Customer Reviews

Quiz Show

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Directed by Robert Redford and nominated for several Academy Awards, this 1994 film tells the true story of the quiz show "21" in the 1950s and how the contestants were given the answers ahead of time and coached for the show. As a child at the time I remember the hoopla and how whole families would watch this show together, holding their collective breaths during the competitions for big money. It was a time of innocence and the viewing community was deceived. And never again have the networks won that kind of public trust.

Paul Attansio adapted the screenplay from the book written by Richard N. Goodwin who was the government investigator at the time. In the film this role is played by Rob Morrow who is determined to uncover the deception. All the other actors are excellent too - most notably John Turturro who is cast as a Jewish man from Queens who is allowed to win for seven weeks before being replaced by Charles Van Doran, a professor at Columbia who came from a long line of scholars. Paul Scofield also shines in the role of Van Doran's father, who stands by his son even though the family is disgraced by the publicity.

It's not just the quiz show phenomenon that comes alive in this film. It is the nature of the times as well as the anti-Semitic undercurrent and cultural conflict that was endemic. Usually, when I see a film about the fifties, it looks like someone's imagination of what those times were like. But this film was different. I really felt I was right back there, many years before computers or even color television, sitting wide-eyed in front of that black and white set and admiring the contestants for being so smart. Times have changed. Now, we know we're being manipulated. And there is no outrage.

I was unprepared to love this film so much. There is tension throughout and consistently wonderful acting. The dialog was authentic and the actors all played their roles with subtlety. They became the characters in the film and I wound up caring about all of them. "Quiz Show" is a simply wonderful film and I give it one of my highest recommendations. Don't miss it.

Although not a reason this movie is so good, I would like to begin by stating that as a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, I believe this is the only movie ever made that mentions Arkadelphia. And not just once, but twice!

There are many, many reasons this movie succeeds so marvelously, but I would like to focus on three.

First, this movie benefits from an exceedingly fine cast. Not merely the leads, but many of the lesser roles are filled with extremely good actors and actresses. While Ralph Fiennes, John Tuturro, and Rob Morrow all shine in the leads, lesser parts are filled with people like David Paymer, Hank Azaria, Mira Sorvino, and Martin Scorsese. I was especially impressed by the always superb but underutilized Paul Scofield (who won the Oscar portraying Thomas More in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS). He seems the very embodiment of the man of reason, erudition, and courtesy portraying Mark van Doren, and his pain upon learning his beloved son has lost his teaching position at Columbia is one of the great poignant moments in the film. Look very carefully at the scene where several attractive coeds interrupt Ralph Fiennes and Rob Morrow and you will spot Calista Flockhart (a.k.a. Ally McBeal).

A second reason this film succeeds so well is its tremendous period feel. The movie looks and feels like the late 1950s at every second. QUIZ SHOW does a great job of [pulling] you in and giving you an almost tangible sense of time and place.

Finally, the movie is easily one of the most accurate historical films I have ever seen, although drama is never sacrificed for the mere sake of being accurate. If one has done any reading about the scandals or perhaps if one remembers the events, the film constantly impresses with the amount of accurate detail it contains. Too often when watching a movie dealing with historical events, one can become irritated of the events are inaccurately portrayed. For instance, although LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is a truly great movie, Peter O'Toole was nearly a foot taller than the real T. E. Lawrence, which is a huge problem, since Lawrence's self-consciousness about his short stature was a major factor in his self-image. There are no such moments such as this in QUIZ SHOW.

But if you watch, or rewatch, this film, please note those references to Arkadelphia! My undergraduate hometown!

Ah, the good ol' Fifties. The time when, after decades of depression and war, people finally wanted to get on with their lives, rebuild the economy and sweep everything dark and dirty under a big rug (including the escalating arms race with the Soviet Union). When television was everybody's new best friend, and ruled by the likes of Ed Sullivan, Lassie, Bozo the Clown and Lucy ... and by quiz shows.

Well aware of the contests' new, uniquely thrilling live entertainment, studio executives and sponsors quickly capitalized on their appeal, eager to maximize the resulting profits. To that end, however, the shows' outcome couldn't be left to chance: Then as now, viewers were looking for the "right" kind of hero to identify with; so ultimately it was unthinkable to let someone like Herbert Stempel (John Turturro) - not only an annoying nerd with thick glasses and bad teeth but worse, an annoying *Jewish* nerd with thick glasses and bad teeth - win the famous "Twenty-One" for more than a couple of weeks. A more suitable replacement was found in Columbia University lecturer Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), descendant of one of New England's foremost intellectual families and, in the words of the show's co-producer Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria), soon the TV nation's new "great white hope." A brilliant intellectual who nevertheless felt eternally inferior to his Pulitzer Prize-winning father, poet Mark Van Doren (Paul Scofield), his mother (Elizabeth Wilson), likewise a distinguished author, and his uncle, Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Van Doren, Charles ultimately agreed to sell his integrity for a high flight to fame and fortune on borrowed wings, and thus succumbed to the one force driving a quiz show's appeal more than anything else: money, and astronomically large sums thereof.

Based on former Congressional investigator and Kennedy speechwriter Richard Goodwin's "Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties" and scripted by Paul Attanasio, Robert Redford's 1994 film brilliantly traces the "Twenty-One" scandal - the biggest of several scandals involving rigged quiz shows - from the moment Stempel was told to take a humiliating dive and pass the helm to Van Doren (Goodwin also co-produced). The movie's tone is set from the opening scene, which focuses on neither of the contestants but Goodwin himself (Rob Morrow), newly arrived in Washington with a first-in-his-class Harvard Law School degree in his pockets, and admiring the latest thing in automobile technology in a Chrysler showroom ("Used to be the man drives the car, now the car drives the man," he eventually comments, wowed by the dealer's sales talk). Turning on the radio, they catch an announcer's remark on the Sputnik launch: "All is not well with America" (but "America doesn't own the [Chrysler] 300," the dealer responds). Then Goodwin changes the station and the film's opening credits begin to roll, significantly over Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife" from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's "Threepenny Opera:" Although originally conceived as a "Moritat," a darkly cynical ballad, Darin's swinging, upbeat 1959 version, a No. 1 hit for all of 22 weeks (1 1/2 times as long as Van Doren reigned on "Twenty-One") musically pulls every last tooth out of the song's sharp-edged lyrics; just as television's goody-two-shoes pseudo-reality and America's newfound prosperity seemed to obliterate the era's grimmer sociopolitical truths.

"Quiz Show" has been described, in turns, as a political thriller, a morality play, a parable on the loss of innocence and a fact-based drama; and it is all that, and more. It obviously has to be seen in context with "All the President's Men," Redford's 1976 film costarring Dustin Hoffman and Jason Robards, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Woodward-Bernstein account on Watergate. Just as America lost its political innocence there, it had already lost its innocence vis-a-vis showbiz in the quiz show scandals. But this is also a fascinating exploration of the scandal's underlying psychology; of that mix of insecurity, greed, ambition, hero-worship, prejudice and self-deception which made the manipulation possible in the first place and allowed it to go undetected for so long.

Of the movie's tremendous cast, John Turturro, Ralph Fiennes and Paul Scofield particularly give standout performances as the nerdy, deeply humiliated Herb Stempel, the dazzling Ivy Leaguer Charles Van Doren and his intellectually brilliant, unwaveringly supportive and profoundly moral father Mark, who can snap out a Shakespeare quote appropriate to any situation at the drop of a hat. Rob Morrow's Dick Goodwin, the Jewish kid from Brookline who made it to Harvard and D.C. but is still occasionally up against prejudice, is not far behind (although I confess I sometimes find his accent a tad unconvincingly thick; more so than Fiennes's and Scofield's more refined New England versions). Not to be overlooked are also their female costars - besides Elizabeth Wilson, Mira Sorvino and Johann Carlo as Goodwin's and Stempel's wives - and of course the gang responsible for the goings-on at "Twenty-One:" David Paymer as slick producer Dan Enright, Hank Azaria as his sidekick, Christopher McDonald as host Jack Barry, Allan Rich as NBC boss Robert Kintner and Martin Scorsese in a rare and deadpan appearance as an actor as corporate sponsor Geritol's chairman Martin Rittenhome. (Besides, watch for Barry Levinson as "Today Show" host Dave Garroway and Calista Flockhart and Ethan Hawke [uncredited] as star-struck students).

When first setting out to investigate "Twenty-One," Goodwin aimed no lower than putting television itself on trial. But while the Congressional hearings did cause the downfall of the show and its greatest champion, Enright and Barry soon returned to television, and none of the others responsible for the manipulations suffered any consequences at all. Quiz shows are more popular than ever. "Give the public what they want ... It's entertainment. We're not exactly hardened criminals here. We're in showbusiness," was Al Freedman's cynical conclusion. And the movie's last words are again those of Berthold Brecht, but this time in Lyle Lovett's much darker version of the Moritat: "Mackie, how much did you charge ...?"

"Millionaire," anyone?

Also recommended:
Remembering America : A Voice From the Sixties
American Justice - Quiz Show Scandal and Other Frauds
The Fifties
As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s
Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)
All the President's Men (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Strange Days
The Threepenny Opera - Criterion Collection

Quiz Show is about the quiz show scandal of the 1950's that shocked the nation. Robert Redford expertly guides this film and gets excellent performances from his actors. Ralph Fiennes is cool and dashing as Charles Van Doren, a Columbia professor who became a national hero due to his success on the popular quiz show Twenty-One. John Turturro gives a manic and hyper performance as loose cannon Herb Stempel who was the most popular contestant on Twenty-One until Van Doren came along. He is forced to take a dive in return for future TV work, but the show's producer Dan Enright reneges on his promises, sending Stempel on the trail for vengeance. Rob Morrow gives a solid performance as a young and aggressive federal investigator Dick Goodwin. He investigates the shows and along the way become friends with Van Doren. Paul Scofield gives his usual superb performance as Van Doren's father, the noted poet Mark Van Doren. David Paymer is perfectly slimy as Twenty-One's producer Dan Enright and Chris McDonald plays Twenty-One's host Jack Barry with the right touch of mock importance. Mira Sorvino has a small part as Goodwin's wife and Martin Scorcese has a cameo as the head of Geritol who was the show's sponsor. Mr. Redford expertly weaves the lives of Van Doren, Stempel & Goodwin together and we are taken from the highest of highs to the low of lows. The movie is meant to show that prior to the scandal, America was a more trusting place, we accepted things at face value, but after the scandal, we started to become skeptical and question everything. In many ways, Mr. Redford is dead on with that assessment.

When I first heard about this movie, I thought, "A guy cheats on a quiz show. What a dumb idea." Then when it was up for the 1994 Oscar for Best Picture, I said to myself, "Well, I saw the other four movies up for BP this year." So I rented it. Then I bought it. Then it was playing in my VCR almost every day as background sound when I played on the computer or ate. I have the dialogue pretty much memorized now. The movie is art. It was an instant classic. A must see. Every time I watch it I notice something new or "get" a joke I never understood before. It has fantastic actors, unbelievable dialogue, and is a cute little story. This reigns as my favorite movie of all time.

How many times have you seen this disclaimer at the end credits: "The story depicted in this motion picture is based on actual events. However, certain characters and incidents were added for dramatic effect."

What the filmmakers are telling us here, folks, is that without these added elements, the movie would be downright boring. See, if we tell it like it is, we won't make money.

Director Robert Redford and screenplay writer Paul Attanasio would have none of that. They chose to chronicle the events leading up to the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s without the embellishments that have become so much a part of Hollywood tradition. For that alone, they deserve the highest praises. But what makes Quiz Show a cinematic marvel is its ability to keep the viewer involved while remaining unerringly faithful to the facts.

John Turturro and Ralph Fiennes turn in career performances as contestants who at first benefit from, but later become victims of a system that dictates that ratings are more important than moral integrity. Turturro plays Herb Stempel, the annoying Jew who at first makes for an appealing underdog but soon wears out his welcome, and so has to take a "dive." Fiennes is Charles Van Doren, the handsome, clean-cut Ivy Leaguer who is seen as the worthy replacement and goes along with the deception, only to soon find himself in over his head but unable to just walk away.

Equally impressive is the supporting cast: Rob Morrow as Congressional investigator Richard Goodwin, Hank Azaria and David Paymer as the quiz show's manipulative producers, and Paul Scofield as Van Doren's ever-supportive but unaware father. Also exceptional, but easy to overlook in the glow of the all-star cast, are Johann Carlo as the unsophisticated, non-intellectual but nonetheless faithful Mrs. Stempel; Martin Scorsese as the less-than-honorable profit-motivated sponsor; and Mira Sorvino as Goodwin's devoted, if rather outspoken wife. All turn in tour-de-force performances so essential to bringing the brilliant screenplay to life.

The result: a morality play that is at once gripping and entertaining. A taut drama where tension runs thick in virtually every segment, intensifying as the movie progresses, and culminating in the unforgettable scene where Van Doren has to face the Congressional committee.

It is only fitting that a movie whose theme is integrity is approached with such uncompromising honesty, and for that we should all be thankful. For once, filmmakers actually stood by the belief that this was more important than making the proverbial quick buck.

This is a great film on so many levels...dialogue, performances, cinematography, editing...all supporting the central metaphor of the quiz show scandals as a watershed event, marking the loss of innocence and shattering societal changes that began in the 1950s and are still playing out today.

Along the way, many subtle symbols are interjected which support this thesis, and it is these elements that raise the movie to the same level as some of the best films ever made.

Here's my favotite example; one that most people probably didn't notice: In the opening credits, we hear the bouncy 1950s hit-single version of "Mack the Knife". Then, over the closing credits we hear the much darker 1970s version of the same song (which is actually a truer translation of the Weill "Threepenny Opera" classic). Thus, these two "bookends" symbolize the loss of innocence and change of mood that take place during the course of the film's events.

What an amazing element, yet so inconspicuous that it passes largely undetected. "Quiz Show" is packed with these...making multiple viewings a highly rewarding experience. Essential.

Robert Redford does it again in this much lauded film that is flawlessly executed with pathos and suspense, and, incidentally, one of the top picks of 1994. "Quiz Show" is the absorbing, engrossing story of tirumphs and downfalls (of both tv showbiz and personalities). The cast is quite remarkable--John Turturro is brilliant and sympathetically strikes a cord with us, Rob Morrow is nothing short of powerful, and Ralph Fiennes is stiffly and guiltily confused as one who has to live up to the incredible reputation of his father (played by Paul Scofield, who's absolutely terrific). There's some awesome directing that requires a second viewing (including where Fiennes is rubbing his sweaty cheeck with a cold bottle of milk, as if to cool his shame). The script is also extremely witty and literate; in other words, brilliant and remarkable. The cinematography is very effective and observant (the game show owners says to Ralph Fiennes, "It's okay, there's only the three of us," and the camera looks at Fiennes, towering over him ominously). "Quiz Show" is a masterpiece, a thriller with brains, a drama with heart. Don't miss this.

The movie starts out with one of the main characters poised in a 1957 brand new Chysler as a car salesman schmoozes the man into believing things that he really wants to believe, but taken out of context, are simply untrue. This scene completely and surprisingly sets up the brilliance of the following two hours of cinema, called "Quiz Show".

America's fascination with the sale of happiness is told through the lens of the infamous 1950's "Twenty One" quiz show scandal. It tells the tale of one Herb Stempel, an ex-GI who's intelligent if not terribly charismatic. His smarts got him to stay on the show, but soon you see the machinations of money hungry corporations calling the shots behind the screens. Herb needs to go because his mug isn't pretty.

Enter Charles Van Doren, family family and good looks to boot, who becomes the new darling of Twenty One. But first, he needs to beat out Herb hiimself, who takes a fall in hopes of preserving any hopes of an imaginary television career. Stempel's fifteen minutes are up, and he spends the rest of the movie trying in vain to get them back, or at least ensure no one else does.

The movie moves on with the investgation of Dick Goodwin, driven by passion for justice and a quest to find the truth. He chases that lucrative beast throughout the movie in hopes of pinning it down. The brilliance of Van Doren manuvers him around it constantly, while the anger of Stempel is almost too raw to be believable.

What could have been a mere retelling of the scandal, which in and of itself is an interesting story. But this film aims higher, much, much higher, and the results are simply impressive. We in America want happiness, and we are willing to purchase it for any price. The fact that Van Doren was fed answers to his questions simply didn't matter; the public loved him, the sponsors loved him, and all were happy to buy into that illusion. The illusion of happiness, so wonderfully ridiculed almost in the final credits as the audience is shown rollicking and screaming at the results of a television show.

All performances in this movie are grand, from John Turturro's manic Stempel to Ralph Fiennes slick Van Doren, even Scorese as the slimy sponsor. Under Redford's smooth, stylistic direction, this film is a tribute to the late fifties as much as it is an expose.

This is one of those films that should be on more people's top ten lists. It instructs without being preachy, and fully showcases the strength that cinema can carry. A great movie, overall.

"The $64,000 Challenge." "Twenty One." "Tic Tac Dough." In the 1950s, America was in love with television game shows. But, little did the public know that things were not well at the television networks. Many game shows were rigged, contestants cheated, and integrity was given up for money and higher ratings. "Quiz Show," the 1994 movie directed by Robert Redford, takes a painful and memorable look at the television game show scandals of 1958.

"Quiz Show" is based off the true story of Richard Goodwin, the lawyer who uncovered the scandal of the popular NBC quiz show "Twenty One." When ratings begin to fall of the show, David Paymer, playing "Twenty One" producer Dan Enwright, blames the geeky long-standing champion Herb Stempel, comically played by John Turturro, for the show's troubles.

Enwright recruits another contestant, a handsome, refined college professor named Charles Van Doren (played by Ralph Fiennes), whom he feels will gain public approval and help ratings. To ensure that Van Doren stays on television, Enwright insists that Van Doren receive the answers to questions asked on the show in advance.

Once Van Doren arrives on "Twenty One," ratings climb and Van Doren becomes a hero to millions of fans across the nation (not to mention the infatuation of thousands of young girls).

When the outraged Stempel goes to court and declares that the "Twenty One" was fixed, Richard Goodwin, a young lawyer from Washington, is intrigued by the case and decides to probe further. Thus, a national scandal is born.

The development of the characters in "Quiz Show" are compelling, particularly that of Charles Van Doren. First, Fiennes portrays Van Doren as an honorable man with values - he initially questions the ethics of being given answers to questions. Then, Van Doren is cast as a man who knew that he was breaking rules but was enjoying himself too much to care. Finally, the audience begins to feel Van Doren's pain when he finally confesses to the world of his wrongdoings.

Van Doren's anguish can be felt in a scene with his father, Mark Van Doren, a distinguished poet played by Paul Scofield. In this scene, Charles questions his morals and desperately needs guidance, but cannot bring himself to disappoint his father by telling him what he has done. Fiennes is able to radiate these struggling emotions without saying a word.

Scofield also gave an amazing performance as Mark Van Doren. In a later scene when he hears of Charles's predicament, his sorrow can be seen in his face. When Charles tries to assure his father that this will not damage his reputation, the elder Van Doren expresses his disappointment and pain all in one, sorrowful sentence: "Your name is mine."

Robert Redford did an amazing job on "Quiz Show". His recreation of the 1950s was complete and believable. The beginning scenes of people glued to their television sets helped to show how obsessed America was with television. The jazz music by Mark Isham helped to further recreate the atmosphere of the time period.
One flaw in this movie, however, was that of Rob Morrow's portrayal of Richard Goodwin. His faked Boston accent was annoying at best. His character also was overdone, perhaps because the movie was based off a book by Richard Goodwin himself. The movie should have focused on other characters, such as the NBC producers.

The 1958 "Twenty One" case questioned the ethics of the television show business. Robert Redford created an unforgettable movie by presenting a painful yet compassionate perspective of the people involved in this scandal. This can be seen in a noteworthy line from Charles Van Doren when he testified at court:
"I've stood on the shoulders of life and I've never gotten down into the dirt to build, to erect a foundation of my own. I've flown too high on borrowed wings..."