It’s such a crazy turn of events. That and the fact that he did indeed die right after the trial blew my mind. Shoutout to Kevin, a guest on our podcast episode embedded in this post, for giving lots of insight into how crazy the trial was.

I didn’t know much about Mencken prior to reading more about this trial the past couple weeks. He invented the term “Bible Belt” and has about a million pithy quotes floating around the internet.

Also, I’ve become a fan of Mencken’s writing in the years since I saw the film, but had never thought to connect him with the Kelly character here. I love Kelly in this, which is especially interesting given that I find him pretty boring as a romantic lead.