Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

Abby Mann (written by)
Abby Mann (original story)
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1961 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

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 | Cold War | War Crime

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 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	...	Irene Hoffman
Montgomery Clift	...	Rudolph Petersen
William Shatner	...	Capt. Harrison Byers
Werner Klemperer	...	Emil Hahn
Kenneth MacKenna	...	Judge Kenneth Norris
Torben Meyer	...	Werner Lampe
Joseph Bernard	...	Maj. Abe Radnitz
Alan Baxter	...	Brig. Gen. Matt Merrin
Edward Binns	...	Sen. Burkette
Virginia Christine	...	Mrs. Halbestadt
Otto Waldis	...	Pohl
Karl Swenson	...	Dr. Heinrich Geuter
Martin Brandt	...	Friedrich Hofstetter
Ray Teal	...	Judge Curtiss Ives
John Wengraf	...	Dr. Karl Wieck
Ben Wright	...	Halbestadt
Howard Caine	...	Hugo Wallner
Olga Fabian	...	Mrs. Elsa Lindnow
Paul Busch	...	Schmidt
Bernard Kates	...	Max Perkins
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oscar Beregi Jr.	...	Waiter at Court Lounge (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg	...	Concert Attendee (uncredited)
Asher Brauner	...	Translator (uncredited)
Sheila Bromley	...	Mrs. Ives (uncredited)
John Clarke	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	Courtroom Spectator at Verdict (uncredited)
Sayre Dearing	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Concert Attendee (uncredited)
Herman Hack	...	Concert Attendee (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Courtroom Officer (uncredited)
Ed Nelson	...	Captain at Nightclub Announcing Call-up of Officers (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	German Prisoner in Cafeteria (uncredited)
Norbert Schiller	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Rudy Solari	...	Interpreter in Courtroom (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	German Prisoner in Cafeteria (uncredited)
Hal Taggart	...	German Counsel (uncredited)
Jana Taylor	...	Elsa Scheffler (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kramer

Writing credits
Abby Mann		(written by)
Abby Mann		(original story)
Montgomery Clift		uncredited

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		(film editor)

Casting by
James Lister		(uncredited)

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's

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

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

Production Companies

• Roxlom Films Inc.

Distributors

• United Artists (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (as A United Artist Release)
• United Artists Films (1961) (Finland) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1961) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1965) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1978) (Finland) (TV)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• FS Film Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• AmaFilms (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• United Artists Europa (????') (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• MGM/UA Home Entertainment  VHS package design
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Solters & Digney  publicity (uncredited)
• Stalmaster-Lister Co.  casting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

186 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 (1961) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:S (1990) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #19930) | USA:TV-14 | USA:Not Rated | Netherlands:14 (orginal rating)

Filming Locations:

Tower of London, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Roxlom Films Inc.

Trivia:

Marlene Dietrich had a great deal of trouble performing in the scene between Mrs. Bertholt and Judge Haywood when she claims German civilians did not know of the atrocities the Nazi government committed during the war. Dietrich, who, during the war, had worked for the Allies against the Nazis, found the sentiment so repulsive, she could not keep her concentration. Only after counseling by Spencer Tracy was the actress able to complete the scene. According to an interview with her grandson Peter Riva on the Icons Radio Hour, Marlene would get physically ill (to the point of vomiting) in the evenings over this part. In a conversation with her daughter Maria, Maria told her to "simply play her mother". The fictional Mrs. Bertholt is a representation of the mother of Marlene Dietrich.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the night club, when the reporter Max Perkins tells Judge Haywood that he couldn't give a story away on the trials because the American people aren't interested, Haywood remarks, "But the war's only been over for two years," to which Perkins replies, "That's right." The film's opening title card says "Nuremberg 1948" - three years after the end of World War II. The actual Judges Trial, upon which this film is based, was held in 1947. It is likely that the title card is incorrect.

Quotes:

Mrs. Bertholt:We must forget if we want to go on living.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Value of a Single Human Being (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Lili Marleen

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.