Editing Judgment at Nuremberg

{{short description|1961 film by Stanley Kramer}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Judgment at Nuremberg
| image          = Judgment at Nuremberg (1961 film poster).jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| screenplay     = [[Abby Mann]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Judgment at Nuremberg (Playhouse 90)|Judgment at Nuremberg]]''<br>1959 [[Playhouse 90]]|[[Abby Mann]]}}
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Spencer Tracy]]|[[Burt Lancaster]]|[[Richard Widmark]]|[[Marlene Dietrich]]|[[Maximilian Schell]]|[[Judy Garland]]|[[Montgomery Clift]]|[[William Shatner]]|[[Edward Binns]]|[[Kenneth MacKenna]]}}
| director       = [[Stanley Kramer]]
| producer       = Stanley Kramer
| cinematography = [[Ernest Laszlo]]
| music          = [[Ernest Gold (composer)|Ernest Gold]]
| editing        = [[Frederic Knudtson]]
| studio         = Roxlom Films<br>Amber Entertainment 
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{Film date|1961|12|14|[[Haus der Kulturen der Welt|''Kongresshalle'', Berlin]]|ref1=<ref name="la times dec 14">{{cite journal |last=Scott |first=John L. |date=December 14, 1961 |title=West Berlin Reaction on 'Nuremberg' Awaited |journal=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=Part IV, p. 7 }}</ref>|1961|12|19|USA}}
| runtime        = 190 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English<br/>German
| budget         = $3 million<ref name="tino">{{cite book|first=Tino |last=Balio |title=United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1987 |page=145 |isbn=978-0299114404}}</ref>
| gross          = $16 million<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1961/0JDNR.php |title=Box Office Information for ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128153833/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1961/0JDNR.php |archive-date=2011-11-28 |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |access-date=April 14, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

'''''Judgment at Nuremberg''''' is a 1961 American [[Epic film|epic]] [[legal drama]] film directed and produced by [[Stanley Kramer]], and written by [[Abby Mann]]. It features [[Spencer Tracy]], [[Burt Lancaster]], [[Richard Widmark]], [[Maximilian Schell]], [[Werner Klemperer]], [[Marlene Dietrich]], [[Judy Garland]], [[William Shatner]], and [[Montgomery Clift]]. Set in [[Nuremberg]], [[West Germany]], the film depicts a fictionalized version{{snd}}with fictional characters{{snd}}of the [[Judges' Trial]] of 1947, one of the twelve [[Subsequent Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg Military Tribunals]] conducted under the auspices of the U.S. military in the [[aftermath of World War II]].

The film centers on a [[Military justice|military tribunal]] led by Chief Trial Judge Dan Haywood (Tracy), before which four judges and prosecutors (as compared to sixteen defendants in the actual Judges' Trial) stand accused of [[crimes against humanity]] due to their senior roles in the judicial system of the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German government]]. The trial centers on questions regarding Germans' individual and collective responsibility for [[the Holocaust]], with the backdrop of a tense international situation including the onset of the [[Cold War]], the [[Berlin Blockade]], and the geopolitical ramification of the [[Subsequent Nuremberg trials|later Nuremberg Trials]] upon German support for the [[Western Bloc]], placing great pressure on Haywood's efforts to reach a just verdict. In addition, the judge faces emotional challenges in his personal relationships with [[People of Germany|German people]] outside the courtroom who consistently [[Knowledge of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe|claim ignorance of Nazi atrocities]], but who the judge suspects may have known more than they will admit.

An earlier version of the story was broadcast as an [[Judgment at Nuremberg (Playhouse 90)|episode of the same name]] on the television series ''[[Playhouse 90]]'' in 1959.<ref>{{cite web |title=Playhouse 90 – Season 3, Episode 28: Judgment at Nuremberg – TV.com |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/playhouse-90/judgment-at-nuremberg-260460/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307152052/http://www.tv.com/shows/playhouse-90/judgment-at-nuremberg-260460/ |archive-date=2016-03-07 |access-date=2015-06-07 |work=[[TV.com]] |publisher=CBS Interactive}}</ref> Popular interest in this effort caused an expanded focus on its dramatic elements. Maximillian Schell and Werner Klemperer portrayed the same characters in both productions.

In 2013, ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' was selected for preservation in the [[United States]] [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="2013Add">{{cite press release|title=Library of Congress announces 2013 National Film Registry selections|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 18, 2013|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/library-of-congress-announces-2013-national-film-registry-selections/2013/12/17/eba98bce-6737-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html|access-date=December 18, 2013|archive-date=December 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218140500/http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/library-of-congress-announces-2013-national-film-registry-selections/2013/12/17/eba98bce-6737-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-11-17|website=Library of Congress|archive-date=2008-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829144902/http://www.loc.gov/film/titles.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The production's presentation of historical events has attracted interest over decades before and since then due to its place in the [[List of Holocaust films|narrative portrayals of the Holocaust in film]].

== Plot ==
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' centers on a [[military tribunal]] convened in [[Nuremberg]], [[Germany]], in which four German judges and prosecutors stand accused of [[crimes against humanity]] for their involvement in atrocities committed under the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] regime.

Judge Dan Haywood is the chief judge of a three-judge panel of Allied jurists who will hear and decide the case against the defendants. Haywood is particularly interested in learning how the defendant Ernst Janning, a respected jurist and legal scholar, could have committed the atrocities he is accused of, including sentencing innocent people to death.

Haywood seeks to understand how the [[German people]] could have been deaf and blind to the Nazi regime's crimes. In doing so, he befriends the widow of a German general who had been executed by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. He talks with other Germans who have varying perspectives on the war.

Other characters the judge meets are [[United States Army|US Army]] Captain Harrison Byers, who is assigned to assist the American judges hearing the case, and Irene Hoffmann, who is afraid to provide testimony that may bolster the prosecution's case against the judges. (Hoffman's character bears a resemblance to Irene Seiler, a key figure in the notorious [[Nazi]] [[kangaroo court]] case, the [[Katzenberger Trial]].)

German defense attorney Hans Rolfe argues that the defendants were not the only ones to aid or ignore the Nazi regime. He claims the United States has committed acts just as bad or worse than the Nazis, such as [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] Justice [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.]]'s support for the first [[eugenics]] practices; the German-[[Holy See|Vatican]] ''[[Reichskonkordat]]'' of 1933, which the Nazi-dominated German government exploited as an implicit early foreign recognition of Nazi leadership; [[Joseph Stalin]]'s part in the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|Nazi-Soviet Pact]] of 1939, which removed the last major obstacle to Germany's [[Invasion of Poland|invasion]] and [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupation]] of western [[Poland]], initiating [[World War II]]; and the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] in the final stage of the war in August 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/288385 |last=Nixon |first=Rob |title=Pop Culture 101: ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' |website=Turner Classic Movies |year=2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715094348/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/288385%7C0/Pop-Culture-101-Judgment-at-Nuremberg.html |archive-date=2018-07-15 |url-status=live |access-date=2012-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mann |first=Abby |title=Judgment at Nuremberg |location=London |publisher=Cassell |year=1961 |page=93}}</ref>

Meanwhile, as a [[strict constructionism|strict constructionist]] jurist, Janning refuses to testify or participate in a legal proceeding that he profoundly feels is no better than a post-WWII Western kangaroo court of its own. As the proceeding becomes more and more intolerable to him, he dramatically breaks his silence. He chooses to testify before the Tribunal as a witness for the prosecution, admitting he is guilty of condemning to death a [[Jewish]] man of "[[Rassenschande|blood defilement]]" charges — namely, that the man had sex with a 16-year-old [[Gentile]] girl — when he knew there was no evidence to support such a verdict. Janning explains that misled people such as him helped [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]], [[racism|racist]] policies out of naive patriotism despite knowing it was wrong, and that all of Germany [[collective guilt|bears some measure of responsibility]] for the [[Nazi war crimes|atrocities committed by the Nazi regime]].

Haywood must weigh considerations of [[Geopolitics|geopolitical]] expediency against his own ideals of justice. The trial is set against the background of the [[Berlin Blockade]], and there is pressure to let the German defendants off lightly to gain German support in the growing [[Cold War]] against the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/JudgmentAtNuremberg.html|title=Judgment at Nuremberg|access-date=2008-09-27|last=Bradley|first=Sean|publisher=[[University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law]]|quote=He argues that the love of country led to an attitude of "my country right or wrong." Obedience or disobedience to the Fuehrer would have been a choice between [[patriotism]] or [[treason]] for the judges. [...] Why did the educated stand aside? Because they loved their country.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913190543/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/JudgmentAtNuremberg.html|archive-date=2008-09-13|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While the four defendants maintain their pleas of "not guilty" in their closing statements, Janning and fellow defendant, Werner Lampe, show clear remorse for their actions, while a third, Friedrich Hofstetter, claims they [[superior orders|had no choice]] but to execute the laws handed down by Hitler's government. Only the fourth defendant, Emil Hahn, remains unrepentant, telling the Americans that they will live to regret not allying with the Nazis against the Soviet Union. Ultimately, all four defendants are found guilty and sentenced to [[life in prison]].

German defense attorney Hans Rolfe meets Haywood after the trial to inform him on his estimation that no defendant will probably stay in prison for more than 5 years. Haywood replies that Rolfe's position may be logical but without reverence for justice.

At Janning's request, Haywood visits him in his prison cell. Janning affirms to Haywood that his verdict was a just one, but asks him to believe that, regarding the mass murder of innocents, he never knew that it would come to that. Judge Haywood replies it came to that the first time Janning condemned a man he knew to be innocent.

Frau Bertholt, the general's widow, refuses to take Haywood's phone call, following which he departs; a [[title card]] informs the audience that, of 99 defendants sentenced to prison terms in [[Subsequent Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg trials that took place in the American Zone]], none was still serving a sentence when the film was released in 1961.<ref name="AFI">{{cite web |title=''Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23848 |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=American Film Institute}}</ref>{{efn|This does not refer to the 1946 [[Nuremberg trials]] of the leadership of [[Nazi Germany]], which was in front of an international panel of judges, not solely American ones. Of the 20 defendants in that trial, as of 1961 three men still remained in prison: [[Rudolf Hess]], [[Albert Speer]] and [[Baldur von Schirach]].}}

== Cast ==

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Spencer Tracy]] as Chief Judge Dan Haywood
* [[Burt Lancaster]] as defendant Dr. Ernst Janning 
* [[Richard Widmark]] as prosecutor Col. Tad Lawson
* [[Maximilian Schell]] as defense counsel Hans Rolfe
* [[Marlene Dietrich]] as Frau Bertholt
* [[Montgomery Clift]] as Rudolph Petersen
* [[Judy Garland]] as Irene Hoffmann
* [[William Shatner]] as Captain Harrison Byers
* [[Howard Caine]] as Hugo Wallner – Irene's husband
* [[Werner Klemperer]] as defendant Emil Hahn
* [[John Wengraf]] as His Honour Herr Justizrat Dr Karl Wieck – former Minister of Justice in [[Weimar Germany]]
* [[Karl Swenson]] as Dr. Heinrich Geuter, Feldenstein's lawyer
* [[Ben Wright (actor)|Ben Wright]] as Herr Halbestadt, Haywood's butler
* [[Virginia Christine]] as Mrs. Halbestadt, Haywood's housekeeper
* [[Edward Binns]] as Senator Burkette
* [[Torben Meyer]] as defendant Werner Lampe
* {{ill|Martin Brandt|de}} as defendant Friedrich Hofstetter
* [[Kenneth MacKenna]] as Judge Kenneth Norris
* [[Ray Teal]] as Judge Curtiss Ives
* [[Alan Baxter (actor)|Alan Baxter]] as Brig. Gen. Matt Merrin
* [[Joseph Bernard (actor)|Joseph Bernard]] as Major Abe Radnitz, Lawson's assistant
* {{ill|Olga Fabian|de}} as Mrs. Elsa Lindnow, witness in Feldenstein case
* [[Otto Waldis]] as [[Oswald Pohl]]
* Paul Busch as Schmidt
* [[Bernard Kates]] as Max Perkins
}}

== Production ==
=== Background ===
The film's events relate principally to actions committed by the German state against its own racial, social, religious, and [[Eugenics|eugenic]] groupings within its  "in the name of the law" (from the prosecution's [[opening statement]] in the film), from the time of Hitler's rise to power in 1933. The plot development and thematic treatment question the legitimacy of the social, political, and alleged legal foundations of these actions.

The real [[Judges' Trial]] focused on 16 judges and prosecutors who served before and during the Nazi regime in Germany, and who embraced and enforced laws&mdash;passively, actively, or both&mdash;that led to judicial acts of [[Compulsory sterilization|compulsory sexual sterilization]] and to the imprisonment and execution of people for their religions, racial or ethnic identities, political beliefs, and physical handicaps or disabilities.

A key thread in the film's plot involves a "[[Rassenschande|race defilement]]" trial known as the ''Feldenstein'' case. In this fictionalized case, based on the real life [[Katzenberger Trial]], an elderly [[Jewish]] man had been tried for having a "relationship" (sexual acts) with an [[Aryan]] (German) 16-year-old girl, an act that had been legally defined as a crime under the [[Nuremberg Laws]], which had been enacted by the German [[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)|Reichstag]]. Under these laws, the man was found guilty and was [[capital punishment|put to death]] in 1942. Using this and other examples, the movie explores individual conscience, [[collective guilt]], and behavior during a time of widespread societal immorality.

The film is notable for its use of [[courtroom drama]] to illuminate individual perfidy and moral compromise in times of violent political upheaval; it was the first mainstream drama film to not shy away from showing actual footage filmed by American and British soldiers after the liberation of the [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Susan|last=King|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-oct-11-la-et-nuremberg-film-20111011-story.html|title='Judgment at Nuremberg' 50 years later|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=October 11, 2011|accessdate=August 22, 2023}}</ref> Shown in court by [[prosecuting attorney]] Colonel Tad Lawson ([[Richard Widmark]]), the scenes of huge piles of naked corpses laid out in rows and bulldozed into large pits were considered exceptionally graphic for a mainstream film of the time.

According to numerous sources, Tracy's climactic monologue was filmed in one take using several cameras.<ref>{{cite news|first=Martin|last=Chilton|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/monster-mgm-spencer-tracy-toxic-man-hollywood/|title=The monster of MGM: was Spencer Tracy the most toxic man in Hollywood?|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=April 6, 2020|accessdate=August 22, 2023}}</ref> Clift had trouble remembering his lines, so Kramer told him to do the best he could, correctly figuring that Clift's nervousness would be central to his character's mental state.<ref>{{cite web|first=Brogan|last=Morris|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/29084-film-montgomery-clift-centenary|title=Angel Of Death: Reframing Montgomery Clift At 100|website=[[The Quietus]]|date=October 16, 2020|accessdate=August 22, 2023}}</ref> (Clift was so eager to do the film that he worked just for expenses.<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Casillo|date=2021|title=Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship|publisher=Kensington Publishing Corp.|location=New York City|isbn=978-1-4967-2479-3|page=272}}</ref>) Lancaster speaks only three lines (none in the courtroom) until his lengthy monologue roughly 135 minutes into the film. Meanwhile Garland was so happy to be working in a motion picture again after seven years away that it took her a while to get into the proper frame of mind to break down and cry.

==Soundtrack==
* "[[Lili Marleen]]"
** Music by [[Norbert Schultze]] (1938)
** Lyrics by [[Hans Leip]] (1915)
* "Liebeslied"
** Music by [[Ernest Gold (composer)|Ernest Gold]]
** Lyrics by [[Alfred Perry]]
* "Wenn wir marschieren"
** German folk song (ca. 1910)
* “Wenn die Soldaten”
** German folk song (ca. 1840)
* "Care for Me"
** By Ernest Gold
* "Notre amour ne peur"
** By Ernest Gold
* "[[Du, du liegst mir im Herzen]]"
** German folk song, arrangement by Ernest Gold
* "[[Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13]]"
** By [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]

==Reception==
The [[world premiere]] was held on December 14, 1961, at the {{lang|de|[[Haus der Kulturen der Welt|Kongresshalle]]}} in [[West Berlin]], Germany.<ref name="la times dec 14" /> 300 journalists from 22 countries were in attendance<ref name="la times dec 24">{{cite journal |last=Scott |first=John L. |date=December 24, 1961 |title=Berlin 'Judgment' Draws Jas, Neins |journal=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=Calendar, p. 4 }}</ref> and earphones offering the soundtrack dubbed in German, Spanish, Italian and French were made available.<ref name="la times dec 14" /> The reaction from the audience was reportedly subdued, with some applauding at the finish, but most of the Germans in attendance leaving in silence.<ref name="la times dec 24" />

Kramer's film received positive reviews from critics and was lauded as a straight reconstruction of the famous trials of Nazi war criminals. The cast was especially praised, including Tracy, Lancaster, Schell, Clift and Garland. The film's release was perfectly timed, as its subject coincided with the trial and conviction in Israel of Nazi [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer [[Adolf Eichmann]].

[[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' declared it "a powerful, persuasive film" with "a stirring, sobering message to the world".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |authorlink=Bosley Crowther |date=December 20, 1961 |title=The Screen: 'Judgment at Nuremberg' |journal=[[The New York Times]] |page=36 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1961/12/20/archives/the-screen-judgment-at-nurembergpalace-shows-stanley-kramer.html |access-date=2024-02-18}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote: "With the most painful pages of modern history as its bitter basis, Abby Mann's intelligent, thought-provoking screenplay is a grim reminder of man's responsibility to denounce grave evils of which he is aware. The lesson is carefully, tastefully and upliftingly told via Kramer's large-scale production."<ref>{{cite journal |date=October 18, 1961 |title=Judgment at Nuremberg |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=6 }}</ref> ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' awarded its top grade of "Excellent", praising Kramer for employing "an ingenious device of fluid direction" and Spencer Tracy for "a performance of compelling substance".<ref>{{cite journal |date=October 21, 1961 |title=Film Review: Judgment at Nuremberg |journal=[[Harrison's Reports]] |page=166 }}</ref>

[[Brendan Gill]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called the film "a bold and, despite its great length, continuously exciting picture", which asks questions that "are among the biggest that can be asked and are no less fresh and thrilling for being thousands of years old". Gill added that the cast was so loaded with stars "that it occasionally threatens to turn into a judicial ''[[Grand Hotel (1932 film)|Grand Hotel]]''. Luckily, they all work hard to stay inside their roles."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gill |first=Brendan |date=December 23, 1961 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |page=68 }}</ref> [[Richard L. Coe]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' declared it "an extraordinary film, both in concept and handling. Those who see this at the [[Warner Theatre (Washington, D.C.)|Warner]] will recognize that the screen has been put to noble use."<ref>{{cite news |last=Coe |first=Richard L. |date=February 15, 1962 |title='Nuremberg' Is Great Film |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=D6 }}</ref>

''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' of Britain dissented, writing in a mostly negative review that "this large-scale trial film undermines faith in its philosophical and historical merit by colouring the better part of its message with hackneyed court-room hysteria", explaining that "in a series of contrived scenes&nbsp;... the point is hammered home right down to the last shock-cut. The same specious technique (zoom-lens shots and camera-circlings predominant) and showmanship turn the trial into little more than a travesty—notably in the melodramatic switch in the character of Janning."<ref>{{cite journal |date=February 1962 |title=Judgment at Nuremberg |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=29 |issue=337 |page=19 }}</ref>

The film grossed $6 million in the United States and $10 million in worldwide release.<ref>{{cite web |title=Box office / business for Judgment at Nuremberg |website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055031/business |access-date=21 February 2016 |archive-date=31 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331203717/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055031/business |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The television network premiere of the film was shown on [[ABC (TV station)|ABC]] on 7 March 1965; it was interrupted to show news footage of the violence on [[Selma to Montgomery marches#"Bloody Sunday" events|"Bloody Sunday"]] during the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]].<ref name=Politico13>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/this-day-in-politics-088518 |title=600 begin Selma-to-Montgomery march, March 7, 1965 |first=Andrew |last=Glass |date=7 March 2013 |work=[[Politico]] |accessdate=28 April 2021}}</ref> The juxtaposition of the film about Nazi atrocities and the news footage of violence against African-American people resulted in sympathy and greater support for the civil-rights cause.<ref name="Combs2013">{{cite book |first=Barbara Harris |last=Combs |title=From Selma to Montgomery: The Long March to Freedom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WgQ3AgAAQBAJ |date=26 November 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-17376-9 |page=40}}</ref><ref name="Raymond2015">{{cite book |first=Emilie |last=Raymond |title=Stars for Freedom: Hollywood, Black Celebrities, and the Civil Rights Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GxA1CgAAQBAJ |date=8 June 2015 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-80607-5 |page=195}}</ref>

== Awards and nominations ==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="12"| [[34th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Stanley Kramer]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="12"| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1962 |title=The 34th Academy Awards (1962) Nominees and Winners |date=October 5, 2014 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=February 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215223044/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1962 |archive-date=February 15, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> <br> <ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/63796/Judgment-at-Nuremberg/awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109014626/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/63796/Judgment-at-Nuremberg/awards |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 9, 2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2011 |title=NY Times: Judgment at Nuremberg |access-date=December 24, 2008}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Maximilian Schell]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Spencer Tracy]]
| {{nom}}
|- 
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Montgomery Clift]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Judy Garland]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium]]
| [[Abby Mann]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction – Black-and-White]]
| Art Direction: [[Rudolph Sternad]]; <br> Set Decoration: [[George Milo]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Black-and-White]]
| [[Ernest Laszlo]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design – Black-and-White]]
| [[Jean Louis]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| [[Frederic Knudtson]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award]]
| Stanley Kramer
| {{won}}
|-
| [[American Cinema Editors|American Cinema Editors Awards]]
| [[American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic|Best Edited Feature Film]]
| Frederic Knudtson
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[Bodil Awards]]
| [[Bodil Award for Best American Film|Best Non-European Film]]
| Stanley Kramer
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bodilprisen.dk/aar-for-aar/1962-2/ |title=The Bodil Prize 1962 |publisher=[[Bodil Awards]] |access-date=November 24, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[15th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1962/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1962 |publisher=[[British Academy Film Awards]] |access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|Best Foreign Actor]]
| Montgomery Clift
| {{nom}}
|-
| Maximilian Schell
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos|Cinema Writers Circle Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Film
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[David di Donatello|David di Donatello Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Production
| {{won}}
|-
| [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor|Best Foreign Actor]]
| Spencer Tracy
| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with [[Anthony Perkins]] for ''[[Goodbye Again (1961 film)|Goodbye Again]]''.}}
|-
| David Giovani Award
| [[Marlene Dietrich]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[14th Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| Stanley Kramer
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1960s/1961.aspx?value=1961 |title=14th Annual DGA Awards |publisher=[[Directors Guild of America Awards]] |access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="6"| [[19th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="6"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/judgment-at-nuremberg/ |title=Judgment at Nuremberg |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Maximilian Schell
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture]]
| Montgomery Clift
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| Judy Garland
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| Stanley Kramer
| {{won}}
|-
| colspan="2"| Best Film Promoting International Understanding
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[Laurel Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Top Drama
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="5"| 
|-
| Top Male Dramatic Performance
| Maximilian Schell
| {{nom}}
|-
| Top Male Supporting Performance
| Montgomery Clift
| {{nom}}
|-
| Top Female Supporting Performance
| Judy Garland
| {{nom}}
|-
| Top Cinematography – Black and White
| Ernest Laszlo
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Nastro d'Argento]]
| Best Foreign Director
| Stanley Kramer
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1961|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|8th Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1961/ |title=1961 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Film Preservation Board]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Film Registry]]
| {{won|Inducted}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=December 16, 2015}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[1961 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| 
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Maximilian Schell
| {{won}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Abby Mann
| {{won}}
|-
| Online Film & Television Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Film Hall of Fame: Productions
| {{won|Inducted}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oftaawards.com/film-hall-of-fame/film-hall-of-fame-productions/ |title=Film Hall of Fame: Productions |publisher=Online Film & Television Association |access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[14th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Best Written American Drama]]
| Abby Mann
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |publisher=[[Writers Guild of America Awards]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

* In June 2008, the [[American Film Institute]] revealed its "[[AFI's 10 Top 10|Ten Top Ten]]" after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' was acknowledged as the tenth best film in the [[courtroom drama]] genre.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = [[American Film Institute]] | title = AFI's 10 Top 10 | access-date = 2019-11-18 | url = https://www.afi.com/afis-10-top-10/ | archive-date = 2021-03-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210308001304/https://www.afi.com/afis-10-top-10/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Additionally, the film had been nominated for [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies400.pdf|title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominees|access-date=2011-12-10|archive-date=2013-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026011242/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies400.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Release==
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' was released in American theatres on December 19, 1961.

[[CBS/Fox Video]] first released the film as a two-[[VHS]] cassette set in 1986. [[MGM]] re-released the VHS version in 1991, while the 1996 and 2001 reissues were part of the [[Vintage Classics]] and Screen Epics collection respectively. In addition, the special edition DVD was released on September 7, 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Spencer-Tracy/dp/B0002CR04A |title=Judgment at Nuremberg |work=[[MGM Home Entertainment]] |date=September 7, 2004 |publisher=[[MGM Holdings]] |location=[[Beverly Hills, California]] |asin=B0002CR04A |access-date=November 9, 2016 |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216084449/https://www.amazon.com/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Spencer-Tracy/dp/B0002CR04A |url-status=live}}</ref>

Three [[Blu-ray]] versions of the film were also produced. A limited edition Blu-ray was released by [[Twilight Time (DVD label)|Twilight Time]] on November 14, 2014. [[Kino Lorber]] re-released the Blu-ray as a standard release in 2018. The BFI released a 2-disc Blu-ray on January 20, 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Blu-ray/49205/ |title=Judgment at Nuremberg Blu-ray Limited Edition |publisher=Blu-ray.com |access-date=November 11, 2014 |archive-date=November 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110231711/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Blu-ray/49205/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Blu-ray/133294/ |title=Judgment at Nuremberg Blu-ray |access-date=September 10, 2019 |publisher=Blu-ray.com |archive-date=September 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903114041/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Blu-ray/133294/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Australian Blu-ray was released as part of The Hollywood Gold Series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Blu-ray/101179/ |title=Judgment at Nuremberg Blu-ray Hollywood Gold Series |publisher=Blu-ray.com |access-date=April 30, 2014 |archive-date=October 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025141047/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Judgment-at-Nuremberg-Blu-ray/101179/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Adaptations ==
In 1985, a [[:ru:Процесс (спектакль)|Soviet stage adaptation]] of the film under the title ''Judgment'' was produced for [[Baltic House Festival Theatre]], with Gennady Egorov as director.

In 2001, another stage adaptation of the film was produced for [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], starring Schell (this time in the role of Ernst Janning) and [[George Grizzard]], with [[John Tillinger]] as director.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/Judgment.html | title=''Judgment at Nuremberg'' Theatre Review | first=Thomas | last=Burke | date=March 27, 2001 | website=Talkin' Broadway | access-date=May 11, 2018 | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121130/http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/Judgment.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Crime|Film|Germany|Politics}}
* ''[[German Concentration Camps Factual Survey]]'', British and American army film of the camps
* [[List of Holocaust films]]
* [[Message picture]]
* ''[[Nuremberg Trials (film)|Nuremberg Trials]]'' (a Soviet film on the trials)
* [[Spencer Tracy filmography]]
* [[Trial film]]s
* [[War crimes trials]]
* ''[[Nuremberg (miniseries)|Nuremberg]]'', a 2000 TV miniseries about the actual Nuremberg Trials

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Judgment at Nuremberg|Judgment at Nuremberg}}
{{commons category|Judgment at Nuremberg (1961 film)|Judgment at Nuremberg}}
* {{IMDb title|0055031|Judgment at Nuremberg}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/judgment-at-nuremberg-am6741 ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|id=22842}} 
* {{AFI film|id=23848|title=Judgment at Nuremberg}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|judgment_at_nuremburg}}

{{Stanley Kramer}}
{{David di Donatello Best Foreign Film}}
{{Nuremberg trials}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Judgment At Nuremberg}}
[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:1961 drama films]]
[[Category:1961 war films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American legal drama films]]
[[Category:American courtroom films]]
[[Category:American docudrama films]]
[[Category:1960s legal drama films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ernest Gold]]
[[Category:Films about capital punishment]]
[[Category:Films about lawyers]]
[[Category:Films about Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Films based on television plays]]
[[Category:Films directed by Stanley Kramer]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award–winning performance]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance]]
[[Category:Films produced by Stanley Kramer]]
[[Category:Films set in Germany]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe]]
[[Category:Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Nuremberg in fiction]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals]]
[[Category:Nuremberg trials]]
[[Category:World War II war crimes trials films]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:English-language war films]]