Quiz Show (1999)
Quiz Show Image Cover
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Director:Robert Redford
Studio:Walt Disney Video
Rating:5
Rated:PG-13
Date Added:2006-03-08
Purchased On:2006-08-03
ASIN:6305428522
UPC:0717951003492
Price:9.99
Genre:True Story
Release:1999-07-09
Location:0266
Duration:133
Picture Format:Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:1.85:1
Features:Letterboxed
Custom 1:Copied
Robert Redford  ...  (Director)
  ...  (Writer)
 
John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Scofield, David Paymer, Hank Azaria  ...  
Summary: This vigorously entertaining film, sharply directed by Robert Redford from Paul Attanasio's brilliant screenplay, is based on the game-show scandals of the 1950s, when TV quiz shows were rigged to attract higher ratings and lucrative sponsorships. The fact-based story focuses on the quiz show Twenty-One and popular contestant Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a charming, well-bred intellectual who agreed to win the game by using answers supplied by the show's producers. This unfair advantage turned Van Doren into a prototypical media darling at the expense of reigning Twenty-One champion Herbie Stempel (John Turturro, in a bravura performance), a working-class Jewish contestant who, according to the show's sponsors, had worn out his welcome in the public eye. When a congressional investigator (Rob Morrow) catches on to the scam and Stempel blows the whistle on this backstage manipulation, Quiz Show becomes a smart, political exposé about the first generation of television, the corrupting effect of celebrity and success, and the ongoing loss of innocence in American society. Bristling with superior dialogue and energized by an excellent cast including Paul Scofield as Van Doren's morally upstanding father, Quiz Show succeeds as history lesson, intelligent thriller, and morality tale, setting the stage for the countless scandals that would follow in a nation addicted to television. --Jeff Shannon