Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

Abby Mann, Abby Mann (based on his original story by)

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark

Top Rated Movies #141 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

It has been three years since the most important Nazi leaders had already been tried. This trial is about 4 judges who used their offices to conduct Nazi sterilization and cleansing policies. Retired American judge, Dan Haywood has a daunting task ahead of him. The Cold War is heating up and no one wants any more trials as Germany, and Allied governments, want to forget the past. But is that the right thing to do is the question that the tribunal must decide.

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Plot Keywords:

nuremberg trials | nuremberg germany | judge | nazi | war crime | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Abby Mann was paid $200,000 to adapt his TV movie screenplay for the big screen.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie a graphic states that 99 people were tried and sentenced at Nuremberg and that by the date of the movie (1961) none remained in prison. Some critics have pointed out that Nuremberg defendants Rudolf Hess and others were still imprisoned in Spandau. However, Hess and the other major defendants were tried by the International Military Tribunal (with judges and prosecutors from each of the four victorious Allied powers). The caption in the film states that the statistic refers only to the Nuremberg trials "held in the American sector." By 1961, all of the defendants sentenced in the American trials were indeed free; the graphic is therefore correct.

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Quotes

Judge Dan Haywood: Herr Janning, you may proceed.
Ernst Janning: I wish to testify about the Feldenstein case because it was the most significant trial of the period. It is important not only for the tribunal to understand it, but for the whole German people. But in order to understand it, one must understand the period in which it happened. There was a fever over the land, a fever of disgrace, of indignity, of hunger. We had a democracy, yes, but it was torn by elements within. Above all there was fear, fear of today, fear of ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The Art of the Heist: An Examination of 'Thief' with Author & Critic F.X. Feeney (2015)

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Soundtracks

Notre amour ne peur
(uncredited)
By Ernest Gold

User Reviews

Would a film of that candor have a chance of being made today?

I watched "Judgment at Nuremburg" on PBS the other night. I had never seen it before. I expected an empty-headed, Hollywood-style, quasi-melodrama, but I was pleasantly surprised. Even Spencer Tracy, that universally beloved actor whose appeal has always escaped me, gave an honest and heartfelt portrayal of a "simple man" who was also a deeply conflicted judge.

What I liked most about this movie was that it didn't pull any punches, in the manner of other "controversial" films of its time. The defense attorney, superbly played by Maximilian Schell, weaves a simple, but undeniable web of logic:

• Sterilization of "undesirables," one of the charges against the Nazi war criminals, was at one time condoned by the U.S. courts, and encouraged by none other than Oliver Wendell Holmes. - Numerous leading industrialists in the U.S. contributed to the development of the Nazi war machine. - Encouragement was given to Hitler's expansionism by both Russia and England. - Churchill is quoted as having admired Hitler. - The Vatican actively collaborated with the Nazis.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it must have taken major cojones to present that kind of message to American filmgoers in 1961. Would a film of that candor have a chance of being made today?

I tend to doubt it.

One further note. The film describes how the Nazis went about stripping the German judiciary of judges who were known for their objectivity, and replacing them with judges who were appointed based solely on their party loyalties.

The mind boggles at the implications and yes, the prescience of this well-written, well-played masterpiece.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

18 December 1961 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Judgment at Nuremberg

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,180

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roxlom Films Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

179 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1