Review - The Professor and the Madman

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, May 28th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: the true story behind one of the most important books in the English language.

EICHER: If you don’t know how to spell a word these days, you may turn to Google for help. But The Oxford English Dictionary is still the gold standard for defining our language. Its unabridged version contains more than 600,000 entries!

BROWN: The first edition came out in the late 19th century. And the way it came together is the stuff movies are made of. Literally. Here’s reviewer Sharon Dierberger.

MURRAY: We are about to embark on the greatest adventure our language has ever known. DELEGATE MEMBER: Let us begin at aardvark and never stop until we zymurgy.

SHARON DIERBERGER, REVIEWER: Who would have thought a movie about a dictionary could be so compelling?

Two men played an instrumental—and quite unforgettable—role in creating the first-ever Oxford English Dictionary. The professor is a clear-eyed, loving husband and father, driven by purpose. The wild-eyed doctor is plagued by terrible memories, hallucinations, and guilt.

MRS. MURRAY: Yet, two such men found each other in our time. My husband, and his friend, the murderous madman. Together, they have given us something extraordinary.

Their unlikely but true parallel stories merged in 1870s London.

Based on a book of the same name, The Professor and the Madman isn’t a simple recap of historical events. It’s a deep, emotional drama elevating God’s grace, mercy, and redemption in the lives of complex characters.

The film, released in 2019 but available now on streaming platforms, uses language in profound and sometimes humorous ways.

Professor James Murray, played by Mel Gibson, is a Scottish autodidact. That is, he’s a self-taught professor who left school at age 14. He delights in words—their meanings, and their origins. In one scene, he matter-of-factly rattles off a list of 20 languages and dialects he knows, as he stands before the stuffy Oxford University academic delegation.

MURRAY: I am fluent in Latin and Greek, of course. And beyond that, I have an intimate knowledge of the romance tongues: Italian, French, Spanish, Catalan. And to a lesser degree: Portuguese, Vordoir, Provincale, and other dialects. In the teutonic branch I am familiar with the German, Dutch, Danish, and Flemish.

The delegation called him because it’s desperate to create a complete lexicon of the English language after 20 years of failure. So its members grudgingly ask the unlettered, unconventional—but brilliant—Murray to spearhead a new effort.

DELEGATE MEMBER: The book must inventory every word, every nuance, every twist of etymology, and every possible illustrated citation from every English author. All of it or nothing at all. SECOND MEMBER: That would mean reading everything.

Murray’s enthusiasm is unbounded, but he first wants his wife’s support.

MURRAY: Whatever I’ve ever done I’ve done with you. I’ve never been able to without you. Once again, lend yourself to me? If I am to fashion a book I’ll need a spine. CHILD: Father? MURRAY: Elsie, children? CHILD: Are we going somewhere? MURRAY: To Oxford. Your father is the author of the New English Dictionary on historical principles.

The madman is Dr. William Minor, played by Sean Penn. He’s a retired surgeon who served in the American Civil War. He flees to England, believing a murderous army deserter is after him. In his delusions, Minor shoots and kills the wrong man and is sentenced to an asylum for the criminally insane.

MINOR: Wednesday April 17th, 1872. Inmate 742. 742 admittance. Minor, William Chester.

When Professor Murray enlists volunteers all over England to contribute words and quotations to his etymology research, Minor joins the quest from his asylum room. With passionate saneness, he gleans words and phrases from books lining his cell walls. He eventually contributes more than 10,000 entries for the dictionary. He sends a letter to the professor:

MINOR: Write to me, tell me what specific words at present shimmer and fade at your grasp. Let useful others troll the oceans with their nets cast wide. I shall throw my line and pluck the very quotes that evade you when you call upon me to do so.

The professor finally meets Minor on the deceptively serene asylum grounds. He thinks he’s a doctor at the facility. But then he sees Minor’s ankle shackles and realizes he’s actually a patient. The professor befriends him anyway.

MURRAY: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the countenance of a friend. MINOR: Scripture. You’re a man of God. I should not be surprised. MURRAY: It is by His grace alone. MINOR: I wish I had experienced that more often. MURRAY: You will my friend. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. MINOR: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. MURRAY: You’re not alone, good doctor. We are linked now…consanguineous. MINOR: Brothers.

Despite his madness, Minor evokes sympathy and admiration. He frees an asylum guard from a crushing gate. He bequeaths all his goods to his victim’s wife and teaches her to read. But like Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, his tormented soul cannot grasp the concept of grace. His struggle leads to disturbing moments involving self-punishment and a torturous treatment by the asylum’s superintendent. That earns the film its R rating. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there.

MUSIC: [CLOSING CREDITS]

An unusual tale masterfully filmed and acted, the movie’s conversations and dimensional relationships might leave you feeling not only entertained, but uplifted. And you may even find yourself checking your online dictionary like I had to—to look up a few new words.

I’m Sharon Dierberger.

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