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Nuremberg | |
---|---|
Genre | Docudrama |
Written by | David W. Rintels |
Directed by | Yves Simoneau |
Starring | Alec Baldwin Brian Cox Christopher Plummer Jill Hennessy Matt Craven Colm Feore Christopher Heyerdahl Michael Ironside Max von Sydow |
Composer | Richard Grégoire |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Mychèle Boudrias Ian McDougall |
Cinematography | Alain Dostie |
Editor | Yves Langlois |
Running time | 180 minutes |
Production companies | Alliance Atlantis CTV British American Entertainment Cypress Films Les Productions La Fête Inc. |
Original release | |
Network | TNT (United States) CTV (Canada) |
Release | July 16 – July 17, 2000 |
Nuremberg is a 2000 Canadian-American television docudrama in 2 parts, based on the book Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial by Joseph E. Persico, that tells the story of the Nuremberg trials. Actual footage of camps, taken from the documentary Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps (1945), was included in this miniseries.
At the close of World War II, Hermann Göring surrenders to the United States and enjoys the hospitality of a U.S. Army Air Force base. Samuel Rosenman, acting on the orders of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, recruits U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson to prepare a war crimes tribunal against Göring and the surviving Nazi leadership. Göring, Albert Speer and others are arrested for war crimes and imprisoned in a U.S. Army stockade at Bad Mondorf in Luxembourg. Jackson, his assistant Elsie Douglas, and his prosecution team fly to Germany. Psychologist Gustave Gilbert arrives at the stockade with prisoner Hans Frank, who has attempted suicide.
Jackson negotiates with Allied representatives Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, General Iona Nikitchenko and Henri Donnedieu de Vabres to ensure a unified prosecution. Jackson selects the Nuremberg Palace of Justice for the site of the trials and reconstruction work commences. Göring and the others are stripped of their rank and transferred to the prison in Nuremberg, where they come into conflict with the guards under the command of the strict Colonel Burton C. Andrus. Major Airey Neave serves Göring, Speer and the others with their indictments. U.S. judge Francis Biddle arrives to take control of the court but reluctantly passes the honour at Jackson's insistence. Following the suicide of prisoner Robert Ley, round-the-clock watches are posted and Gilbert is appointed prisoner liaison.
Sir Geoffrey Lawrence as presiding judge opens the trial with all defendants pleading not guilty, and Jackson gives a stirring opening statement. At lunch a jovial Göring holds court over the other defendants while Speer begins to show signs of remorse. Maxwell-Fyfe puts forward an emotive eyewitness account of the Nazis' genocidal policies toward Jews and others, while Jackson reads out dry documentation. As the court begins to tire of Jackson's meticulous approach, Maxwell-Fyfe urges pushing on to the witness interviews, which reveal the horrors of the concentration camps. The court is shaken by documentary footage of the camps; even Göring appears unsettled.
Speer explains Göring's dominance to Gilbert and insists that his control over the others must be broken. Göring takes the stand and begins using it to speak to the German people. Jackson, at Gilbert's suggestion, has Göring isolated. Under cross-examination, Göring outmaneuvers and humiliates Jackson, who later accuses Biddle of giving Göring free rein in court. Douglas talks Jackson out of tendering his resignation, and the two share a kiss. Under advice from Maxwell-Fyfe, Jackson returns to the courtroom to confront Göring with evidence of his crimes against the Jews and successfully dismisses the defendant’s denials.
At a Christmas party, the German housekeeper refuses to serve the Soviets, but Douglas rescues the situation before slipping away with Jackson. Gilbert visits the defendants and, under Jackson's advice, attempts to convince them to take responsibility for their crimes. Andrus relaxes the prison rules for Christmas, and Göring shares a friendly drink with his guard, Lt. Tex Wheelis. The cross-examination of the defendants intensifies and the defence calls Rudolf Höss, who casually reveals the horrors of Auschwitz. Speer is implicated in the enslavement of foreign workers by fellow defendant Fritz Sauckel and in response accepts collective responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi regime.
Gilbert interviews Göring's wife Emmy, who reveals that Hitler had ordered them all executed, which led to the family's surrender. Jackson is moved by Gilbert's summation of his examinations – that the source of the evil behind Nazi Germany was a complete lack of empathy – to give an impassioned closing statement. Göring uses his final statement to condemn the trial, and is sentenced along with several others to death by hanging. Speer uses his final statement to commend the tribunal and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. Göring commits suicide after his request to be executed by firing squad is denied. Andrus presides over the executions of the others while Jackson and Douglas head home.
In the United States, the miniseries aired on the network TNT, where it received the highest-ever viewership ratings for a basic cable miniseries up to that point. [1]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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2001 | American Cinema Editors Awards | Best Edited Episode from a Television Mini-Series | Yves Langlois (for "Part 2") | Nominated | [2] |
Artios Awards | Best Casting for Mini-Series | Iris Grossman | Nominated | [3] | |
Gemini Awards | Best Dramatic Miniseries | Peter Sussman, Gerald W. Abrams, Alec Baldwin, Mychèle Boudrias, Jon Cornick, Suzanne Girard, and Ian McDougall | Won | [4] | |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries | Alec Baldwin | Nominated | |||
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries | Brian Cox | Won | |||
Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries | Yves Simoneau | Nominated | |||
Best Costume Design | Mario Davignon | Nominated | |||
Best Achievement in Makeup | Micheline Trépanier and Carl Fullerton | Nominated | |||
Best Original Music Score for a Program or Miniseries | Richard Grégoire | Nominated | |||
Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series | Alain Dostie | Nominated | |||
Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Dramatic Program or Series | Guy Lalande and Frances Calder | Won | |||
Best Overall Sound in a Dramatic Program or Series | Claude La Haye, Lou Solakofski, Orest Sushko, and Ian Rankin | Nominated | |||
Best Sound Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series | Paul Shikata, Donna G. Powell, Rick Cadger, and Ronayne Higginson | Nominated | |||
Best Visual Effects | Noel Hooper, Mark Fordham, Robin Mitchell, and Michael Pieczonka | Won | |||
Golden Globe Awards | Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated | [5] | ||
Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Alec Baldwin | Nominated | |||
Brian Cox | Nominated | ||||
Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Television Mini-Series – Dialogue & ADR | Richard Cadger and Ronayne Higginson | Won | ||
Best Sound Editing – Television Mini-Series – Effects & Foley | Richard Cadger and Paul Shikata | Nominated | |||
Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Miniseries | Nominated | [6] | ||
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Brian Cox | Nominated | |||
Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best New Theme Song in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Best Sound in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated | ||||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Miniseries | Peter Alan Sussman, Suzanne Girard, Jonathan Cornick, Alec Baldwin, Gerald W. Abrams, Ian McDougall, and Mychèle Boudrias | Nominated | [7] | |
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Brian Cox | Won | |||
Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Lou Solakofski, Orest Sushko, and Ian Rankin (for "Part 2") | Won | |||
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Paul Shikata, Richard Cadger, Ronayne Higginson, and Donna Powell (for "Part 2") | Nominated | |||
Producers Guild of America Awards | David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television | Nominated | [8] | ||
Satellite Awards | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated | [9] | ||
Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television | Jill Hennessy | Won | |||
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | Alec Baldwin | Nominated | [10] | |
Brian Cox | Nominated |
In the film, Göring, his wife, and daughter drove and surrendered to an unnamed American air corps base in Germany on May 12, 1945. In reality, Göring, after sending an aide to Brigadier General Robert I. Stack in which he offered to surrender to Dwight D. Eisenhower personally, was discovered and arrested in a traffic jam near Radstadt by a detachment of the Seventh United States Army, which was sent through the German lines to find him and bring him to a secure American position, on May 6, 1945. [11]
Justice Jackson is portrayed as initially failing in his cross-examination of Gӧring and emerging triumphant on the second day. In reality, the cross-examination was a disaster and severely damaged Jackson's reputation. This situation was recovered by Maxwell Fyfe. [12]
When the defendants were indicted by Major Neave they all made oral statements. In reality, these statements were collected by Captain Gustave Gilbert. He asked the defendants to write their first reactions on a copy of the indictments. [13]
In the film, Albert Speer was arrested when he was giving a lecture to American soldiers. In reality, Speer was arrested together with Karl Dönitz and Alfred Jodl in Flensburg where they had set up a provisional government. [14]
In the film, Captain Gilbert is graciously given the right to talk to the prisoners by Col. Andrus in exchange for a library and an exercise field. In reality, Gilbert was specifically appointed to talk to the prisoners by the US military. The idea was that Andrus was to be informed by Gilbert about the state of mind of the prisoners. [15]
In 2017, parts 1 & 2 were released online on Canada Media Fund's Encore+ YouTube channel.
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Hermann Wilhelm Göring was a German politician, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which governed Germany from 1933 to 1945.
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries across Europe and atrocities against their citizens in World War II.
Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German Generaloberst who served as the Chief of the Operations Staff of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – the German Armed Forces High Command – throughout World War II.
Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel was a German Nazi politician, Gauleiter of Gau Thuringia from 1927 and the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (Arbeitseinsatz) from March 1942 until the end of the Second World War. Sauckel was among the 24 persons accused in the Nuremberg Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging.
Henri Donnedieu de Vabres was a French jurist who took part in the Nuremberg trials after World War II and a president of the AIDP. He was the primary French judge during the proceedings, with Robert Falco as his alternate.
Thomas Joseph Dodd was an American attorney and diplomat who served as a United States Senator and Representative from Connecticut. He is the father of U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and U.S. Ambassador Thomas J. Dodd Jr.
Gustave Mark Gilbert was an American psychologist best known for his writings containing observations of high-ranking Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg trials. His 1950 book The Psychology of Dictatorship was an attempt to profile the Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler using as reference the testimonials of Hitler's closest generals and commanders. Gilbert's published work is still a subject of study in many universities and colleges, especially in the field of psychology.
Nuremberg Diary is Gustave Gilbert's account of interviews he conducted during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders, including Hermann Göring, involved in World War II and the Holocaust.
The Memory of Justice is a 1976 documentary film directed by Marcel Ophuls. It explores the subject of atrocities committed in wartime and features Joan Baez, Karl Dönitz, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Yehudi Menuhin, Albert Speer and Telford Taylor.
Speer und Er is a three-part German docudrama starring Sebastian Koch as Albert Speer and Tobias Moretti as Adolf Hitler. It mixes historical film material with reconstructions, as well as interviews with three of Speer's children, Albert Speer Jr., Arnold Speer and Hilde Schramm.
Colonel Burton Curtis Andrus Sr. was a career U.S. Army officer who served from 1917 through 1952. He was an armor officer for most of his career and his most noted assignment was as the commandant of the Nuremberg Prison which housed the accused during the Nuremberg Trials after World War II.
The following is a bibliography of works devoted to the Nuremberg Trials.
Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial, is a BBC documentary film series consisting of three one-hour films that re-enact the Nuremberg War Trials of Albert Speer, Hermann Göring, and Rudolf Hess. They were broadcast on BBC Two in 2006 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the trials. In 2015, American Heroes Channel aired the film under an alternate title, "Nuremberg: Nazi Judgement Day".
Central Continental Prisoner of War Enclosure No. 32, code-named Ashcan, was an Allied prisoner-of-war camp in the Palace Hotel of Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg during World War II. Operating from May to August 1945, it served as a processing station and interrogation center for the 86 most prominent surviving Nazi leaders prior to their trial in Nuremberg, including Hermann Göring and Karl Dönitz.
The Stalag Luft III murders were war crimes perpetrated by members of the Gestapo following the "Great Escape" of Allied prisoners of war from the German Air Force prison camp known as Stalag Luft III on March 25, 1944. Of the 76 successful escapees, 73 were recaptured, most within several days of the breakout, 50 of whom were executed on the personal orders of Adolf Hitler. These executions were conducted shortly after the prisoners' recapture.
The Nuremberg executions took place on October 16, 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the Nuremberg trials. Ten prominent members of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany were executed by hanging: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Julius Streicher. Hermann Göring was also scheduled to be hanged on that day but committed suicide using a potassium cyanide capsule the night before. Martin Bormann was also sentenced to death in absentia; at the time his whereabouts were unknown, but it has since been confirmed that he died while attempting to escape Berlin on May 2, 1945.
Reverend Henry Fred Gerecke was a Lutheran minister who worked as a pastor, evangelist, prison chaplain, and US Army hospital chaplain. He is most well known for his work as a chaplain during the Nuremberg Trials following the end of the Second World War, when he ministered to leading figures of the German Nazi Party who were on trial for war crimes.
Nuremberg is an upcoming American historical drama film written and directed by James Vanderbilt. It is based on the 2013 non-fiction book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai. It stars Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, and Michael Shannon.