Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) depicts the trial of Nazi judges before the U.S. military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, following World War II. The film was directed by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Abbie Mann; it features a sensational cast that includes Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Maximilian Schell (who won an Oscar for best actor), Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, and William Shatner.  The film provides a gripping account of the “Judges’ Trial” or "Justice Case" (as it has become known), exploring issues around individual and collective guilt, the challenges facing tribunals seeking to punish mass atrocities, and the quest for peace and justice after the horrors of World War II.  In many respects, the film remains as relevant today as it was when it was first released. I’m joined by Professor Kevin Jon Heller, a renowned scholar of international criminal law and leading expert on the Nuremberg tribunals. Timestamps:0:00     Introduction4:25     Tribute to Ben Ferencz6:31     A gutsy movie for its time9:03     The historical context for the Justice Case13:18   The charges against the defendants16:21   Individual and collective responsibility21:05   The concentration camp footage26:15   Defendants were not neutral officials just following the law32:36   The judges should have known better35:14   The political pressures on the tribunal39:40   Germany’s slow reckoning with its Nazi past44:20   How the film speaks to us today51:26   Telford Taylor: Ahead of his time53:04   An enlightened portrayal of defense attorneys54:41   The U.S. gave Nazis fair trials but can’t provide fair trials at GuantanamoFurther reading:Arendt, Hannah, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (revised ed. 1994)Ehrenfreund, Norbert, The Nuremberg Legacy: How the Nazi War Crimes Trials Changed the Course of History (‎St. Martin's Press 2007)Heller, Kevin Jon, The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law (Oxford Univ. Press 2011), https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-nuremberg-military-tribunals-and-the-origins-of-international-criminal-law-9780199554317?cc=us&lang=enKing, Susan, “‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ 50 Years Later,” L.A. Times (Oct. 11, 2011), https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-oct-11-la-et-nuremberg-film-20111011-story.htmlMcNamee, Eugene & Andrews, Maria, “‘Judgment at Nuremberg’: Hollywood Takes the International Criminal Law Stand,” 6 London Rev. Int’l L. 75 (2018)Shale, Susanne, “The Conflicts of Law and the Character of Men: Writing Reversal of Fortune and Judgment at Nuremberg,” 30 U.S.F. L. Rev. 991 (1996)Taylor, Telford, The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials: A Personal Memoir (Knopf 1992)Law on Film is created and produced by Jonathan Hafetz. Jonathan is a law professor at Seton Hall Law School. He has written many books and articles about the law. He has litigated many important cases to protect civil liberties and defend human rights while working at the ACLU and other organizations. Jonathan is also a huge film buff and has been watching, studying, and talking about movies for as long as he can remember. For more information about Jonathan, here's a link to his bio: https://law.shu.edu/faculty/full-time/jonathan-hafetz.cfmYou can follow him on Twitter @jonathanhafetz You can follow the podcast on Twitter @LawOnFilm