The event the world will never forget|Dec. 18, 1961|United States|179 Min.|n/A
Genre: Drama;History;War
Description: “Judgment at Nuremberg,” released in 1961, is a powerful film centered on a military tribunal held in Nuremberg, Germany. The trial involves four German judges and prosecutors accused of crimes against humanity for their roles in atrocities committed under the Nazi regime. Presiding over the case is Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy), who leads a panel of Allied jurists in determining the fate of the defendants. Haywood is particularly focused on understanding how Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster), a highly educated and respected legal scholar, could have participated in sentencing innocent people to death during the Nazi era.
As the trial unfolds, Haywood seeks to comprehend how the German populace could have ignored the horrors of the Nazi regime. He forms a connection with the widow of a German general executed by the Allies (Marlene Dietrich) and engages with various Germans who offer differing perspectives on the war. Other key characters include US Army Captain Byers (William Shatner), who assists the judges, and Irene Hoffmann (Judy Garland), who is reluctant to testify in a way that supports the prosecution.
The defense, led by attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), argues that the defendants were not alone in enabling the Nazi regime and points to comparable actions by the United States. Rolfe highlights controversial events such as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s support for eugenics, the German-Vatican Reichskonkordat of 1933, the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The film raises profound questions about justice, morality, and the complexities of accountability.
Cast director: Stanley Kramer
Cast actor: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner, Werner Klemperer, Kenneth MacKenna
Original name: Judgment at Nuremberg