Quiz Show (1994)

Dick Goodwin discovers game shows are fixed: Charles Van Doren is fed answers so he beats Herbie Stempel.

Director:

Robert Redford

Writers:

Paul Attanasio (screenplay), Richard N. Goodwin (book)

Stars:

John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Turturro	...	Herbie Stempel
Rob Morrow	...	Dick Goodwin
Ralph Fiennes	...	Charles Van Doren
Paul Scofield	...	Mark Van Doren
David Paymer	...	Dan Enright
Hank Azaria	...	Albert Freedman
Christopher McDonald	...	Jack Barry
Johann Carlo	...	Toby Stempel
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Dorothy Van Doren
Allan Rich	...	Robert Kintner
Mira Sorvino	...	Sandra Goodwin
George Martin	...	Chairman
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Lishman
Griffin Dunne	...	Account Guy
Michael Mantell	...	Pennebaker

Storyline

An idealistic young lawyer working for a Congressional subcommittee in the late 1950s discovers that TV quiz shows are being fixed. His investigation focuses on two contestants on the show "Twenty-One": Herbert Stempel, a brash working-class Jew from Queens, and Charles Van Doren, the patrician scion of one of America's leading literary families. Based on a true story.

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Plot Keywords:

television | columbia university | 1950s | fraud | investigation | 

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Taglines:

Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kviz

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$24,822,619 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baltimore Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Wildwood Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In January, 1957, Herb Stempel and Charles Van Doren actually had a series of three scripted ties and Charles Van Doren finally won on the fourth game. While Charles Van Doren did lose to Vivienne Nearing, he actually played against her three times to a tie before losing. He had beat her husband, Victor Nearing, earlier in the year. He signed a 3-year contract for $150,000 ($50,000 a year in the movie, pretty much got it right) in April, 1957, to guest on Steve Allen's show, guest host the Today show, and be a panelist on NBC's radio show, "Conversations."

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Goofs

During the lunch scene, Goodwin describes the Reuben Sandwich as the only entirely invented sandwich entered in a sandwich contest by Reuben Kay. Some claim that a wholesale grocer named Reuben Kulakofsky created the sandwich at Omaha's Blackstone Hotel in 1925. However, Fern Snider, a waitress at the Blackstone, entered the recipe in a national sandwich competition in 1956, and won.

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Quotes

Jack Barry: Eleven points will bring you to 21 and you will be our new champion! Because of a disagreement with his commanding general, Ulysses S. Grant was virtually placed under arrest for a brief time early in 1862. Who was the commanding general of the Union army at that time? Tough question.
Charles Van Doren: Just so oddly familiar.

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Crazy Credits

NBC and Geritol were never implicated in the quiz show scandals.

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Connections

Referenced in NewsRadio: The Song Remains the Same (1996)

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Soundtracks

"MACK THE KNIFE"
Written by Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and Marc Blitzstein
Performed by Bobby Darin
Courtesy of Atco Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

TV's age of innocence ended with Quiz Show scandal...

Robert Redford's brilliant direction and a quartet of expert performances make QUIZ SHOW a highly interesting, thought-provoking experience. Unfortunately, the end of TV innocence in the '50s brought us other game shows in recent years and real life survivor series that are guilty of shortcomings just as egregious in other ways but not to be discussed here. Manners and morals began a fast decline in the late '50s and only got worse with each decade, in my opinion.

The real-life story of Professor Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), son of a famous scholar, Mark Van Doren (Paul Scofield) is told in a lively and detailed way with many sights and sounds of the '50s making the atmosphere look very authentic. When the less than charming winner of a TV show, Herb Stempel (John Turturro) is dumped in favor of the more charismatic Charles Van Doren, the story goes swiftly through a series of expertly written scenes in which all of the behind-the-scenes goings on are revealed and characterizations are sharply defined. In truth, the ratings game between Van Doren and Herb Stempel went on for many weeks before a showdown was reached.

An especially touching scene shows Charles wanting to reveal to his father the truth about his upcoming appearance before an investigative committee--relaxing as the two have an informal midnight snack in the kitchen, but unable to tell his father (played to perfection by Paul Scofield) who is a symbol of unwavering integrity. In fact, Scofield is so good in his supporting role that it's a pity the script didn't expand his role to give him more screen time.

John Turturro as Herb Stempel has the unfortunate task of appearing to be an obnoxious nerd, whose only redeeming moment comes at the end of the film when he realizes how destroyed Charles Van Doren is by the revelations. He never tries to make the character anything less than the boorish, self-absorbed fool he is and does an excellent job. Rob Morrow is sometimes less than convincing as the tenacious investigator.

Despite its lengthy running time, it all moves along at a brisk pace under Robert Redford's outstanding direction. Well worth your time, although I can't say television has raised the bar very much since its fall from grace, especially with regard to daytime talk or game shows. Are audiences any wiser today? Maybe only Regis Philbin knows...