Three Generations of Imbeciles

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2002)

This film is of course remarkable for its sheer number of stars.
Tracy plays the American judge who has to find how guilty his
German colleagues were who played along the Nazi rules during
the Third Reich. I am not the biggest Tracy fan but here he is perfect. As are all
other actors with one exception. Richard Widmark the prosecutor
is absolutely believable in his crusade. Marlene Dietrich, finally
showing some signs of age, represents the proud, art-loving
"good` and noble German. In one of the most beautiful subtle
romances on screen she and Tracy are strangely attracted to each
other. She is trying to convince Tracy that not all Germans were evil, that
not all Germans even knew what was going on. She is very good
in it, probably believing herself even so far as to think that her late
husband, who was a General (put to death by Widmark) was
completely innocent. Tracy seems moved but in the end is
unconvinced. Great the beer-drinking-song scene where the ugly
Germans in the background seem to contradict Marlene's words.
In an exceptionally great scene when Tracy is about to leave the
country he calls her. The telephone rings again and again then the
camera moves and you see Marlene sitting just in front of it - just
beautifully filmed. Montgomery Clift is amazing. As a witness of the practice of
sterilization he easily wins our sympathies, especially by admitting
that he was not interested in knowing the birthday of Hitler. But
things are not quite as simple. He is slow-witted and Maximilian
Schell must cruelly demonstrate this. Schell won the Oscar for this role, and as the saying goes, well
deservedly so. He is arguing forcefully and yet humanely. Very
nice, the way he puts his forefinger in front of his lips, seeming to
say I have thought about this thoroughly - trust me. In one scene
he reads a passage from a law book that argues in favour of
sterilization with the conclusion `Three generations of imbeciles
are enough'. It sounds like cruel Nazi jargon but was actually
written by Oliver Wendell Holmes and was the basis for law in
Virginia. (Here is a bizarre coincidence: when I went to bed after
watching the movie I took up the book I am reading right now
which is `The Flamingo Smile' by Stephen Jay Gould. The very
next chapter I was starting to read was about sterilization practice
and exactly the same passage by Holmes was quoted! Gould
investigated in the case of the woman who was sterilized by this
law because she was imbecile and the daughter of an imbecile
and mother of an imbecile, thus three generations. He found out
that her daughter - diagnosed to be imbecile at age 8 months(!)
turned out to be an at least average pupil at school.)
Now, the exception I was talking about, was Burt Lancaster. He all
but ruins the film. It is not entirely his fault since the role was very
bad. All he has to do is sitting there stone-faced watching the trial.
He is supposed to be the tragic character who is the noble good
guy who by accident became a Nazi judge. Then at one point as
his lawyer `goes to far' he makes his statement, saying that he
was indeed guilty. Unbearably bad lines badly performed. The film has been criticized as being preachy, and it is true to
some extent. But I have no idea how it could have been avoided.
Lancaster's part is absolutely crucial. (I just could not stand it). At
least in the final scene, when Lancaster expected to morally
pardoned by his judge, Tracy tells him that the number of
injustices or murders are not the point but that one knowingly
spoken unjust judgment for whatever reasons is enough to sell
your soul. And that is the point. As he himself has demonstrated
with his judgment. Under political pressure (because of Cold War)
he still puts the judges to jail for life. It is all about integrity. Even
though all were released within a couple of years, his judgment
stays. �