The 12 Sep 1963 DV announced that Martin Ritt was in the final stages of negotiation to direct a picture based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film Rashomon, and the 1959 play of the same name by Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin. Ritt’s adaptation was set to be titled The Rape. Paul Newman was already attached to star, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (M-G-M) would release the film, with a tentative production start date of late Nov or early Dec 1963. Although filming was planned to occur entirely in Hollywood, CA, location shooting was later added. According to the 15 Sep 1963 NYT, Michael Kanin, wrote the screen adaptation, changed the original setting to the American southwest in the 1880s, with Newman playing a Mexican bandit accused of rape.
       The 19 Jan 1964 NYT and the 3 Mar 1964 LAT reported that Newman was concerned about performing his first role with a speaking accent, and prepared by spending two weeks in Mexico with the film’s dialect advisor, Walon Green.
       The 16 Oct 1963 DV indicated that Ritt was currently on a three-day location scout in Tucson and Phoenix, AZ, accompanied by Kanin, who also served as associate producer, as well as director of photography James Wong Howe, and Paul Newman’s brother, production assistant Arthur Newman.
       An advertisement in the 29 Oct 1963 DV listed the film by its release title, The Outrage, and the 6 Nov 1963 DV noted that production would begin the following month. By 20 Nov 1963, the title had been changed to Judgment in the Sun, according to that day’s DV.
       On 8 Nov 1963, DV reported that 90% of filming would occur at AZ locations, and two weeks of rehearsals were set to begin at the M-G-M Studios in Culver City, CA, on 25 Nov 1963. The 15 Nov 1963 edition announced that filming would occur near Tucson, “without a single ‘cover-set’” to offer protection from inclement weather. The only set to be constructed on sound stages was a railroad station. However, the 2 Dec 1963 DV announced that Ritt had changed plans to shoot for eight weeks in AZ. Instead, filming was scheduled from 9 Dec 1963 to 28 Dec 1963, after which time the production would return to the studio lot, saving $400,000 from a reported $3 million budget.
       On 15 Nov 1963 DV announced early objections from Code Administrator Geoffrey Shurlock. Of the forty original complaints filed, however, only “two or three” remained. Receiving a “Code Seal” helped ensure that pictures would not be viewed negatively by the Catholic League of Decency, as indicated in the publication. The 2 Dec 1963 DV stated that Ritt was unconcerned about receiving a Code Seal and planned to retain the film’s rape sequence. Ritt reportedly maintained communication with the Code office, and planned to show them the film for Code approval before its release. By late Aug 1964, Shurlock deemed one line of dialogue to be unacceptable, and Ritt was fighting to keep it in the picture, as indicated in the 25 Aug 1964 DV. The offending line, spoken by actor Laurence Harvey as the “Husband” was as follows: “Don’t dirty the mouth too much with love-making.”
       A 20 Dec 1963 DV production chart confirmed the 9 Dec 1963 production start date in AZ. Locations included a ranch sixteen miles north of Tucson. There, a town was built for the trial sequence. According to the 26 Jan 1964 LAT, daily production costs were $35,000. AZ exteriors required full sunlight, and three days of cloudy and rainy weather during the first two weeks of filming had incurred $100,000 in loses. Paul Newman wore a prothetic nose for his character, and two plastic noses were reportedly shipped in from Culver City everyday.
       The 31 Dec 1963 DV announced that the crew had returned to Hollywood the day before, following three weeks of location filming.
       Again referring to the picture as The Outrage, the 7 Feb 1964 DV noted that exterior filming was currently underway in Chatsworth, CA. Paul Newman was reportedly opposed sound looping, as he felt it compromised performances, so he and sound mixer Larry Jost created “chest mikes with transistors” for the cast to use on location, which eliminated the need for “80 percent” of looping in post production. The 14 Feb 1964 DV announced that two months of outdoor production had been completed, and interiors were set to begin at M-G-M on 17 Feb 1964.
       On 16 Apr 1964, LAT stated that the picture was currently being edited.
       The 10 Jul 1964 DV anticipated a 16 Oct 1964 opening at the Hollywood Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. The 13 Aug 1964 edition announced that the New York opening would be held simultaneously at the DeMille and Sutton Theatres on 14 Oct 1964. However, the film opened at the two New York City theaters on 7 Oct 1964, as indicated in the 8 Oct 1964 NYT review.