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Holocaust Dramas

Judgment at Nuremberg  /  In the Presence of Mine Enemies

Mine Enemies
October 16, 2016 - 7:00 pm

Playhouse 90: “Judgment at Nuremberg”


CBS, 04/16/1959

Later adapted into Stanley Kramer's acclaimed motion picture of 1961, this live docudrama expanded Playhouse 90's studio canvas to powerful effect through the integration of archival footage, including images of Nazi atrocities. Austrian-born Maximilian Schell would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actor in the feature film version for reprising the critical role he originated here as a German defense attorney. Adding the episode’s authenticity, the program is introduced by Telford Taylor, former Brigadier General and Chief Counsel for the prosecution at the Nuremberg war-crimes trials.

Digital video (from 2" videotape master), b/w, 90 min.  A CBS Television Network production. Produced by Herbert Brodkin. Directed by George Roy Hill. Written especially for Playhouse 90 by Abby Mann. With: Claude Rains, Paul Lukas, Maximilian Schell, Martin Milner, Melvyn Douglas.

Presented with original commercials.  Use of “Judgment at Nuremberg” episode from Playhouse 90 courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

Playhouse 90: “In the Presence of Mine Enemies” 


CBS, 05/18/1960

One of the last beacons of the Golden Age of Television dimmed with this broadcast, the final original production of Playhouse 90. Rod Serling's controversial, humanist tale concerning a Rabbi (Laughton) and Nazi brutality in the Warsaw Ghetto was almost never produced at all, as program sponsors indicated to CBS that declining ratings for the series warranted moving away from "depressing themes."

Digital video (from 2" videotape master), b/w, 90 min.  A CBS Television Network production. Produced by Peter Kortner. Directed by Fielder Cook. Written by Rod Serling. With: Charles Laughton, Arthur Kennedy, Susan Kohner, Oskar Homolka, George Macready, Sam Jaffe, Robert Redford.

Presented with original commercials.  Use of “In the Presence of Mine Enemies” episode from Playhouse 90 courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.