A notable indictment of Nazi Germany by Director Stanley Kramer

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2017)

This famous film from 1961 features some of the most familiar faces of the period, most of which are recognizable by viewers who are old enough. (I only first saw it several nights ago on PBS.) The star of this film is, of course, Spencer Tracy as chief judge Dan Haywood soon after he played, in effect, lawyer Clarence Darrow in "Inherit the Wind" a similar role. Others following are Burt Lancaster whose stature as an actor was rising as he stretched himself more and more and eventually played the starring role in Visconti's "The Leopard" ( Il Gattopardo"). Richard Widmark played the prosecutor Tad Lawson and Maximillian Schell played the defense lawyer, Hans Rolfe. Montgomery Clift also appeared as a victim of the Nazi enforced sterilization law.
The growing friendship between chief Judge Haywood and Frau Bertholt (Marlene Dietrich) seems to defy judicial protocol but it does give Dietrich, (In reality a noted enemy of the Third Reich), a chance to remind people of her association with the World War II song "Lili Marlene".
At one point the character played by Richard Widmark introduces the familiar, still upsetting, graphic photos taken by the Allies at the liberation of the concentration camps.
Towards the end of the film we get some appearances by, of all people, Judy Garland which should remind of us of her acting ability in addition to her stature as perhaps the greatest entertainer of the 20th Century! She plays a woman involved in what was a real case of an elderly Jewish man executed on trumped-up charges of defiling the "racial purity" laws of Nazi Germany.
The first of the many real Nuremberg trials had many defendants but director Kramer concentrates only on four fictional criminals.
Still, this film is a notable indictment of those who evaded their responsibilities towards humanity during one of the biggest blots on human history!