Stanley Kramer is Born

Stanley Earl Kramer (29 September 1913 – 19 February 2001) was an American film director and producer responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies.

His notable films include The Defiant Ones (1958), On the Beach (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Ship of Fools (1965) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). His work was recognized with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1961 and during his career has been nominated for Oscars 9 times.

Director Steven Spielberg once described him as "one of our great filmmakers, not just for the art and passion he put on screen, but for the impact he has made on the conscience of the world." Film critic David Thomson described Kramer as a "hero of the 1950s" and an "enterprising producer," but also wrote of his later films that "commercialism, of the most crass and confusing kind, has devitalised all [of] his projects"

On the Beach (1959) is a post-apocalyptic drama film based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel of the same name featuring Gregory Peck (USS Sawfish captain Dwight Lionel Towers), Ava Gardner (Moira Davidson), Fred Astaire (scientist Julian – John in the novel – Osborne) and Anthony Perkins (Australian naval officer Peter Holmes). It was directed by Stanley Kramer, who won the 1960 BAFTA for best director. Ernest Gold won the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Score. It was remade as an Australian television film by Southern Star Productions in 2000.

Inherit the Wind is a 1960 Hollywood film adaptation of the play of the same name, directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Spencer Tracy (Drummond) and Fredric March (Brady), and featuring Gene Kelly (Hornbeck), Dick York (Cates), Harry Morgan (Judge), Donna Anderson (Rachel Brown), Claude Akins (Rev. Brown), Noah Beery, Jr. (Stebbins), Florence Eldridge (Mrs. Brady), and Jimmy Boyd (Howard). The movie was adapted by Nedrick Young (originally as Nathan E. Douglas) and Harold Jacob Smith.

Inherit the Wind is a parable which fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means to discuss McCarthyism.