Directed by: Robert Redford
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rob Morrow, John Turturro, Paul Scofield, Martin Scorsese, Mira Sorvino, Hank Azaria, Christopher McDonald, David Paymer
"NBC will go on, Geritol will go on, even the quiz shows will be back. Makes me wonder what you hope to accomplish here," This line is stated by Geritol CEO Martin Rittenhome (Scorsese) to congressional investigator Richard Goodwin (Morrow) in a frank one-on-one conversation before Rittenhome testifies at a hearing on the rigging of Twenty-One, a popular 1950's television quiz show.
In his brief appearance in Robert Redford's Quiz Show, Scorsese's Rittenhome is the most practical in his approach and outlook. ("The public has a short memory, but corporations never forget,") The entire Twenty-One scandal began when longtime champion Herb Stempel (Turturro) is told by producer Dan Enright (Paymer) to lose on purpose so the handsome, WASP Charles Van Doren (Fiennes) can become the new champion. The sagging ratings indicated that audiences were tired of Herb and a change had to be made. Charles, an author and professor who is in the shadow of his famous father poet Mark Van Doren (Scofield), eagerly agreed to go along with the fix and for his record-breaking run was given the questions and answers in advance. Van Doren's winnings and fame grew, while Herb, a Brooklyn Jew, kvetched from home and tried to blackmail Enright into producing a new show for him. When that didn't happen, Herb spilled the beans and a congressional inquiry followed.
Charles is an affable, intelligent, well-off man who comes from a wealthy, famous family. He yearns to make his own mark, but finds he must cheat on Twenty-One in order to do so. He can live with that. Goodwin meets with Charles and they strike up a friendship, which blinds Goodwin to the idea that Charles indeed was in on the fix. Richard's wife Sandra (Sorvino) calls him the "Uncle Tom of the Jews" for his willingness to give Charles a pass while not doing the same for Herb or NBC. Herb may be loud and grating, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. It is here where he see one of Quiz Show's many themes: The more attractive, handsome person who lies is more appealing than the disheveled, uncouth truth teller. Even quiz shows were not immune to being manipulated for the sake of ratings, money, and how much product sponsors like Geritol can move based on the show's audience size.
Redford surely understands that fixing quiz shows is a deception, but he also gives us the aftermath. Quiz show fixing may not seem like a big deal, even Rittenhome says they could just make the questions easier because people follow the money anyway, but the idea that show business overrides everything is evident in politics, sports, and anything else you can watch. Goodwin would probably learn in the coming years that he was able to plug in one hole of the dike, but then many others would spring a leak. Quiz Show gets that and Redford presents it in an entertaining, challenging fashion.
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