Incredibly powerful movie.

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2010)

When you talk about an actor stealing the show, in this movie Maximiliam Schell is that actor. Wow, he IS the movie. This is a case where the actor takes good material and creates something brilliant. The concept of a war crimes trials congers up scenes of outraged, indignant prosecutors who, with exaggerated self-righteousness, are loudly and vociferously denouncing the defendants who sit passively and take it. This movie, however, presents a different slant. Here it is the defense that is outraged, and with good reason. Did the defendants actually break any laws? After all, were they not respected judges? Is somebody to be found guilty for being a mere hack? And what right did the court have to try these judges anyway? Okay, the judges may have been Nazis, but was being a Nazi a crime? Indeed, was the trial itself a sham? Montgomery Clift and Judy Garland give powerful performances as victims of Nazi persecution, yet was their testimony sufficient to establish guilt, and of what? This is one of the most powerful movies Hollywood as ever produced. It explores themes that warrant close attention and pulls no punches in presenting issues that deal with such fundamental concepts as right-and-wrong, responsibility, culpability and expediency.