Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

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

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

Abby Mann, Abby Mann (original story),

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark

Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 21 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:

judge | nazi | trial | cold war | war crime | 

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Taglines:

Once in a generation...a motion picture explodes into greatness!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

18 December 1961 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Das Urteil von Nürnberg

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roxlom Films Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

186 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A stage adaptation, also written by Abby Mann, was produced on Broadway many years later. It starred Maximilian Schell in a different role, this time as Ernst Janning, the role played by Burt Lancaster in the film. The play opened at the Longacre Theatre in New York on March 26, 2001 and ran for 56 performances.

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Goofs

The US Army collar insignia appears, disappears and reappears sometimes in the same scene.

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Quotes

Col. Tad Lawson: One thing about Americans, we're not cut out to be occupiers. We're new at it and not very good at it.

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Connections

Featured in Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Wenn wir marschieren"
(uncredited)
German folk song (ca. 1910)

User Reviews

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.