Elston Harps.

(INDISTINCT WHISPERING)

Your Honor,

we've just discovered that Mr. Harps,

principal of the consolidated Hillsboro school,

has just been taken with a severe cold.

We'll reserve the right to call upon him later.

Any other witnesses at the present time?

Colonel Brady?

I'd like to call upon Miss Rachel Brown.

(EXCITED MURMURING)

Would you step forward, please, Miss Brown?

I don't understand. Is she testifying against me?

BAILIFF: Raise your right hand, please.

Do you swear to tell the truth,

the whole truth, and nothin' but the truth, so help you God?

-I do. -Be seated.

Miss Brown, you are a teacher at the Hillsboro consolidated school?

Yes.

So you have had ample opportunity

to know the defendant, Mr. Cates, professionally?

Yes.

Do you and Mr. Cates attend the same church?

Not anymore.

-Bert dropped out two summers ago. -Why?

Mr. Brady, I told you that in confidence.

Answer the question, Miss Brown.

I asked you why? Why did Bertram Cates drop out?

Because...

Because of the Stebbens boy.

Tell us about the Stebbens boy, Miss Brown.

Well, he...

The boy was eleven years old.

He went swimming in the river and got a cramp and drowned.

Bert felt awful about it.

He lived right next door, and...

Tommy Stebbens used to come over and look through Bert's telescope.

Bert said he had a quick mind

and might even be a scientist when he grew up.

At the funeral, though,

they preached that Tommy didn't die in a state of grace

because his folks didn't have him baptized.

Tell him what they really said!

That Tommy's soul was damned, writhing in hellfire!

Religion is supposed to comfort people, isn't it?

It is not supposed to frighten 'em to death!

(ALL SPEAKING)

We will have order, please!

(COURTROOM SILENCED)

Your Honor,

I request that the defendant's remarks be stricken from the record.

JUDGE: So ordered.

Go ahead, Miss Brown, tell the jury some more of Mr. Cates' opinions

on the subject of religion.

Objection. Hearsay.

The testimony is not admissible.

The court sees no objection to this line of questioning.

Proceed.

Just tell us in your own words

some of the conversations you had with the defendant.

I don't remember, exactly.

But you told me last evening that presumably humorous remark

Mr. Cates made about the Heavenly Father.

Bert...

Go ahead, my dear.

I can't.

May I remind you, Miss Brown, that you're under oath,

and that is it unlawful to withhold pertinent information.

Well, he...

He was just talking about some of the things he'd read.

Weren't you shocked

when he said to you that God did not create man...

Man created God?

Objection!

He was joking!

Joking?

What he said was that

God created man in his own image,

and man, being a gentleman, returned the compliment.

What did he say about the holy state of matrimony?

Did he not compare it with the breeding of animals?

No, he didn't say that, he didn't, he didn't mean that.

That's not what I told you.

All that...

he said was...

(SOBBING)

Have a sip of this, Miss Brown.

Your Honor, I would ask that the witness be dismissed.

Will the defense have no chance to challenge some of the statements

the prosecutor has torn from this witness?

No. Don't.

Let her go.

No questions, Your Honor.

JUDGE: The witness is excused.

JUDGE: Does the prosecution have any further witnesses?

No, Your Honor.

We shall now proceed to the case for the defense.

Your Honor, may I approach the bench?

Come ahead.

Your Honor, I have taken the time and opportunity since yesterday

to thoroughly examine

the question of admission to this trial of scientific experts.

That is no longer a matter before this court.

Specifically, in the cases of

the state of New Jersey versus Thomas Bancroft, 1917...

I have told you, Mr. Drummond,

that this court is not gonna hear any arguments

or the testimony of experts.

In other words, the court rules out

any expert testimony whatsoever

on Darwin's Origin of Species or The Descent of Man?

That's right. The court so rules.

(SIGHS)

(SPECTATORS MURMURING)

Will the court admit expert testimony regarding a book

known as the Holy Bible?

Any objections, Mr. Brady?

If the Counsel can advance the case of the defendant

through the use of the holy scriptures,

the prosecution will take no exception.

Good. I call to the stand one of the world's foremost experts

on the Bible and its teachings...

Matthew Harrison Brady.

(SPECTATORS GASP)

Your Honor, this is preposterous!

JUDGE: It's highly unorthodox.

I've never known of an instance

where the defense called the prosecuting attorney as a witness.

Your Honor, this entire trial is unorthodox,

but if the interests of truth and justice will be served,

I will take the stand.

But Colonel Brady...

JUDGE: If you wish to decline,

as a witness against your own case,

the court will support you.

I shall not testify against anything.

I will speak out as I have all my life

on behalf of the living truth of the Holy Scriptures.

Meeker, swear him in.

That won't be necessary.

I tell you now, Henry, so help me God,

I will tell the truth.

I take it you will, Matt.

Am I correct, sir, in calling on you

as an authority on the Bible?

Well, I've studied it for 50 years,

more lately than in my youth,

and I've always tried to live within its precepts.

Bully for you.

I suppose you can quote me, chapter and verse,

right straight through the King James version, can't you?

No, sir.

But there are many portions of the Bible that I have committed to memory.

Hmm.

I don't suppose you've managed to memorize

many passages from Darwin's Origin of species.

No, sir.

-Never read it? -No, sir.

Then how in perdition do you have the gall to whoop up this holy war

against something you don't know anything about?

How can you be so cock-sure that the,

body and scientific knowledge

that is systematized in the writings of Darwin

is in any way irreconcilable to the spirit of the book of Genesis?

For the simple reason, sir,

that the conclusions of any mortal being on this earth

can never take precedence over the Holy Bible.

All right.

Let me put it this way.

On page 19 of Darwin's Origin of species,

Darwin states...

I object to this, Your Honor!

Mr. Brady has been called on as an authority on the Bible.

If so, let him stick to the Bible.

JUDGE: You will confine your questioning to the Holy Bible.

All right.

I get the scent in the wind.

All right, we'll play in your ballpark, Colonel.

Now, let's get this clear.

This is the book that you are an expert on.

I read it every day.

Do you feel that every word written in this book

should be taken literally?

I believe that

everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is written.

Now, take this place where...

the whale swallows Jonah. Now, do you think that actually happened?

The Bible doesn't say a whale, it says a big fish.

Actually, it says a great fish,

but I guess they're the same thing.

What's you're feeling about that?

I believe in a God who can make a whale,

and who can make a man, and make both do what he pleases.

ALL: Amen!

Now, I want those "Amen's" in the record.

Now, I recollect a story that Joshua

made the sun stand still.

As an expert, wouldn't you say that's a pretty neat trick?

(CHUCKLES) Suppose Houdini could do it?

I never scoff at the miracles of the Lord.

Have you ever pondered what would happen to the earth if the sun stood still?

You can testify to that when I get you on the stand.

(LAUGHTER)

(DRUMMOND CHUCKLES)

Well, if they say the sun stood still,

they must have had a notion

that the Sun moved around the Earth.

Do you think that's the way things...

Or maybe you don't believe the Earth moves around the sun.

I believe in the Bible.

I have faith in the Bible as it is written.

But you don't have much faith in the solar system?

If the Bible says, "The sun stopped," the sun stopped.

Good. Now, if what you say factually happened,

if Joshua actually halted the sun in the sky,

then the Earth stopped spinning on its axis,

continents toppled over each other,

mountains flew off into space, and the Earth, arrested in orbit,

shriveled to a cinder and crashed into the sun.

Now, how come they missed this tidbit of news?

They missed it because it didn't happen.

Well, it must have happened, according to natural law.

Or don't you believe in natural law?

Maybe you'd like to ban Copernicus from the classroom

along with Charles Darwin.

Pass a law wiping out all scientific development since Joshua.

Do you believe in natural law?

Natural law was born in the mind of the heavenly father.

He can change it, cancel it, use it as he pleases.

It constantly amazes me that you apostles of science,

for all your supposed wisdom,

fail to grasp that simple fact.

(SPECTATORS MURMUR)

Genesis, 4:16.

"Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord

"and dwelt in the land of nod on the east of Eden,

"and Cain knew his wife."

Now, where in the hell did she come from?

-Who? -Cain's wife. Mrs. Cain.

In the beginning, there were only Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.

Where did this extra woman come from?

Ever figure that out?

No, sir. I leave you agnostics to hunt for her.

(CHUCKLING) That never bothered you?

Never bothered me.

-Never tried to find out? -Never.

Do you figure somebody pulled off another creation over in the next county?

I've tried to convince you that the Bible satisfies me,

but none are so deaf as those who refuse to listen.

Well, it sure does frighten me, sir,

to imagine the state of learning in the world

if everyone had your driving curiosity.

This book now goes into a lot of "begat" s.

We got Salah, and Salah Begat Eber...

And Eber begat Peleg...

so on and so on.

Are these pretty important folks?

Yes, sir. They are the generations

of the holy men and women of the Bible.

How did they go about all this Begetting?

What do you mean?

I mean, did people begat in those days

about the same way they get themselves begat today?

The process is the same. I don't think your scientists have improved it any.

(LAUGHTER)

In other words,

they were conceived and brought forth

through the normal biological function known as sex.

What do you think of sex, Colonel?

In what spirit is this question asked?

I'm not asking you about sex as a father or a husband or a presidential candidate.

You're up here as an expert on the Bible.

What is the biblical evaluation of sex?

It is considered original sin.

Oh...

So all these holy people

got themselves begat through original sin.

Did all this sinning make them any less holy?

JUDGE: Colonel Drummond, I must ask you

what has this got to do with the State versus Bertram Cates?

You've ruled out all my witnesses.

You must allow me to examine the one witness you've left me in my own way.

I wish Mr. Drummond to have all the latitude he wants.

We know what he's after.

He's here to condemn revealed religion.

I am here to defend it.

Well, let him ask any question he may wish.

I am perfectly willing to sit here and protect the word of God

against the greatest atheist in the United States!

(LOUD APPLAUSE)

Let him sneer, let him show his disrespect.

You're only pleading the case of the prosecution by your contempt

for all that's holy.

I object.

On what grounds? Is it possible there is something holy

to the celebrated agnostic?

Yes. The individual human mind.

In a child's power to master the multiplication table,

there is more sanctity

than in all your shouted amens, holy holys, and hosannas.

An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral,

and the advance of man's knowledge

is more a miracle than any sticks turned to snakes or parting of the water.

But...

Are we to halt the march of progress

because Reverend Brady frightens us...

With his parables from the Bible?

Gentlemen,

progress has never been a bargain.

You have to pay for it.

Sometimes I think there's a man behind a counter who says,

"All right, you may have a telephone,

"but you'll have to give up privacy

"and the charm of distance.

"Madam, you may vote,

"but you lose the right to retreat

"behind a petticoat.

"Mister, you may conquer the air,

"but the birds will lose their wonder

"and the clouds will smell of gasoline."

Darwin moved us forward to a hilltop

where we could look back

to see the way from which we came.

But for this view, this insight,

this knowledge,

we must abandon our faith

in the pleasant poetry of Genesis.

We must never abandon faith!

There is nothing greater than faith in God!

Then why did God plague us with the power to think?

Why do you deny the one faculty

which lifts man above all other creatures on the Earth...

The power of his brain to reason?

What other merit have we?

The elephant is larger,

the horse swifter and stronger,

the butterfly more beautiful,

the mosquito more prolific,

even the simple sponge more durable.

Or does a sponge think?

I don't know. I'm a man, not a sponge.

(LAUGHTER)

Do you think a sponge thinks?

If the lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks.

Does a man have the same privileges that a sponge does?

Of course.

This man wishes to be accorded the same privileges as a sponge!

He wishes... to think.

Then let him soak up the word of God.

Your client is wrong, sir. He is deluded. He has lost his way.

How sad we aren't all gifted with your positive knowledge of right and wrong, Mr. Brady.

Not mine. Not mine. God's.

Oh, yes, you do speak to him occasionally,

I keep forgetting.

How old do you think this rock is?

I'm more interested in the rock of ages

than I am in the age of rocks.

Dr. Page of Overland College

tells me that this rock is at least

ten million years old.

Congratulations.

You've just managed to sneak in some of that scientific testimony after all.

Look here, if you will.

These are the fossil remains

of a prehistoric marine creature

which was found in this very county,

and which lived here millions of years ago.

That rock cannot be more than 6,000 years old.

How do you know?

A fine biblical scholar, Bishop Usher,

has determined for us the time of creation.

It occurred in the year 4004 BC.

That's Bishop Usher's opinion.

It's not an opinion. It's a literal fact arrived at through

careful computation of the ages of the prophets

as set down in the Old Testament.

His meticulous analysis has determined

that creation occurred in the fall of the year 4004 BC.

At 9:00 AM.

Is that eastern standard time or rocky mountain time?

(LAUGHTER)

It couldn't have been daylight savings time,

because the Lord didn't even make the sun until the fourth day.

The fourth day, that is correct.

Well, that first day...

Was that a 24-hour day?

The Bible says it was a day. That's sufficient for me.

Well, there wasn't any sun. How do you know how long it was?

The Bible says it was a day.

A normal day? A literal day? A 24-hour day?

I don't know.

Well, what do you think?

I don't think about things that...

That I don't think about.

Do you ever think about things that you do think about?

I mean, isn't it possible that the first day

could have been twenty-five hours long?

There's no way to measure it, no way to tell...

Could it have been 25 hours?

It is possible.

(SPECTATORS MURMUR LOUDLY)

Are you saying,

before this jury and the world,

that the first day of creation

could have been of an indeterminate length?

No, no. I'm stating that God did not refer to it as a 24-hour day.

Well, it could have been a 30-hour day, huh?

Or a month, or a year...

Or a hundred years...

Or 10 million years.

I protest.

I demand to know the purpose of Mr. Drummond's examination!

His purpose was clear from the very beginning, to destroy the Bible!

You know that's not true.

I'm trying to stop you bigots and ignoramuses

from controlling the education of the United States.

So that you might control it?

(LOUD CHATTER)

(GAVEL POUNDS)

I shall order the bailiff to clear the court

unless there is order here!

Your Honor, I will always speak up

when the Bible is being attacked!

The Bible is a book. It's a good book, but it's not the only book.

It is the revealed word of the almighty God,

spoken to the men who wrote the Bible!

Well, how do you know that God didn't speak to Charles Darwin?

Show me where Darwin is mentioned in the Bible.

I can tell you in this courtroom

that God has told me to oppose the teaching of that man!

Does he tell you exactly what to do and what not to do?

-Yes! -And after he has spoken to you,

-do you act accordingly? -Yes, yes, yes!

So you, Matthew Harrison Brady,

pass along God's orders to the rest of the world?

Gentlemen, meet the prophet from Nebraska!

(LOUD LAUGHTER)

What if a lesser human being...

A Cates or a Darwin, has the audacity to think

that God might whisper to him,

that an un-Brady thought might still be holy?

Must men go to prison because they are at odds

with a self-appointed prophet?

Extend the Testaments!

Let us have a book of Brady!

We shall hatch the Pentateuch and slip you neatly in between numbers and Deuteronomy.

No more questions.

You know what I believe.

You know what I stand for!

You are excused, Colonel Brady.

I...

I believe, yes!

I believe in the book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus...

This completes the testimony. The witness has been excused.

Joshua, judges, Ruth...

This court is adjourned until ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

BRADY: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah,

first kings, second kings...

I'd like to speak to you about striking all this from the record!

Isaiah, Jeremiah, lamentations, Ezekiel,

first kings, second kings, Isaiah,

Daniel, Hosea, Joel,

Amos, Obadiah!

Jonah, Micah, Nahum!

Haggai! Zechariah! Malachi!

Matt, darling, let's go home.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly."

It's over now, Matt.

The ungodly shall perish.

He is a shield for me.

I sing his praises.

The lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want...

(REPORTERS CLAMORING)

Uh, this is this evening's edition.

I think you'll find it interesting.

My regards to your husband, please.

(GASPS)

Matt, darling, it's late.

Couldn't you finish that in the morning?

Matt?

They laughed at me, Lucy.

They were laughing.

God forbid I should fail here now.

I know, darling, but, well...

After all, it is only one teacher in Hillsboro.

One teacher's enough to bring this country back to where we were before.

I tell you, Lucy, we've got to stop them now.

Thank God there's still time.

I'm drafting a closing argument

that will bring the Henry Drummonds of this world to their knees.

Listen, Lucy.

"Religion isn't hostile to learning.

"But can we ever permit learning that encourages godlessness in our students?"

Absolutely right, darling. Absolutely right.

God is holding my hand.

I feel the strength of a lion.

Lucy...

I want you to know something.

Whenever I think of running for the presidency again,

the greatest pleasure of all will be in making you my first lady...

The first lady of this land.

(LUCY SOBBING)

I'm tellin' ya, I got 10 phone calls last night.

The boys down at the state capital,

they don't like the way this thing is going,

they want it over fast.

I'm sorry, but that's not the way the judicial system works.

The New York times, the Chicago tribune,

this fella from the Philadelphia Bulletin,

they're makin' us out to look like a bunch of nincompoops.

It's got to stop!

The judicial process doesn't change so some politician

I don't think you understand what I'm sayin' here.

Now, the November elections ain't far off,

and it's not gonna do anybody any good

to get the voters all up in a sweat.

Now, dammit, you got the gavel, don't ya? Use it!

"I believe in..."

It's time to go, Matt.

-Matt? -Huh?

Oh, yes, yes.

How are you feeling?

You slept very fitfully last night.

"I propose a constitutional amendment

"requiring the lord's prayer in every school of this beautiful land..."

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

Good morning, ma'am.

I came because it really is time...

BRADY: We're on our way.

I've been thinkin', sir.

Maybe I can say a few words first

-to pave the way... -No, no, no.

I'll take care of everything.

I've got it all right here, Mr. Davenport.

-Lucy? -I'm ready, darling.

Praise God, so am I.

What's that?

We're putting in a direct wire to WGN Chicago.

We'll broadcast the verdict as soon as it arrives.

My God, that's gonna break down a lot of walls.

You're not supposed to say "God" on the radio.

Why the hell not?

You're not supposed to say "hell," either.

(CHUCKLES)

(SHUSHING)

Good morning.

Good morning.

BAILIFF: All rise.

Hear ye, hear ye.

The case of the State versus Bertram Cates is now in session.

Be seated.

The court will now entertain the closing arguments for the defense first.

Mr. Drummond?

Your Honor, we waive the right to a closing argument.

(COURTROOM ABUZZ)

Would you repeat that, please, Mr. Drummond?

Objection!

This court can surely see through this subterfuge.

Mr. Drummond, by his action, hopes to eliminate both closing arguments!

Surely this court will not even consider such a deception.

Mr. Drummond?

Uh, we claim the defendant not guilty,

but since the court has excluded all testimony of scientific experts,

we wish for a verdict from this jury now

so that we may carry the matter to a higher court.

I thought I knew every scheming lawyer's trick in the book,

but this, from you...

Look at me!

Henry,

the magnitude of this offense demands

that we both muster every ounce of eloquence and conviction

in our closing statements, and then let the jury decide.

The jury's already decided, haven't they, Matt?

Gentlemen! Gentlemen!

(MOUTHING)

Order! Come to order!

-I now charge this jury... -BRADY: No! No!

Your Honor, with all due respect,

I would like to make a closing statement.

Please be seated, Mr. Brady.

Be seated, sir.

I now charge this jury to decide

whether the defendant violated public act volume 37, statute #31428,

which rejects the teaching of any theory that denies the divine creation of man.

You are excused to deliberate.

Your Honor, I have a statement relating to these proceedings!

The court will grant you an opportunity to make that statement later, Mr. Brady.

-The court is in recess. -(POUNDS GAVEL)

Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?

Yes, sir, we have, Your Honor.

We find the defendant guilty.

Step right up and get your tickets to the middle ages, huh?

(POUNDING GAVEL)

Sit down.

Mr. Cates, you may rise.

You have been found guilty of the offense as charged.

Do you have anything to say?

Well, Your Honor,

I'm not a public speaker, and I don't have the eloquence

of these gentlemen that you've heard here.

I'm just a schoolteacher.

Not anymore, you aren't.

I was a schoolteacher.

And I feel that I'm...

That I have been convicted of an unjust law,

and I'll continue in the future, as I have in the past,

to oppose this law in any way that I can.

Bertram Cates,

this court has found you guilty

of violating public act volume 37, statute #31428.

This is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.

This court deems it proper that you be sentenced to a fine...

Of... (CLEARS THROAT)

A fine of $100.

Did you say $100?

Well, that seems to conclude the business of this trial.

Your Honor, the prosecution takes exception.

Where the issues are so titanic,

the court must mete out more drastic punishment.

-I object. -To make an example of this transgressor!

Just a moment!

The amount of the fine is of no concern to me.

Bert Cates has no intention of paying this fine or any other fine.

He would not pay it if it were a single dollar.

We intend to appeal this decision

to the supreme court of the state.

Will the court grant thirty days to prepare?

Granted. I now declare this court adjourned.

Your Honor, I now wish to read into the record...

Objection.

Mr. Brady may make any remarks he likes in a political campaign,

but our business in Hillsboro is over.

Your Honor promised to allow me to make a few pertinent remarks.

Yes, yes, and we're all anxious to hear them, sir.

The defense holds that the court be adjourned.

Mr. Drummond's point of procedure is well taken.

I'm sure that everyone here will remain after the trial to hear the address.

Thank you.

I now declare this court to be adjourned.

Sine die.

Gentlemen.

Gentlemen, one moment, please!

Ladies and gentlemen,

could I have your attention, please!

Ladies and gentlemen,

when I campaign for the Presidency of the United States...

It must be painful to be almost-president three times

and have a skull full of inauguration speeches.

to restore this country to its former greatness,

to work for the betterment of the common people,

the common people of this blessed land

who harken to the word of our Lord,

the common people, who through all of history...

Excuse me, sir.

My director has told me that our time is now concluded.

We'd like to return you to our studios in Chicago.

My dear friends!

I beg you, listen to me!

Think! Think for a moment.

Religion is not hostile to learning.

But can we ever permit learning that encourages

godlessness among our students?

I propose a constitutional amendment

requiring the Lord's prayer in all our schools

to defend our youth against the evils of evolution!

Listen to me, please, I beg of you!

We must never stop

the work of the holy spirit, don't you see that?

I implore you!

From the hallowed hills of sacred Sinai came the laws...

which have been our bulwark

and our shield, age upon age...

Lucy...

Lucy...

Get a doctor!

Let's get him out of here!

Let's get him over to the doc's house! Come on, get him up!

Excuse us, please!

Did you see his face? He looked terrible.

Oh, hell, he'll be all right.

Give him an hour or so

and Mount Brady will erupt again before nightfall.

How you feeling, young fella?

I don't know.

Did I win, or did I lose?

Millions of people will say you won.

They'll read in their paper tonight

that you smashed a bad law, you made it a joke.

Yeah, but what's gonna happen now?

You don't suppose something like this is ever finished, do you?

Tomorrow, sure as hell,

somebody else will have to stand up,

and you've helped give them the guts to do it.

Rachel.

Hello, Bert.

I don't need anymore shirts.

I'm free. For a while, anyway.

These are my things, Bert.

I'm going away.

Where are you going?

I don't know, but I'm leaving my father.

Rach...

Bert...

It's my fault that the jury found you guilty.

Well, partly my fault, I helped.

Here's the copy of Darwin you gave me.

I read it all the way through.

I don't understand it,

and what I do understand, I don't like.

I don't want to believe that I came from apes and monkeys.

Mr. Drummond, I hope I haven't said anything to offend you.

You see, I haven't really thought very much.

I was always afraid of what I might think, and...

It seemed safer not to think at all.

Maybe...

Maybe what Mr. Darwin wrote is bad,

but bad or good, I think ideas have to come out.

I think they should be heard,

I don't think they ought to pass laws against them.

Mr. Brady's dead.

How, how did he die?

(SOBBING) They said it was a heart attack.

Why should we weep for Brady?

He's cried enough for himself.

You know what he was?

A barnum bunkum Bible-beating fraud.

You smart-aleck!

You have no right to spit on his religion

and more than you have a right to spit on my religion

or my lack of it!

Well...

Well, what do you know?

Henry Drummond to the defense...

Even of his enemies.

There was much greatness in that man.

Should I put that in how do you write an obituary

Write what you damn please!

How do you write an obituary

about someone who's been dead for 30 years?

What do you say?

What?

Wait a minute...

What was that scripture he quoted at the prayer meeting?

Proverbs, wasn't it?

"He that troubleth his own house

"shall inherit the wind...

"And the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart."

Well, well, well.

They're growing an odd crop of agnostics this year.

-I'm getting damn sick of you, Hornbeck. -Why?

You never pushed a noun against a verb

except to blow up something.

A neat lawyer's trick... Accusing the accuser.

What am I accused of?

I charge you with contempt of conscience,

self-perjury.

Kindness of forethought and gross sentimentality in the first degree.

Why? Because I refuse to erase a man's lifetime?

I tell you that Brady had the same right as Bert...

The right to be wrong.

What the hell is this...

"Be kind to Bigots week?"

Because Brady is dead, we must be kind to him?

A giant once lived in that body.

Matt Brady got lost

because he looked for a God that was too high up

and too far away.

You fraud. You hypocrite!

You're more religious than he ever was.

(SCOFFS) Excuse me.

I have to get to a typewriter

and hammer out the story of an atheist...

Who believes in God!

(LAUGHS)

Colonel Drummond...

I am resigning my commission in the state militia,

I hand in my sword.

How much does it cost for an appeal?

I couldn't pay you much.

I didn't come here to get paid.

I think I better drive myself back to Chicago.

Bert, we could leave today, too.

There's a train out at 5:13, and we could be on it.

I'll get my things.

You have a good trip.

Hey, you forgot...