Quiz Show

It's 1958, and the producers of the quiz show 21 have a problem. Their current champ, Herbert Stempel (John Turturro), has a phenomenal memory and a broad range of knowledge. He's also a pudgy loudmouth with a grating personality, so Herbert is encouraged to "take a dive" and allow Charles Van Doren ...more

A neatly executed look at the nature of scandal in the early days of television, and a rich portrait of America in the 1950s, Quiz Show is as sleek and deceptively complicated as the era it portrays. The quiz show scandal becomes a microcosm of attitudes and values in 1950s America, from deep-seated ethnic prejudices to the preoccupation with class and appearance. Dense, ferociously intelligent, and never condescending, the film is also terrifically entertaining, as director Robert Redford and ...more