Prosecution of an elderly Jewish man accused of killing his wife, a Holocaust survivor, becomes complicated when it is learned that he may have collaborated with the Nazis in Poland during W... Read allProsecution of an elderly Jewish man accused of killing his wife, a Holocaust survivor, becomes complicated when it is learned that he may have collaborated with the Nazis in Poland during World War II.Prosecution of an elderly Jewish man accused of killing his wife, a Holocaust survivor, becomes complicated when it is learned that he may have collaborated with the Nazis in Poland during World War II.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title of 'Night and Fog' refers to the Nazi decree of Night and Fog (Nacht und Nebel) issued in December 1941 authorizing the Gestapo to arrest political opponents to the Nazi regime. It also allowed the shooting of sabateurs and commandos without trial.
- GoofsPolice responding to any call would never allow an unrelated party to enter the subject premises, for both security and privacy reasons. The upstairs neighbor just wanders right in with the two officers.
- Quotes
David Steinmetz: Heinrich, an SS officer - he came to our home. He gave us cake; we barely had bread. He told me that if I could convince my neighbors to cooperate, none of us would be harmed. I was 19; if I didn't do it, somebody else would have. People lived a few months... weeks... days longer; that's what it was about. People who were not there... they could never understand.
Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone: Your wife was there, sir; she understood very well what you did. And that's why you killed her.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 45th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1993)
As well as seeing Nehemiah Persoff in a late role and in a role that saw, from what has been personally seen of his (not enough), a different side to him. That's what intrigues me about all three shows, seeing actors in different types of role and stretching their abilities, it's not just the gritty tackling of challenging and even controversial themes and how they dealt with the moral dilemmas posed by the subjects covered. "Night and Fog" struck me as a very good episode on first viewing and it still does, if not a 'Law and Order' classic.
"Night and Fog" contains great acting for one. Jerry Orbach continues to show how so early on he was born to play one of the 'Law and Order' franchise's most justifiably popular characters. Chris Noth is a reliably solid partner and the two gel really well together, like a red wine and cheese. Michael Moriarty as ever brings great authority to the juicy character of Stone. Persoff was seldom more unnerving than here the more that is revealed about his character. The kind where one's opinion of him takes a dramatic 180 in the second half.
The story throughout is compelling, with a completely unpredictable change of events and a lot of chills later on. Namely in the whole dynamite rapport between Persoff and Moriarty and Persoff. The ending felt more rounded off and less rushed than some of the previous Season 3 episodes. The script is taut and thoughtful, especially in the exchanges between Stone and Schiff and Stone's Anne Frank line is telling. The production values continue to remain high, while the direction lets the dramatic intensity of the second half to blister. The music doesn't sound melodramatic.
Occasionally though the story in "Night and Fog" does get a little too complicated and one feels like they want more time to digest properly what's revealed, in an episode where there is a lot to take in.
Do agree that it is not easy to buy what the victim saw in her husband despite having knowledge of his past. One would run a mile realistically but maybe that's just me.
In summary, very well done. 8/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 21, 2020