Certain to be a nominee for Best Ensemble of a Movie, Ever!

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2014)

The great television dramas of the 1950's and 1960's lead to full-length movie versions, and one of the best was Abby Mann's "Judgment at Nuremberg", a re-creation of the infamous Nuremberg trials where Nazi war criminals were forced to re-live their great evils and face the judgment of the world. It is the late 1940's, and Germany is in chaos. Remainders of great arenas where Hitler once spoke to the masses to refrains of "Seek Heil!" echoing in his ears were now piles of rubble, destroyed by Ally bombers. American judge Spencer Tracy arrives in Nuremberg to lead the proceedings at the trials, and as the echoes of Alex North's brilliant score fills the viewers ears, he sees the sites of many of these gatherings which lead to Hitler's children becoming excited of following every evil order he planned with the help of the S.S. and other evil Nazi organizations.
Defending the war criminals on trial is emotional attorney Maximillian Schell, giving the performance of his career for which he deservedly received an Academy Award. He had played this part on television and added even more detail in his characterization. What makes his performance so riveting is the fact that you don't hate him for the job he is doing, even if you hate the people he is trying to defend. One of them is a slightly over the top Burt Lancaster, complete with German accent, as a Nazi doctor accused of some heinous crimes. More subtle is Marlene Dietrich as a deceased German general's wife whom Tracy befriends, showing the human side of people involved on what was obviously the wrong side of the war.
Supporting Oscar nominations went to Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift who both play victims of the Nazi atrocities. While some Hollywood press representatives considered these parts cameos, both actors really put some depth into making their characterizations stand out. Garland, plump and blowsy, shows that she really had what it took to move from musical diva to character performer, and her accent is totally believable. Clift, still emotionally wrecked after his scarring car accident, uses the sadness within himself to convey the inhumane treatment he went through under Nazi tortures.
For a subject so glum and a film of extreme length, "Judgment at Nuremberg" never drags, and becomes more fascinating as the plot is developed. Perhaps it is because the subject matter still touches us to this day and we feel for each of the characters as they try to go on with their lives even after the horrendous experiences they went through. It is also a reminder to the world that we've been through this before, made the villains pay, and future villains will pay as well.