Alleged: New film on the 1925 Scopes ”monkey trial”

Joel Kontinen

Inherit the Wind (1960), the Hollywood version of the 1925 Scopes ”monkey trial”, succeeded in mixing up almost all details related to the historical court drama. It attempted to describe the debate between evolution and creation as a struggle of science against outdated religious views.

Inherit the Wind misrepresented the trial egregiously. Alleged, a new, soon to be released film, takes a more realistic approach to the case. Although it also includes a fictional romantic dimension, Alleged describes the story as it really happened without re-interpreting it from a Darwinian perspective.

Alleged is directed by Tommy Hines and written by Fred Foote. William Jennings Bryan (Fred Thompson) takes on John Scopes’ attorney Clarence Darrow (Brian Dennehy) in a memorable court drama.

Alleged for instance suggests that the case for Nebraska man, based on a single tooth, is flimsy, like everything else that in 1925 was used as evidence for Darwinian evolution.

You can read more about the background of the Scopes trial here.


Source:

Mostafavi, Beata. 2010. Trailer of 'Alleged' film gives sneak peek into movie about Scopes Monkey Trial; includes local cameo and scenes from Crossroads Village. Flint Journal (13 August).