Quiz Show (film)

Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical film produced and directed by Robert Redford, and written by Paul Attanasio, based on Richard N. Goodwins memoir Remembering America A Voice From the Sixties. It stars John Turturro, Rob Morrow, and Ralph Fiennes, with Paul Scofield, David Paymer, Hank Azaria, and Christopher McDonald appearing in supporting roles.

In preparation for the latest broadcast of the popular quiz show Twenty One, the questions and answers to be used are transported from a secure bank vault to the studio as producers Dan Enright David Paymer and Albert Freedman Hank Azaria watch from the control booth. The evenings main attraction is Queens resident Herb Stempel John Turturro, the reigning champion, who correctly answers question after question. However, both the network, NBC, and the corporate sponsor of the program, a supplementary tonic called Geritol, find that Stempels approval ratings are beginning to level out, meaning the show would benefit from new talent.Enright and Freedman are surprised when Columbia University instructor Charles Van Doren Ralph Fiennes, son of the renowned poet and intellectual Mark Van Doren Paul Scofield and the novelist Dorothy Van Doren Elizabeth Wilson, visits their office to audition. Realizing that they have found an ideal challenger for Stempel, they subtly offer to rig the game in Van Dorens favor, but he refuses. Enright later informs Stempel that he must lose in order to boost the shows ratings. Stempel begrudgingly agrees, only on the condition that he can remain on television, threatening to reveal the true reason of his success he had been given the answers in advance. ........

Source: Wikipedia