Starring in this film is Sidney Poitier who played Thurgood Marshall the NAACP lawyer from Howard University who took the struggle for equal rights to the Supreme Court and won. Burt Lancaster plays John W. Davis, the opposing lawyer. John Davis was called the lawyers lawyer and was viewed as one of the best lawyers in the states. After becoming a losing presidential candidate Davis's reputation as a lawyer went up. He worked for big corporations and made a lot of money. With a lawyer of Davis's stature going up against Thurgood Marshall the odds were clearly not in Marshall's favor. The Chief Justice Earl Warren was played by Richard Kiley. Warren was once the Governor of California, and he was appointed to the court by Dwight Eisenhower while the case was still being considered. Warren's wanted all of the justices to come together and get a unanimous decision in this case. However, a handful of justices refused to vote for the removal segregation because of the precedents of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision and their own personal agendas.

The main struggle in the film was for the desegregation of schools and several of the concepts and ideas from class were discussed in the film. One of the major ideas that jumped out to me from class was the 14th Amendment. The 14th amendment constantly was mentioned in the film. The fourteenth amendment is a post civil war amendment meant to ensure equal rights for former slaves. The fourteenth Amendment includes the right to due process. Due process the protection of all of a persons legal rights not just most of them. The fourteenth amendment also contains the Equal Protection clause. The equal protection clause promises that all American citizens have equal protection under the law. The equal protection clause is also to support the statement that “all men are created equal” as it's stated in the constitution. The fourteenth amendment also provided a definition of what it truly means to be an American citizen which overturned the Plessy v Ferguson decision which excluded African Americans. The definition provided by the fourteenth amendment states that if you're born on US soil you are an American citizen.

The precedents set by the Plessy v Ferguson case also played a large role in the film. Several of the justices on the bench didn't want to vote to remove segregation from society because of the precedents set even though they knew that it was morally wrong. But the justices weren't the only ones affected by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision it also took a toll on the people fighting to reverse it's decision. They feared that the policy has been in place for so long that it was a lost cause to try to fight it. In the book it briefly talks about the power that precedents have over American government. Precedents basically outline what is expected and once something has gone unchallenged for so long it becomes harder to change as time goes on.

Also during class we talked about the duties of each of the branches of government. This also appears a bit in the film. The Chief Justice in the film was appointed by the president at the time Dwight Eisenhower. This is an example of one of the checks and balances that we discussed in class. Also it was the job of the judicial branch to interpret the laws to decide whether segregation is constitutional or not. As the people in the film state it's their job to interpret the laws, not make them which accurately reflects th duties of the judicial branch.

In class we also discussed the differences between moralism and pragmatism in foreign policy. In the film foreign policies aren't discussed but a similar theme occurs throughout the film. The court justices have to decide amongst themselves if they wish to approach the issue of segregation in a moral or pragmatist fashion. When I say this I mean that they have to decide if they want to truly protect the human rights of all Americans or themselves and white America. The justices seem to be split between the morally correct way of things and their own personal agendas which has a lot to do with this case taking as long as it did. America is supposed to be a nation that's built on morality

One definition of a ‘crucible’ is ‘a vessel of heat-resisting material used for high temperature chemical reactions’. John Proctor is (metaphorically) a good example for this definition. There are many ‘chemical reactions’ going on in Salem, Massachusetts during these witch trials, which would be the accusations of witchcraft and the hangings that follow. He, being a heat-resistant vessel, is able to overcome the heat from these reactions and persevere. He is not letting the girls’ lies and deception get to him, and he stands up for what he believes and takes the heat, even though he knows that by doing this he could put himself in danger.

Another definition of the word ‘crucible’ is ‘a test or trial of the most severe and decisive kind’. The whole episode in Salem is a crucible, because the girls are fabricating lies so that they can get attention and get the men they want. This is causing turmoil among the people and the town is in chaos because people are being wrongly executed. John Proctor is the center of this turmoil because this whole incident is led by one girl. This one girl is Abigail Williams, former servant to the Proctors, who wants to have John Proctor’s wife executed for ‘witchcraft’ so she can resume having an affair with John that had started a little while ago until John’s wife cast her out. Abigail starts all this commotion by accusing many of the women (and some of the men too) of practicing witchcraft, then finally she accuses Elizabeth Proctor. This tells John that he now has to get involved and he has to stand up for what he believes and be a crucible (the first definition), although it may mean releasing some information he would rather not (the fact that he had an affair with Abigail).

John Proctor is going through a really big crucible (second def.) and being a crucible (first def.) himself. The witch trials are a severe test that he must endure and see to the end. He is behaving like a crucible by holding on tight to his beliefs and not letting the heat pry them away from him. He is doing this even though he knows that if he stands up against the girls they will accuse him and have him hung. He is persevering through all of this and making sure that they end without more people being executed. He has a choice to make. He has people’s lives in his hands. He is at a final point where he can live and lie, or be honest and die. He knows that if he lies, he will cause more people to die, but he knows that if he is honest he will be executed but in honor, because he knows that he will end the crucible by being a crucible.