Inherit the Wind Page #8

Please, Mr. Brady...

Rachel, didn't you say you wanted

the people here to understand

Yes.

Then just answer my question.

Now, Miss Brown,

you are an old friend of the efendant,

Bertram Cates

We're... we're engaged to be married.

Do you and Mr. Cates attend the same church

Yes... we did.

Do you now

What?

Attend the same church

No.

Did Mr. Cates leave the church

No, not really.

Not the spirit of it.

But the body of it, correct

Mr. Cates left the church

you and he once attended together

Yes.

Why

Because of the Stebbins boy.

The Stebbins boy.

Would you tell us about that, please

It was 2 summers ago.

The little Stebbins boy was 13 years old.

He was one of Bert's students.

He lived right next door

to the boarding house,

and he used to come over

And look through

Bert's microscope.

Bert said the boy had a bright mind

and... and he might even be a scientist

when he grew up.

Yes

He... he went to the river with the

other boys a-and went swimming.

He...

he got a cramp...

and drowned.

Go on.

At the funeral,

Pa preached that tommy didn't die

in a state of grace

because... because his father

wouldn't allow him

to be baptized.

Tell him what your father really said,

that tommy's soul was damned,

writhing in hellfire!

Cates, you sinner!

Religion's supposed to comfort people,

Not frighten them to death!

We will have order, please.

Now, sit down, Bert.

Don't you see

Bert thought it wasn't fair

that a little child couldn't go to heaven!

It wasn't God he abandoned, only the church!

Very well, my dear. It is true, then,

that because of what happened

to the Stebbins boy,

Bert Cates left the church!

We've said nothing wrong.

We are merely beginning to gain some insight

into the experiences that sometimes

will lead a young man astray.

Objection!

Whether my client went astray

is a Matter of interpretation.

Strike it from the record.

Objection sustained.

The jury is directed

to disregard the remarks of counsel.

Very well.

Now, my dear, will you tell the jury

some more of Mr. Cates' opinions

on the subject of religion

Objection!

Hearsay evidence is not admissible.

The court sees no objection

to this line of questioning.

Proceed, Col. Brady.

Just repeat, in your own words,

some of the conversations

you had with the defendant.

Rachel, you can't.

The things I said to you

were questions...

questions you ask your own heart.

If you say those things out loud,

he'll make them sound like answers.

I... I can't.

You won't hurt him, Rachel. This

is for his good.

Speak up.

Mr. Brady, I confided in you...

Well, we're here to serve the truth,

Rachel, only the truth.

I can't remember.

Rachel, you are testifying under oath.

It is unlawful to withhold pertinent

information.

Describe to the court

your innermost feelings

when Bert Cates said to you,

"God did not create man. Man created god. "

Bert didn't say that!

He was just bitter

because of the little Stebbins boy!

He said man created a vengeful god

out of his own bigotry

and the devil out of his own hell!

And when he wondered what's

on the other side of the moon,

did he ever mention the possibility

of heaven did he

or did he say there was nothing

but a world of stars, moons,

galaxies, and universal dust

Tell us, tell us some more.

What'd he say about the holy

state of matrimony

Did he compare it to animal breeding

Objection!

You want the good people of this town

to see what happened to his brain

so they can help bring him back

to his senses, don't ya

Tell it! Tell it all!

Tell it! Tell it! Tell it!

Matt!

Under the circumstances...

I believe the witness... should be excused.

Col. Drummond, do you have any objection

to excusing the witness

from cross- examination at this time,

subject to later recall

Well, your honor,

the defense must have a chance

to challenge the words

put into the mouth of the witness

by the prosecutor.

Don't plague her. Let her go.

Uh, may I have a moment

Do you want every word

he just put in her mouth

to go in to the record

It's not that important.

Not th... he just pulled you apart

like a plucked chicken.

Please, do as I say. You've got to.

I've got to what

send you to jail

Let her go.

You all-American idiot,

She just handed them your head

on a silver platter.

Damn it, stay out of this!

It's none of your business.

Don't tie my hands, son.

Let her go,

or I'll change my plea to guilty.

No questions.

For the time being, the witness is excused.

May I have your autograph

Does the, uh, prosecution wish

to call any further witnesses

Not, uh, not at the present time,

your honor.

The prosecution rests.

We shall proceed with the case

for the defense,

Col. Drummond.

I'd like to call Dr. Amos Keller...

the head of the department of zoology

at the University of Chicago.

Objection!

On what grounds

I wish to inquire what possible relevance

the testimony of a zoology professor

can have in this trial

Why, it has every relevance.

My client is on trial for teaching

evolution.

Certainly any testimony relating to

his so-called infringement of the law

must be admitted.

Irrelevant, immaterial, inadmissible.

But why

if Bertram Cates were on trial for murder,

would it be irrelevant to call in witnesses

to examine the weapon

would it rule out testimony

that the so-called murder weapon

was incapable of firing a bullet

I fail to grasp, ah,

the learned counsel's meaning.

Oh.

Uh, well, your honor,

The defense wishes to place

Dr. Keller on the stand

so that he can explain

to the gentlemen of the jury

ah, the exact meaning of the

theory of evolution.

How can they pass judgment

if they don't know what it's all about

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

Col. Drummond,

the bench rules that zoology

is irrelevant to the case.

Agnostic scientists

Ahem.

I call Dr. Allen Page,

deacon of the congregational church

and professor of geology and archaeology

at Oberlin College.

Objection.

Objection sustained.

Uh, does your honor deny in one breath

The existence of zoology,

geology and archaeology

we do not deny the existence

of these sciences,

but they do not relate to this point of law.

I call Walter Aaronson,

anthropologist, philosopher, author,

and one of the most brilliant minds

in the world today. Any objection

Objection!

Your honor, the defense has brought

to Hillsboro,

at great expense and great inconvenience,

6 noted scientists.

their testimony is basic

to the defense of my client...

for I intend to show this court

that what Bertram Cates spoke quietly

one spring morning

in the Hillsboro high school is no crime.

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