Judgment at Nuremberg
- Episode aired Apr 16, 1959
- 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
77
YOUR RATING
In the later stages of the Nuremberg Trials, four German judges are accused of perverting the course of justice.In the later stages of the Nuremberg Trials, four German judges are accused of perverting the course of justice.In the later stages of the Nuremberg Trials, four German judges are accused of perverting the course of justice.
Photos
Gregory Gaye
- Frederich Hoffstetter
- (as Gregory Gay)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMaximilian Schell won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Hans Rolfe (the renamed version of Otto Rolfe) in the film version Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). This made him the first of only two actors to win an Oscar for a role that he originally played on television. The second was Cliff Robertson, won won the same award for his role as Charly Gordon in Charly (1968). Robertson originally played the role in The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon (1961).
- Quotes
Captain Byers: I've long since given up trying to figure out what the German people are thinking.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (2004)
Featured review
Judgment At Nuremberg (Playhouse 90 and Film Versions)-----A Cast Comparison
Judgment at Nuremberg (JAN) is an award winning teleplay by Abby Mann that was originally directed for TV by George Roy Hill. It was first presented to the public during the Golden Age Of Television in a live 1959 Playhouse 90 broadcast. Two years later, it was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer as a major Hollywood motion picture that eventually has achieved something approaching classic status. JAN continues to interest us, provoke us to serious thought and discussion, and motivate us to question the meaning of responsible behavior during a time of national crisis. The fact that we can still be drawn into its challenging issues after over 60 years of exposure is certainly a testament to the relevance of Mann's vision about a very difficult and distant chapter of post-WWII history.
The Playhouse 90 presentation was brilliant, provocative and thoroughly entertaining. It featured a spectacular cast, and is all the more remarkable when we realize that the telecast was a live event actually happening while we were watching it. When the play was later produced as a movie, Mann took his story and expanded (some believe overexpanded) it to include other plot elements that had not been considered in the television version. Three of the actors from the Playhouse 90 production were allowed to recreate their original roles for the movie---Maximilian Schell (who was lead defense counsel Oscar Rolfe in the TV play, and then renamed Hans Rolfe in the movie version), Werner Klemperer (Nazi prosecutor Emil Hahn) and Torren Mayer (Nazi judicial official Werner Lammpe on TV and Werner Lampe in the film). Schell won the Best Actor Oscar for 1961 because of his remarkable supercharged performance----beating out (among others) Spencer Tracy who was also nominated for his own lead role in JAN.
Because the Playhouse 90 episode only consumed 90 minutes (including commercial broadcast messages) while the film ran almost three hours and was therefore almost twice as long, it is difficult to compare the performances of the three different principal roles common to both presentations. With that caveat in mind, here is one person's view of the matter:
Chief Judge Dan Haywood (Claude Rains In the Playhouse 90 version v. Spencer Tracy in the film)---Rains and Tracy were two of the most gifted actors in cinema history. Rains's career was marked by the ironic underachievement of having received four Oscar Supporting Actor nominations without a win, while Tracy was a multiple Oscar Best Actor winner. Both are justly considered to be master acting craftsmen of the highest order. Rains played Judge Haywood as a solemn, dignified, principled man with a serious moral compass. It was a subtle, controlled and understated performance. Tracy seems to have borrowed much of the Rains' approach to the part in the way he also brought it to life. Because Rains was first, he should get the nod.
Minister of Justice Ernst Janning (Paul Lukas in the Playhouse 90 version v. Burt Lancaster in the film)--Lukas was a veteran romantic/character actor with numerous film credits. Lancaster created many different memorable roles during his long career. Both were previous Best Actor Oscar winners. However, Lukas delivered the better and more nuanced performance. Lancaster seemed stiff and ill at ease in trying to project a basically good man caught up in evil activities that he personally disapproved of but nonetheless supported. Lukas seemed to show us more clearly the pain and suffering such a man had to go through to face the dawn of each new day.
Chief Trial Prosecutor (General Parker-Melvyn Douglas in the Playhouse 90 version v. Colonel Ted Lawson-Richard Widmark In the film). Douglas enjoyed a long and varied Oscar-winning acting career extending from sophisticated gigalos and screwball comedians to distinguished public servants and interesting senior citizens. Widmark was a workmanlike performer, but his range as an actor was more limited---although early on, he did develop a unique capacity to convincingly play giggling psycopaths. Douglas seemed to invest the part of the Prosecutor in JAN with more substance and a greater sense of barely controlled outrage than Widmark did.
As for Schell, his defense attorney in both versions of JAN was the quintessential breakout role---one that began his long trip to celebrity and stardom.
The Playhouse 90 presentation was brilliant, provocative and thoroughly entertaining. It featured a spectacular cast, and is all the more remarkable when we realize that the telecast was a live event actually happening while we were watching it. When the play was later produced as a movie, Mann took his story and expanded (some believe overexpanded) it to include other plot elements that had not been considered in the television version. Three of the actors from the Playhouse 90 production were allowed to recreate their original roles for the movie---Maximilian Schell (who was lead defense counsel Oscar Rolfe in the TV play, and then renamed Hans Rolfe in the movie version), Werner Klemperer (Nazi prosecutor Emil Hahn) and Torren Mayer (Nazi judicial official Werner Lammpe on TV and Werner Lampe in the film). Schell won the Best Actor Oscar for 1961 because of his remarkable supercharged performance----beating out (among others) Spencer Tracy who was also nominated for his own lead role in JAN.
Because the Playhouse 90 episode only consumed 90 minutes (including commercial broadcast messages) while the film ran almost three hours and was therefore almost twice as long, it is difficult to compare the performances of the three different principal roles common to both presentations. With that caveat in mind, here is one person's view of the matter:
Chief Judge Dan Haywood (Claude Rains In the Playhouse 90 version v. Spencer Tracy in the film)---Rains and Tracy were two of the most gifted actors in cinema history. Rains's career was marked by the ironic underachievement of having received four Oscar Supporting Actor nominations without a win, while Tracy was a multiple Oscar Best Actor winner. Both are justly considered to be master acting craftsmen of the highest order. Rains played Judge Haywood as a solemn, dignified, principled man with a serious moral compass. It was a subtle, controlled and understated performance. Tracy seems to have borrowed much of the Rains' approach to the part in the way he also brought it to life. Because Rains was first, he should get the nod.
Minister of Justice Ernst Janning (Paul Lukas in the Playhouse 90 version v. Burt Lancaster in the film)--Lukas was a veteran romantic/character actor with numerous film credits. Lancaster created many different memorable roles during his long career. Both were previous Best Actor Oscar winners. However, Lukas delivered the better and more nuanced performance. Lancaster seemed stiff and ill at ease in trying to project a basically good man caught up in evil activities that he personally disapproved of but nonetheless supported. Lukas seemed to show us more clearly the pain and suffering such a man had to go through to face the dawn of each new day.
Chief Trial Prosecutor (General Parker-Melvyn Douglas in the Playhouse 90 version v. Colonel Ted Lawson-Richard Widmark In the film). Douglas enjoyed a long and varied Oscar-winning acting career extending from sophisticated gigalos and screwball comedians to distinguished public servants and interesting senior citizens. Widmark was a workmanlike performer, but his range as an actor was more limited---although early on, he did develop a unique capacity to convincingly play giggling psycopaths. Douglas seemed to invest the part of the Prosecutor in JAN with more substance and a greater sense of barely controlled outrage than Widmark did.
As for Schell, his defense attorney in both versions of JAN was the quintessential breakout role---one that began his long trip to celebrity and stardom.
helpful•10
- malvernp
- Aug 9, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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