Mel and Jane Mermelstein are a true-life California couple, thrown into the spotlight of judicial history in the 1980s. Mel is a Hungarian-born Jew, sole-survivor of his family's extermination at Auschwitz, and Jane, a Southern Baptist from Tennessee. Their four children are good kids, typical Americans, with just enough orneriness to irritate each other, but enough love and class to pull together when it counts.
Acting
Nimoy's restrained fury—Spock's humanity finally unleashed.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes courtroom procedure into emotional warfare.
Director
Joseph Sargent
Leonard Nimoy
Mel Mermelstein
Dabney Coleman
William Cox
Blythe Danner
Jane Mermelstein
Paul Hampton
Richard Fusilier
Jason Presson
Bernie Mermelstein
Juliet Sorci
Edie Mermelstein
Benji Gregory
Kenny Mermelstein
David Margulies
Rabbi Hier
William Bassett
Lewis Brandon
Steve Franken
Dan Greenspan
Carl Steven
Young Mel
Vidal Peterson
Willy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Nimoy's personal passion project; he spent years developing it after meeting the real Mel Mermelstein. The Vulcan salute was originally a Jewish blessing gesture—full circle energy.
The 1981 case established judicial notice that the Holocaust happened—legally binding truth in an era before 'alternative facts.' The film aired as Holocaust denial resurged in the early '90s.
US
