Feeling disoriented by my writing about a movie in color from the 1990’s? You are not alone, but I wanted to mark the passing of Robert Redford again. I wrote about his death at age 89 in my Shecky’s Quick Hitters post and yesterday’s Robert Redford Dozen. And Jamie O wrote a marvelous piece about All The President’s Men and its impact on his life.

Robert Redford was an actor who made a smooth transition to producing and directing. As I stated yesterday, Quiz Show is his directorial masterpiece. It tells the story of the TV quiz show scandal that exploded in 1958. Answers were provided to contestants in a fashion that would have appalled Jeopardy hosts Art Fleming, Alex Trebek, and Ken Jennings. The latter would have scoffed at the idea of being given answers or is that questions? It’s Jeopardy, after all.

Quiz Show is one of my favorite films of the Nineties. I’ve seen it many times and get something different from it every time. It’s not 100% historically accurate but it captures the Fifties zeitgeist perfectly.

The film centers around three characters: Herb Stempel played by John Turturro, Charles Van Doren played by Ralph Fiennes, and Dick Goodwin played by Rob Morrow. This will be a rare movie post in which I refer to the main players by their character’s name. It seems fitting for a story ripped from the 1950’s headlines.

In addition to the stars, there are fabulous supporting performances by Paul Scofield, David Paymer, Hank Azaria, Christopher McDonald, Mia Sorvino, and Martin Scorsese. That’s right, Scorsese.

Marty plays the man from Geritol who knows that the show Twenty-One is rigged but only cares about the ratings. His character would have sold out Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmell as surely as the contemporary suits at CBS and ABC.

Herb Stempel is one of the most annoying characters in film history. He’s a mouthy know-it-all from Queens prone to issuing threats. Sound familiar? He was obliged to take a fall to Van Doren on a question he knew: What won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1955? The answer, Marty, one of Herb’s favorite movies.

The shit eating grin seen in this picture left Herb’s face after he sold out to the NBC suits:

Charles Van Doren came from a distinguished family of writers, poets, and historians. He was eager to make his own mark on the world. Too eager. He went along with the quiz show fix until everything blew up at the end of the movie. Ralph Fiennes brilliantly captures Van Doren’s charm and weakness. He even had hair in 1994…

Dick Goodwin, who investigated the quiz show scandal for a Congressional committee, is one of my political heroes. He wrote some of the most brilliant speeches delivered by JFK, LBJ, and RFK. Goodwin was close to Robert Kennedy and would be appalled by Bobby Junior’s destruction of the Kennedy legacy. I suspect that Dick would agree that that nepo baby doesn’t deserve the acronym that lazy media types insist on bestowing on him.  In Quiz Show, Rob Morrow captured Goodwin’s rumpled brilliance. In this still, he’s captured by Stempel:

Paul Attanasio’s script touches on weighty subjects but with a nuanced and humorous touch. The good guy characters are not preachy and sanctimonious, and the bad guys are cynics, not cartoon villains.

Quiz Show was based on a segment from this book by Dick Goodwin:

Redford’s direction is tight and keeps the focus on the actors, not filmic technique. He knew he was on to something special with this perfectly cast film.

Every time I see that picture, it’s easy to imagine the younger Redford playing Van Doren. Tormented WASPs were his specialty.

My mother liked game and quiz shows of all kinds. I recall watching The Joker’s Wild with her without knowing that it was the comeback vehicle for disgraced quiz show scandal guys Jack Barry and Dan Enright played by Christopher McDonald and David Paymer, respectively. It made them wealthy whereas Stempel and Van Doren died in obscurity.

Grading Time: I give Quiz Show 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A. It’s a stone cold classic.

One reason I don’t write more often about contemporary films is that the promo artwork isn’t as extensive or as good. We’ll just have to make do.

Here’s long sheet poster side-by-side with the DVD cover:

I’m feeling quizzical right now, so let’s all go to the lobby for something or other.

My thirst is slaked but not my curiosity. Oh well, what the hell.

Here’s a Quiz Show lobby card mural. Mural is a bit too fancy, let’s call it an assortment:

Those are the French lobby cards so perhaps I should have called it a melange.

Here’s the trailer:

The last word goes to Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert with their reviews of the Redford classic: