Judgment at Nuremberg (Playhouse 90)

"Judgment at Nuremberg"
Playhouse 90 episode
Maximilian Schell in "Judgment at Nuremberg"
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 28
Directed byGeorge Roy Hill
Written byAbby Mann
Original air dateApril 16, 1959 (1959-04-16)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Judgment at Nuremberg" is an American television play broadcast live on April 16, 1959, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was a courtroom drama written by Abby Mann and directed by George Roy Hill that depicts the trial of four German judicial officials as part of the Nuremberg trials. Claude Rains starred as the presiding judge with Maximilian Schell as the defense attorney, Melvyn Douglas as the prosecutor, and Paul Lukas as the former German Minister of Justice.

Several lines by Melvyn Douglas and a scene featuring Claude Rains referring to the Nazis' "gas ovens" were cut from the audio during the broadcast due to an objection by a gas-company sponsor. The gas company did not want gas appliances to be associated with the horror of Nazi Germany.

In 1961, Judgment at Nuremberg was adapted into a film of the same name starring Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster, and with Schell, Klemperer and Torben Meyer reprising their roles from the teleplay.