Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

• Year: 1961
• Released: 18 Dec 1961
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 2 Oscars. 16 wins & 25 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055031/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Judgment_at_Nuremberg
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/judgment-at-nuremberg
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, German
• MPA Rating: Approved
• Genre: Drama, War
• Runtime: 179 min
• Writer: Abby Mann, Montgomery Clift
• Director: Stanley Kramer
• Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark
• Keywords: world war ii, nazi, trial, judge, court case,

	8.3/10
	60/100
	92% – Critics
	93% – Audience

Judgment at Nuremberg Storyline

It’s 1948 in Nuremberg, Germany, where the American military is holding a post-WWII tribunal on the activities of individuals within the Nazi Party leading up to and during the war. Dan Haywood is the lead judge in a three-man judiciary in one of those trials, where four men, who were involved in judicial matters, are the defendants. The general issues surrounding these four is whether they are guilty of international crimes or were just carrying out the laws of their national government, especially as they did not run or operate concentration camps for example, or purportedly know about what was happening to anyone they sentenced to life at those concentration camps. Of the four on trial, the largest question mark surrounds Dr. Ernst Janning, a globally renowned judge. Haywood, not being a well traveled man outside of the US, tries to get to know life in Germany, both then and now, to get a better perspective of the discussions at the trial. He befriends a Mrs. Bertholt as that conduit into German life. The counsel for the prosecution is led by Col. Tad Lawson, who wants to win at any cost, which includes trotting out the emotional aspects of the genocide at the concentration camps at whatever opportunity, regardless of if it actually applies to the defendants. The counsel for the defense is led by Hans Rolfe, who sees the proceedings as German self-determination on trial. Problems on both sides is getting the German public affected to talk about and thus testify about this emotionally traumatizing period of their past. But another issue in the background of this trial is the current Communist aggression, most specifically in Eastern Europe, and the Americans’ need for German support in quashing this aggression, support which would be difficult to obtain if the Americans are putting Germans behind bars.

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Judgment at Nuremberg Movie Reviews

It’s currently #160 and has quite a few reviews already…

“Judgment at Nuremberg” is a great film and its current rank of #160 is indicative of its greatness. And, it has quite a few reviews already, so I don’t intend to write an exhaustive review. Bkoganbing from Buffalo has already written a very nice review explaining the background for the movie that I might normally discuss, so in order not to be so repetitive and dull, I’ll just be brief.

The film is about one particular set of trials that followed the end of WWII. It is not THE trial–just one of many. Unlike the well publicized early trials of the obviously evil (most of which were hanged), many other sets of trials followed. In this case, four jurists who knew better but complied with the Nazis are on trial. To learn about the rest of the trials and the outcomes, do an internet search– it’s out there and I’ve read about the other trials. But this one is a fictionalization of the actual Nuremberg trials of these jurists and it has a lot to offer.

First, the acting is absolutely superb. The film is filled with great actors who were great at seeming natural. Oddly, Maximillian Schell got the Oscar among these other greats and his performance was quite different–extremely florid and loud. I preferred the quieter parts played by Spencer Tracy, Marlene Dietrich*, Burt Lancaster and others. I think Montgomery Clift and Judy Garland were also quite good–mostly because they were emotional wrecks off-screen as well and they seemed to tap into this (particularly Garland). Regardless, you can’t find movies with a better cast.

Second, Abby Mann’s script is exceptional and you can easily see how Mann took home an Oscar. And, the great camera-work and direction made his script seem all the better.

Third, the film faces the Nazi atrocities without flinching AND poses a question most films about the Holocaust rarely pose–about guilt of the common man as well as the leaders. Not the obvious leaders like Hitler, Himmler and the like but everyone else.

Overall, a very, very impressive film from start to finish.

Quite grim, but also very gripping

What can I say? Judgment at Nuremberg was just wonderful. At three hours, it is just mesmerising from start to finish. The subject matter of the story is admittedly grim and hard-hitting, but in the way it is put across and acted it is also incredibly gripping. The production values are striking, Ernest Gold’s music is memorable and Kramer’s direction is superb. Then there is the script, intelligent, thought-provoking, poignant, quite simply a brilliant screenplay, and the cast is for me one of the best on film. This film does have a lot of dignity, exemplified by Burt Lancaster’s thoughtful performance as Ernst Janning, and a startling turn from Maximillian Schell. Marlene Dietrich is also great, and I also have to mention Judy Garland’s touching Irene and Montgomery Clift’s Rudolph. Overall, gripping and intelligent helped enormously by adept direction and acting. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The Complainant At the Bar is Civilization Itself

Following a trail first started by Marty, Judgment at Nuremberg is one of the first films to be taken from television. Abby Mann wrote this script for a live drama on Playhouse 90. Only Maximilian Schell and Werner Klemperer repeated their roles from the 1959 production. Others in that cast were Claude Rains as Judge Haywood and Paul Lukas as the defendant Ernest Janning.

Stanley Kramer assembled a cast of some big movie names for his film and directed this film reverently as it has an eternal message. To get the film out of the Nuremberg Tribunal courtroom, the role of the widow of the German general played by Marlene Dietrich was created and the other German citizens were also created show that Kramer could get some dialog in about how the ordinary German felt. In the original play their only advocate is defense lawyer Maximilian Schell.

Schell is some good advocate indeed. While not lessening the guilt of any of the four German judges in the dock, he does raise some disturbing questions about other societies and how very easily the slide into totalitarian brutality can happen. He also shows some of the worst aspects in German character in his cross examination of Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift.

The Nuremberg Tribunal has been going on four two years now. The big Nazi fish have been dealt with and we’re now trying four German judges who apparently forgot all about due process in their efforts to ingratiate themselves with the new Nazi regime. Clift and Garland are two examples of German everypeople who got caught up in it and their performances well merited Oscar nominations in the Supporting player categories.

Richard Widmark is the lead prosecutor and this is probably one of the least complex roles Widmark ever played. He’s identified as a New Deal liberal, a protégé of the late President Roosevelt. He was in at the liberation of concentration camps and it effected him. It made him the good advocate for civilization itself.

In an original cast album of the film, the monologues with Burt Lancaster confessing his guilt and Spencer Tracy rendering the verdicts were included. Lancaster in a smaller way plays the part of Albert Speer who probably escaped the hangman by just throwing himself on the mercy of the court. He’s the only one who shows contrition. His confession though is a textbook example of how a demagogue can come to power in a nation left without pride.

Spencer Tracy and Maximilian Schell got Academy Award nominations for Best Actor with Schell winning. But Tracy’s summation of the trial is devastatingly correct. The real complainant at the bar is civilization itself as he so eloquently states. No player before or since has ever done so many lengthy speeches in his films and done them so well. This is the best of them, a creed for civilization that we as humans should all live by.

In some of the smaller roles take note of some good performances by Virginia Christine as Tracy’s housekeeper, Werner Klemperer as the unrepentant Nazi judge, and Howard Caine as Judy Garland’s husband who does not want her victimized all over again on the witness stand. A real cross section of the German public circa 1948.

Judgment at Nuremberg should be seen back to back with Schindler’s List as a portrayal of the brutality itself and how civilization tried to deal with the consequences. Judgement at Nuremberg is a film whose message will never not be timely.