Quiz Show (film)

For other uses, see quiz show (disambiguation).

Quiz Show
File:QuizShowPoster.jpg Quiz Show theatrical poster
Directed by	Robert Redford
Produced by	Robert Redford Michael Jacobs Julian Krainin Michael Nozik
Screenplay by	Paul Attanasio
Based on	Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties by Richard Goodwin
Starring	John Turturro Rob Morrow Ralph Fiennes
Music by	Mark Isham
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus
Edited by	Stu Linder
Production company	Hollywood Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates	September 14, 1994 (1994-09-14)
Running time	133 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$31 million
Box office	$24,822,619

Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical film produced and directed by Robert Redford, and written by Paul Attanasio, based on Richard N. Goodwin's memoir Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties. It stars John Turturro, Rob Morrow, and Ralph Fiennes, with Paul Scofield, David Paymer, Hank Azaria, and Christopher McDonald appearing in supporting roles.

The film chronicles the Twenty One quiz show scandals of the 1950s, the rise and fall of popular contestant Charles Van Doren after the rigged loss of Herb Stempel, and Congressional investigator Richard Goodwin's subsequent probe. Goodwin co-produced the film. Though the film was a disappointment at the box office, it received generally positive reviews and was nominated for several accolades, including a Best Picture Oscar and several Golden Globes.

Plot

In preparation for the latest broadcast of the popular quiz show Twenty One, the questions and answers to be used are transported from a secure bank vault to the studio as producers Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) watch from the control booth. The evening's main attraction is Queens resident Herb Stempel (John Turturro), the reigning champion, who correctly answers question after question. However, both the network, NBC, and the corporate sponsor of the program, a supplementary tonic called Geritol, find that Stempel's approval ratings are beginning to level out, meaning the show would benefit from new talent.

Enright and Freedman are surprised when Columbia University instructor Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), son of the renowned poet and intellectual Mark Van Doren (Paul Scofield) and the novelist Dorothy Van Doren (Elizabeth Wilson), visits their office to audition. Realizing that they have found an ideal challenger for Stempel, they subtly offer to rig the game in Van Doren's favor, but he refuses. Enright later informs Stempel that he must lose in order to boost the show's ratings. Stempel begrudgingly agrees, only on the condition that he can remain on television, threatening to reveal the true reason of his success: he had been given the answers in advance.

Stempel and Van Doren face each other on Twenty One, where the match comes down to a predetermined question regarding Marty, the 1955 winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. Despite knowing the correct film, Stempel gives the wrong answer of On the Waterfront, allowing Van Doren to win by correctly answering a question he had been asked during his audition.

In the weeks that follow, Van Doren's winning streak makes him a national celebrity, but he buckles under the pressure and allows Enright and Freedman to start giving him the answers. Meanwhile, Stempel, having lost his prize money to an unscrupulous bookie, begins threatening legal action against NBC after weeks go by without his return to television. He visits New York County District Attorney Frank Hogan, who convenes a grand jury to look into his allegations.

Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow), a young Congressional lawyer, becomes intrigued by the fact that the grand jury findings have been sealed and travels to New York to investigate rumors of rigged quiz shows. Visiting a number of contestants, including Stempel and Van Doren, he begins to suspect that Twenty One is indeed a fixed operation. However, Stempel's volatile personality damages his credibility and nobody else seems willing at first to confirm that the show is rigged. Goodwin enjoys the company of Van Doren, who invites him to social gatherings, and doubts a man of Van Doren's background and intellect would be involved in the hoax.

Stempel desperately confesses to Goodwin that he was in on the fix, and further insists that Van Doren must have been involved as well. As Goodwin collects more evidence, Van Doren deliberately loses, but is rewarded with a lucrative contract from NBC to appear as a special correspondent on the Today show. The House Committee for Legislative Oversight convenes a hearing, where Goodwin presents his evidence of the quiz show's corruption. He strongly urges Van Doren to avoid making any public statements supporting the show, and promises not to call Van Doren to testify in exchange.

During the hearing, Stempel's testimony fails to convince the committee, and both NBC network head Robert Kintner (Allan Rich) and Geritol executive Martin Rittenhome (Martin Scorsese) deny any knowledge of Twenty One being rigged. At Kintner's prompting, Van Doren issues a statement reaffirming his trust in the show's honesty. Goodwin is forced to issue a subpoena for Van Doren's testimony; Van Doren confesses his role in the conspiracy to his father, then publicly admits it at the hearing. Most of the committee is impressed, but one member instead upbraids him for waiting so long to tell the truth. After the hearing adjourns, he learns from reporters that he has been fired from Today and that Columbia's trustees are going to ask for his resignation.

Goodwin believes he is on the verge of a victory against Geritol and NBC, but instead realizes that Enright and Freedman will not jeopardize their own futures in television by turning against their bosses. He silently watches the producers' testimony, vindicating the sponsors and the network from any wrongdoing and taking full responsibility for rigging the show.

Cast

• John Turturro as Herb Stempel
• Rob Morrow as Richard N. "Dick" Goodwin
• Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren
• David Paymer as Dan Enright
• Paul Scofield as Mark Van Doren
• Hank Azaria as Albert Freedman
• Christopher McDonald as Jack Barry
• Adam Kilgour as Thomas Merton
• Johann Carlo as Toby Stempel
• Elizabeth Wilson as Dorothy Van Doren
• Allan Rich as Robert Kintner
• Mira Sorvino as Sandra Goodwin
• George Martin as Chairman
• Paul Guilfoyle as Lishman
• Griffin Dunne as Geritol Account Executive
• Michael Mantell as Pennebaker
• Martin Scorsese as Martin Rittenhome
• Neil Ross as Twenty-One Announcer
• Barry Levinson as Dave Garroway

Historical comparison

Journalist Ken Auletta, in a 1994 article in The New Yorker, noted that Redford conceded at a screening of the film that summer that "dramatic license" was taken in making Quiz Show. Redford made no apologies for the liberties, which included telescoping three years of scandal into one. Redford stated that he had tried "to elevate something so that people can see it ... otherwise, you might as well have a documentary." Redford noted there had already been a documentary on the scandal, referring to the Julian Krainin-produced work for a 1992 installment of the PBS series The American Experience.

In a July 2008 edition of The New Yorker, Van Doren writes about the events depicted in the film, agreeing with many of the details but also saying that he had a regular girlfriend (who eventually became his wife) at the time he was on Twenty-One, who is not present in the film depiction. Van Doren also notes that he continued teaching, contrary to the film's epilogue which states he never returned to doing so.

Release

Box office

The film opened in limited release on September 14, 1994. After its initial run, the film grossed a domestic total of $24,822,619 and was a box office bomb.

Critical reception

As of July 15, 2013, it had a 96% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3-and-a-half stars out of four, calling the screenplay "smart, subtle and ruthless". Web critic James Berardinelli praised the "superb performances by Fiennes", and said "John Turturro is exceptional as the uncharismatic Herbie Stempel."

Accolades

Robert Redford was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Picture (alongside Michael Jacobs, Julian Krainin, and Michael Nozik), the BAFTA Award for Best Film (alongside Jacobs, Krainin, and Nozik), the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film.

Paul Attanasio won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.

Paul Scofield was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, the Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor.

John Turturro was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, and the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.

External links

• Quiz Show at IMDb
• Quiz Show at the TCM Movie Database