The Small Roles Hit Home runs

Rating: 10/10 (30 May 2015)

The stars come out to shine in this film but it is very rewarding to notice some of the smaller roles that make "Judgement at Nuremburg".
1)Mr and Mrs Halbestadt as played by Ben Wright and Virginia Christine as representations of the ordinary German people. They have been caught up in something beyond their control although there is a hint that they were at least passive supporters of Hitler. "I won't say that Hitler didn't do some good things. He built the autobahn," says Mrs Halbestadt. The pair are now caught up in another situation (The American occupation) in which they feel that passive subservience is the best strategy to survive. They have lost a son in the army and a daughter in the bombing and now they must feel the unease of being under the control of people they don't know and who do not understand them. Both actors do a great job of portraying an apprehensiveness that the whole nation must have felt.
2) Schmidt as played by Paul Busch. He is a driver for Judge Heywood and the first German we see. He is relatively young and stares straight ahead and beeps aggressively at the sparse traffic as he drives the American judge and senator through the bombed-out ruins of Nuremburg. We are sure that Schmidt feels much more than he is prepared to reveal as he drives on and follows the commands and answers the questions of his new superiors with a stiff obedience.
3) Otto Waldis as Pohl, a right hand man at a concentration camp. His emotionally detached response to the question of how the extermination of millions of people could be possible tells all. "It's possible. It all depends on your facilities." The response answered the question of the logistics but also the mental approach that could make it possible. Otto Waldis as Pohl is chillingly matter-of-fact as he eats his lunch and repeats what were the actual words of a real Nuremburg Trial defendant - Rudolf Hoss.
4) Howard Caine as Hugo Wallner. He plays the husband of Judy Garland's character, his wife who is being persuaded to testify against fellow Germans. The couple have a very modest shop as a new start after the war and fear retribution should Mrs Wallner testify. Caine's performance again gives the ordinary person's sense of despair and frustration at having the repercussions of the war continue to impact on their lives. The couple have obviously suffered and are now being asked to sacrifice by people who move in circles far above them. It is easy to say they have a moral duty to testify against injustice and evil but it is they who will bear the consequence and Hugo Wallner's response is not totally indefensible. "I say to hell with them and to hell with you."
5) Olga Fabian as Mrs Lindnow. A brilliant portrait of the dangers of giving ordinary, powerless people power over others - the basis of why Nazism was so popular. She, even years later and after a devastating war, enjoys another chance at being party to the cruel persecution of Mrs Wallner. Nazism had given Mrs Lindnow her moment of power and importance. The power to be cruel to others and have it legitimized by law and government has never been better depicted than in the person of Mrs Lindnow.
There are others but I will let you look for them. There are no small parts in this film.