JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG
STUDIO: United Artists/Roxlom
PRODUCTION NUMBER: 1
PRODUCTION DATES: Judy’s scenes filmed in March 1961
PRODUCTION COST: $3,000,000
RUNNING TIME: 190 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 14, 1961 (Kongresshalle, Berlin, Germany) / December 19, 1961 (USA)
INITIAL BOX OFFICE: $10,000,000+
Judgment at Nuremberg was Judy’s first film role since 1954’s A Star Is Born as well as her first all-dramatic role since 1945’s The Clock. In 1960 her voice was featured in one song for the film Pepe that was played while Dan Dailey and Shirley Jones danced.
Judgment at Nuremberg was adapted from the Playhouse 90 television play of the same name about a part of the lengthy real-life Nazi war crime trials in Nuremberg, Germany. The film is an expanded version of that successful telecast. Although it’s long it’s nonetheless incredibly riveting with all of the cast is at their best, as evidenced by the Oscar nominations. To date it still packs a dramatic and thought provoking punch. Judy’s role as the Nazi victim Irene Hoffman is small but pivotal. Her scenes on the witness stand are intense. Judy is seen very deglamorized. For once her weight wasn’t a liability but an asset. She probably was quite happy to not have to diet for a film!
Judy received her second (and last) Oscar nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg, this time as the Best Supporting Actress of 1961, but lost to Rita Moreno’s performance in West Side Story. It’s impossible to compare the two performances because they’re so different. Moreno is dazzling in her role but (and this is not meant as disrespectful) the role isn’t much of a stretch for her. Judy plays a character completely out of type for her which required real acting ability. Winning the award would have been a nice consolation for her loss in 1955 as Best Actress (in A Star Is Born), and would have been a great acknowledgement of her contributions to the movies and the entertainment industry in general.
Judy later said that her inspiration for how to play her scene was inspired by her love of and relationship with her late father. She received raves from the critics and it began a too brief resurgence of her film career which paralleled her current renaissance that also included her one-woman concerts and television appearances. The early 1960s were a golden time for Judy Garland and Judgement at Nuremberg is one of the highlights.
TIMELINE:
FACTOIDS:
CAST:
Spencer Tracy as Judge Dan Haywood
Burt Lancaster as Ernst Janning
Richard Widmark as Colonel Ted Lawson
Marlene Dietrich as Madame Bertholt
Maximilian Schell as Hans Rolfe
Judy Garland as Irene Hoffman
Montgomery Clift as Rudolph Peterson
William Shatner as Captain Byers
Edward Binns as Senator Burkette
Kenneth MacKenna as Judge Kenneth Norris
Werner Klemperer as Emil Hahn
Alan Baxter as General Merrin
Torben Meyer as Werner Lammpe
WITH: Ray Teal, Martin Brandt, Virginia Christine, Ben Wright, Joseph Bernard, John Wengraf, Karl Swenson, Howard Caine, Otto Waldis, Olga Fabian, Sheila Bromley, Bernard Kates, Jana Taylor, Paul Busch
CREW:
Produced and Directed by: Stanley Kramer
Associate Producer: Philip Langner
Assistant Director: Ivan Volkman
Screenplay by: Abby Mann
Based on a television script by Abby Mann
Music: Ernest Gold
Production Design: Rudolph Sternad
Art Direction: Rudolph Sternad, George Milo
Costumes: Joe King
Gowns for Miss Dietrich by: Jean Louis
Sound: James Speak
Photography: Ernest Laszlo
Editor: Frederick Knudston