Back in 1961, Stanley Kramer produced and directed the epic legal drama Judgment at Nuremberg.
The all-star cast was led by Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift and William Shatner.
The World War 2 epic, three hours and 10 minutes long, focuses on the 1947 Judges’ Trial, one of the 12 Nuremberg Military Tribunals.
The fictionalised story with fictional characters follows four German judges who served during the Nazi regime and face charges of crimes against humanity, including Holocaust perpetration.
One popular piece of trivia is that Spencer Tracey’s 11 minute closing speech was filmed in one take using multiple cameras simultaneously. However, he had some tough acting competition and he knew it.
During filming, Tracy said Widmark of Schell’s acting: “Dick, we’re in trouble. We’ve got to watch out for that young man. He’s very good. He’s going to walk away with the Oscar for this picture.” And despite Tracy being nominated for Best Actor alongside Schell, that’s exactly what happened.
Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, the film won two Oscars: Best Actor for Maximilian Schell and Best Screenplay for Abby Mann.
Judgment at Nuremberg is on BBC Two at 12:45pm this Saturday and will be on BBC iPlayer afterwards for a limited time.
