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.

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.

The defendants are Ernst Janning (played by Paul Lukas), the former Minister of Justice, two judges (Hoffstetter and Lammpe), and the public prosecutor (Hahn).

He describes Janning as a great legal scholar and advocate of democracy who remained in office to save the judiciary from complete domination by Hitler.

Dr. Wickert describes the special courts led by Hoffstetter and Lammpe that oversaw sterilizations and imposed death penalties on Jews, Poles, and others.

Rolfe introduces evidence that Peterson was sterilized as required by the law due to his inability to pass a basic intelligence test.

Judge Norris notes that the real fight for Germany has begun and the Nuremberg trials have become a political liability.

Parker introduces a letter from Hoffstetter about making an example of Polish workers who refused to work and another from Lammpe condemning a "Jewess" who sold her breast milk for consumption by German children.

Geuter, the defense attorney in the Feldenstein case, testifies that his client was tried and executed under a "racial pollution" law prohibiting non-Aryans from having sexual relations with Aryans.

As Rolfe aggressively cross-examines Wallner, Janning stands, protests his lawyer's conduct, and asks to make a statement.

He describes Janning as "a tragic character" who "loathed the evil that he did," but asserts that "compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness."

The cast included performances by:[1] Telford Taylor, former brigadier general and chief counsel for the prosecution at the Nuremberg trials, hosted the broadcast.

Hill and the cast refused, and Claude Rains proceeded to refer to the extermination of millions of people in "gas ovens."

[6] The censorship was discovered by the press and resulted in negative publicity for the sponsor, with one critic stating, "Shame on everybody concerned.

They did not want that awful association made between what was the horror and misery of Nazi Germany with their nice chrome, wonderfully antiseptically clean, beautiful kitchen appliances that they were selling.

[9][10] In 1961, Mann's teleplay was adapted into a film, Judgment at Nuremberg, starring Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster.

[12] John P. Shanley of The New York Times called it a convincing story and credited Maximilian Schell with the production's "outstanding performance."

"[13] UPI television critic William Ewald found the play "pretty uncompromising" as well as "tough and unsettling", stating that it "succeeded in clutching me hard for its full span."