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The film takes place in 1956 in the USA, where TV is a big part in everybodys life. A new quiz-show, called "Twenty One" gets very popular. There is no question for Herbie Stempel, a jewish man from the Bronx, he can´t answer. But the TV-bosses are not very happy about that, because the viewing figures went down quickly. So they decide that Stempel has to loose. They tell him that he will get a fantastic job at the TV-station and so Stempel agrees with this suggestion. The new man at the quiz-show is Charles van Doren, a smart literature lecturer from a popular intellecual family. That he wins the TV-bosses give him the answers of all questions in advance. Now the show exceeds all records. The winner called "professor" is now a idol for the hole country. But as Stempel didn´t get the job he goes to the public prosecutor Goodwin and tells him that he got the answers of the questions in advance. Goodwin, who always supposed that there is something wrong with the quiz show, starts to investigate. If you want to know how the film ends and what happens to van Doren and the TV-bosses then watch the film or read the filmbook.
The maincharacters were played by
John Turturro as Herbie Stempel
Ralph Fiennes as Charles van Doren and
Rob Morrow as the public prosecutor Goodwin
Quiz show was made in 1994 in the USA and was directed by the famous actor and director Robert Redford.
I think that the film shows us how the viewers trust in the TV-bosses, opens us the eyes how the real life behind the scenes is and shows to the people who spent their lifes in watching TV that everybody who stands behind such a kind of production is eager for money.
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