Review of Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) by Calvin C — 12 Feb 2012

At nearly 3 hours, Judgment at Nuremberg's main weakness lay in its duration. But its epic length is also, in my view, more than compromised by its artistic and beautiful plot layout. All what accompany the plot line - the performances in particular (and it really does boast of a stellar all-star cast) - were commendable as well.

Judy Garland in particular was perfect and convincing, in what I feel was her most dramatic role, as Irene Hoffman. The others - among them leads Spencer Tracy and Marlene Dietrich - were exceptional too.

In the end, however, you had to owe it to the moral of the story, evoked thought provokingly by Tracy's last words to Burt Lancaster's conscience-driven Ernst Janning ("it came to that the first time you sentenced a man to death you knew to be innocent"), in reaction to the plea by the former Nazi supporters that they were "innocent" of the horrendous crimes committed by Hitler's Third Reich - that, even in their own small part, Germans (and thereby citizens) were in a way responsible for those unspeakable crimes.

And Tracy's character Dan Haywood finally learns that. How he learns that, through his overruling presence in the brilliant courtroom scenes, and his Berlin tours with Dietrich's Mme. Bertholt, is what makes the crux of this wonderfully made film.

Only thing is, I just couldn't stand its length at 2 hours and 58 minutes. Other than that, Judgment at Nuremberg is a very wonderful and moralistic film, beautifully directed by Stanley Kramer.