Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) - Part 18 (FINAL PART)

DIRECTOR: Stanley Kramer
RELEASE DATE: December 19, 1961
GENRE: Drama / History


PLOT:
After the end of World War II, the world gradually became aware of the full extent of the war crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich. In 1948, a series of trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, by an international tribunal, headed by American legal and military officials, with the intent of bringing to justice those guilty of crimes against humanity. However, by that time most of the major figures of the Nazi regime were either dead or long missing, and in the resulting legal proceedings American judges often found themselves confronting the question of how much responsibility someone held who had "just followed orders." Judgment at Nuremberg is a dramatized version of the proceedings at one of these trials, in which Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is overseeing the trials of four German judges -- most notably Dr. Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) and Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer) -- accused of knowingly sentencing innocent men to death in collusion with the Nazis. Representing the defense is attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), while prosecuting the accused is U.S. Col. Tad Lawson (Richard Widmark). As the trial goes on, both the visiting Americans and their reluctant German hosts often find themselves facing the legacy of the war, and how both of their nations have been irrevocably changed by it. Judgment at Nuremberg also features notable supporting performances by Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, and Montgomery Clift. Originally written and produced as a play for television, the screen version of Judgment at Nuremberg was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, with Maximilian Schell and Abby Mann taking home Oscars for (respectively) Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• judgment
• at
• nuremberg
• 1961
• drama
• history
• SPENCER
• TRACY
• BURT
• LANCASTER
• RICHARD
• WIDMARK
• MAXIMILIAN
• SCHELL
• JUDY
• GARLAND
• MARLENE
• DIETRICH
• MONTGOMERY
• CLIFT
• 1960's
• movies
• trials

[NoJeanNoMoney1]

The message delivered in the last line is so pertinent to today. In an age dominated by the 'War on Terror,' when many in the Western countries (you know, the "good guys" from World War II) are trying to justify torture on the grounds of "necessity," the world needs to be reminded of how dangerous the concept of precedent, especially in a legal context, can really be for humanity.

[mandolinadora]

@moviegoer1002 Thank you for taking the time to post this marvel in its entirety. It's as critical to world history as it is to film archives.

[YAYCONFORMITY]

@Tarstarkusz- I definitely don't think that is the moral of the movie. This can be simply enough shown by Marlene Dietrich's character. She tells judge Haywood that her husband was denied her request of a military death. Whether or not your statement holds true to the real world is another matter, but that is certainly not the moral of the movie.

[YAYCONFORMITY]

@5Brosn1chick- Russia had very heavy casualties during the war, and in areas that were occupied by Germany civilians were sent to forced labor camps. About 2 million died in camps, with about 1.5 million being Jews. The war also had about 7 million civilian casualties. I'm not sure where the rest of the 25 million comes from. Estimates put military casualties at around 9-10 million, but I'd say that's a bit different from concentration camps.

[dusk2dawn001]

@5brosn1chick You are very wise and your observations , I fear, are correct. Thank you for speaking up. God bless.

[5brosn1chick]

To tarstarkusz - Interesting. Where did you find the information? Not that I don't believe you; just common sense dictates that there were Jews in the Soviet Union who must surely have met the same fate. I am just interested in the source of the information.

[tarstarkusz]

@5brosn1chick Actually something worse than denial has happened, that is most of the victims of WW2 have been forgotten. The 6 million jews have holocaust museums all over the world, in every country, the other 6 million are forgotten and so are the 25 millions Russians. All that anyone ever talks about of WW2 and Hitler is Jews who only account for 1/8th of the victims.

[tarstarkusz]

I think the real moral of this movie is that there are 2 classes of people, the privlidged and everyone else. Even when the privlidged cause the deaths of 50 million people, commit war crimes, torture, kidnap, murder, cimes against humanity etc, they ultimately don't face the consequences. Nearly all of the top Nazi's chose the time and mannor of their deaths, most of those not sentanced to death got out early, and Stalin got to remain a dictator till the day he died.

[tarstarkusz]

@fitzy098 Rudolf Hess was a special case who's links don't really go back to nuremberg because he flew into the UK during the war to try and negotiate a peace settlement with Churchill.

[5brosn1chick]

I read that when Eisenhower saw the concentration camps he ordered that many pictures be taken because, as he said, "Some day some S.O.B. is going to say it never happened." Time has proven him right; it is happening now. It is very disturbing to see the pictures, but it is necessary so that everyone everywhere will always know that it did indeed happen. Also, I fear that we have the beginnings of a totalitarian government now--freedoms are being eroded little by little.

[TheLn2011]

That look at 4:07 will haunt my dreams.

[NoJeanNoMoney1]

@masanf Evidently, the moral of the film was completely lost on you. Your supercilious, puerile classification of my post as somehow self-indulgent "preening" is nothing but a naked strawman and appeal to ridicule, indicative of someone of shallow intellectual ability. If you had some integrity, perhaps you would engage the substance of what I wrote instead of dismissing it with a personal attack.