judging Hitler

Rating: 2/10 (26 February 2006)

Yes the film raises serious questions about Nazi Germany and the role that Germans played in the terrible destruction that the third Reich wrecked on the world, but the film is seriously dated and terribly preachy with some very over the top acting and in your face direction. Kramer's direction is obvious with lots of zoom shots and close-ups and is also terribly stagy and slow. Maxmillian Schell in a very overrated performance plays the defense lawyer, and his work is no where as good as Paul Newman's stunning performance in "The Hustler." Schell won the Oscar that year over Newman, but his performance is all one note or two. Judy Garland and Monty Clift give some depth and feeling to their small cameos, but both also have done much better work through the years. I will say that Dietrich was terrific in her small role and Tracy was also fine and low keyed as he usually was. The worst performance was given by Burt Lancaster who was way to young to play this part with any conviction and had to depend on his badly done hair and make-up to give any feeling that he could come up with. You can see how bad he is in his big confession scene at the trial and also his stance,posture and walk are all wrong, and way too young. I also had trouble with the static camera work and the poor art direction and process shots, and the throwing in of actual concentration camp footage was a cheap shot and the only real emotional moment in the film and points up to how badly directed the it was. The view outside the courtroom never changes and the trees and foliage look way to fake I know this is minor criticism but it makes the film look tacky and cheap. At times the film resembles a television drama which in fact it originally was. The film was a big critical hit in 1961 and received an amazing 11 Oscar nominations include one for best costume????. This was serious stuff with a capital S back then, and was the verso of the other big reserved seat film of the year "West Side Story." If you couldn't get in to West Side you went to see Judgment which made you feel like you had done something good and worthwhile with your 2 bucks.