Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writer:

Abby Mann (story)
(more)

Release Date:

December 1961 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

More than a motion picture...It is an overwhelming experience in human emotion you will never forget!

Plot:

In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Nazi | Trial | Germany | War Crime

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Chief Judge Dan Haywood
Burt Lancaster	...	Dr. Ernst Janning
Richard Widmark	...	Col. Tad Lawson
Marlene Dietrich	...	Mrs. Bertholt
Maximilian Schell	...	Hans Rolfe
Judy Garland	...	Mrs. Irene Hoffman Wallner
Montgomery Clift	...	Rudolph Petersen
Ed Binns	...	Sen. Burkette (as Edward Binns)
Werner Klemperer	...	Emil Hahn
Torben Meyer	...	Werner Lampe
Martin Brandt	...	Friedrich Hofstetter
William Shatner	...	Capt. Harrison Byers
Kenneth MacKenna	...	Judge Kenneth Norris
Alan Baxter	...	Brig. Gen. Matt Merrin
Ray Teal	...	Judge Curtiss Ives
Virginia Christine	...	Mrs. Halbestadt - Haywood's Housekeeper
Ben Wright	...	Halbestadt, Haywood's Butler
Joseph Bernard	...	Maj. Abe Radnitz - Lawson's Assistant
John Wengraf	...	Dr. Karl Wieck - Former Minister of Justice
Karl Swenson	...	Dr. Heinrich Geuter - Feldenstein's Lawyer
Howard Caine	...	Hugo Wallner - Irene's Husband
Otto Waldis	...	Pohl - Nazi Exterminator
Olga Fabian	...	Mrs. Elsa Lindnow - Witness in Feldenstein Case
Paul Busch	...	Schmidt - Haywood's Chauffeur
Bernard Kates	...	Max Perkins - UP Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oscar Beregi Jr.	...	Waiter at Court Lounge (uncredited)
Asher Brauner	...	Court officer / Translator (uncredited)
Sheila Bromley	...	Mrs. Ives (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	Courtroom Spectator at Verdict (uncredited)
Sayre Dearing	...	Courtroom Extra (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Concert Attendee (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Courtroom Extra (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Courtroom Extra (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Courtroom Extra (uncredited)
Ed Nelson	...	Captain at Nightclub Announcing Call-up of Officers (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	German Prisoner (uncredited)
Norbert Schiller	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Rudy Solari	...	Interpreter in Courtroom (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	German Prisoner (uncredited)
Hal Taggart	...	German Counsel (uncredited)
Jana Taylor	...	Elsa Scheffler - Byers' Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kramer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Montgomery Clift		uncredited
Abby Mann		story and screenplay

Produced by
Stanley Kramer	....	producer
Philip Langner	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Ernest Gold

Cinematography by
Ernest Laszlo		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Frederic Knudtson

Casting by
James Lister

Production Design by
Rudolph Sternad

Set Decoration by
George Milo

Makeup Department
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clem Beauchamp	....	production manager

Art Department
Art Cole	....	property master

Sound Department
Walter Elliott	....	sound editor
Jean L. Speak	....	sound engineer (as James Speak)

Camera and Electrical Department
Don L. Carstensen	....	chief gaffer
Martin Kashuk	....	assistant company grip
Morris Rosen	....	company grip
Charles F. Wheeler	....	camera operator (as Charles Wheeler)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joe King	....	costumes
Jean Louis	....	gowns: Ms. Dietrich

Music Department
Art Dunham	....	music editor
Robert Tracy	....	music editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Pia Arnold	....	crew: Germany
Richard Eglseder	....	crew: Germany (as R. Eglseder)
Egon Haedler	....	crew: Germany
Lyn Hannes	....	crew: Germany
Albrecht Hennings	....	crew: Germany
Hubert Karl	....	crew: Germany
Stanley Kramer	....	presenter
L. Ostermeier	....	crew: Germany
Richard Richtsfeld	....	crew: Germany (as R. Richtsfeld)
Marshall Schlom	....	script supervisor
Ivan Volkman	....	assistant to director
Laci von Ronay	....	crew: Germany (as Laci Ronay)
Hannelore von Winterfeld	....	crew: Germany (as Hannelore Winterfeld)
Frank Winterstein	....	crew: Germany
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Roxlom Films Inc.

Distributors

• United Artists (1961) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1961) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1965) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• AmaFilms (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• United Artists Films (1961) (Finland) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• United Artists Europa (Spain)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1978) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Solters & Digney  publicity

Also Known As:

Judgement at Nuremberg

Runtime:

186 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:S (1990) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 (1961) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Roxlom Films Inc.

Trivia:

The song whose meaning Mrs. Berthold explains to Judge Haywood when they walk past a pub while people in there sing it, is called "Lili Marlene". It was actually recorded by Marlene Dietrich herself in the 40s and 50s.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The northwest corner of the concentration camp map, around Belgium and the Netherlands, shows about three extra countries.

Quotes:

Judge Dan Haywood: Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he *loathed* the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and death of millions by the government of which he was a part. Janning's record and his fate illuminate the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Man in the Glass Booth (1975)

Soundtrack:

Wenn wir marschieren

A Film Of Enduring Value

They say that time heals all heartache. In the case of the Third Reich, I'm not sure that the old saying is true. Out of respect for the Holocaust victims, and as an important history lesson, there's something to be said for not forgetting the evils of Hitler. Fortunately, we have this great film to help us not forget.

"Judgment At Nuremberg" is a dramatization of one of the many real life post WWII Nuremberg trials of high ranking Nazis. Most of the film focuses on the 1948 courtroom trial of four judges who helped to carry out Hitler's decrees. As part of the prosecution's case against the judges, real life, graphic film footage showing the horrors of the death camps engenders a gut level impression that is both powerful and persuasive. The film thus educates viewers in ways that a dry textbook of facts and figures never could.

But there's more to the film than the trial. In other parts of Nuremberg we see ordinary Germans trying to get on with their lives as best they can, three years after the war's end, in a bombed out and bleak city. One of these persons is Madame Bertholt (Marlene Dietrich), the wife of a dead German soldier. In contrast to the harsh and contentious trial, Madame Bertholt's kindness toward the tribunal's lead judge, Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy), provides an example of the innocence and decency of ordinary Germans, and thus adds a softer, more contemplative perspective to the ordeal. In these non-courtroom scenes, the melancholy background music and the soft production lighting create a mood of depression and sadness.

I find very little to criticize in this three hour film. Perhaps the plot could have been clearer in identifying the legal counsel of three of the four defendants. And maybe in those scenes wherein the four defendants conversed among themselves, the dialogue should have been in German, not English. But these are trivial points. Overall, this is a film that is well written and directed, a film with credible actors giving stellar performances, and most of all, a film that assures preservation of that era's historic significance, with a political and social message that has enduring value.