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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 Americas leading literary families. Based on a true story.
In 1958 when television quiz shows ruled the airwaves, Charles Van Doren was the wildly popular champion of a successful TV show called "Twenty-One." A national celebrity who appeared on the covers of both "Time" and "Life" magazines, Van Doren was an American folk hero. Week after week audiences tuned in to watch as Van Doren, a popular English instructor at Columbia University and the product of one of Americas most renowned literary families, seemed to draw from his vast knowledge the correct answers to obscure questions. His charming presence seduced 50 million people into believing him. But the truth is, viewers were fooled and saw only what the network and programs producers wanted them to see. Then someone pulled the plug. When disgruntled contestant Herbie Stempel charged that the quiz game was a fraud, Congressional investigator Richard Goodwin uncovered the facts that exposed the deception, and sent shock waves reverberating across America.
Ralph Fiennes
Charles Van Doren
John Turturro
Herbie Stempel
Rob Morrow
Dick Goodwin
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
Byron Jennings
Moomaw
Ben Shenkman
Childress
Timothy Busfield
Fred
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