In this movie, the judges that served under the Third Reich are on trial themselves. Historically there were a lot more than 4, of course, but this movie focuses on only four.
Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer) the corrupt bigot. Friedrich Hofstetter (Martin Brandt) the good, obedient German. Werner Lammpe (Torben Meyer) the old man who cries into his bible every night. And lastly, Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) who knew better, who knew what they were, yet made his life excrement, because he walked with them.

I purposely used paraphrasing from the movie to describe each defendant. In the course of the movie, we find out that the person of Ernst Janning was amazing, just and even remarkable. Thus making the prosecution's- Col. Lawson (Richard Widmark) job even more difficult. To believe that a man like this could do the things listed in the indictment seems impossible to believe. His defense attorney, Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell who won best supporting actor for his role) is defending Janning, even though he makes it clear he doesn't want his help.

The 3 men sitting in judgement of these men have an unusual task, since they themselves are judges too. The main character is Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) who is the conscience of the movie. He meets Madame Bertholt (Marlene Dietrich) who is the widow of an officer who served, but was supposedly not part of the SS or other related concentration camp activities. She does everything she can to convince Judge Haywood that "not all Germans are Nazis."

As the trial goes on, we meet supporting characters. Rudolph Pedersen (Montgomery Clift) who is brought forward as not only a witness, but a victim of political sterilization. In an absolutely awful scene, Rolfe's cross examination tears him to shreds. He insinuates that his mother was "feeble minded" and that him and all his siblings do menial jobs because the are "imbeciles." (I have to make a personal note here. Rolfe's character uses a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes that upholds a sterilization law in the US. Pedersen's character can READ for goodness sakes! How many people here in the US today are illiterate? And they were sterilizing this guy cause they thought he wasn't smart enough? How smart do you have to be?!)

The next main supporting character is Irene Hoffman-Wallner (Judy Garland) she is called to the stand to testify because she was the young girl in an infamous case that Janning presided over. The "Feldenstein" case was one about "racial defilement." It was alleged that the Hoffman girl sat on the older Jew's lap, that he kissed her. He was the landlord of her flat after her parents died. He was just a friend, but something else, something vile was made of their friendship.

This is perhaps one of the best movies regarding WWII because of the point that Spencer Tracy's character makes towards the end of the movie in his summation. He points out that most of the defendants were people of ability and intelligence- some were even remarkable. If all of the people that helped this terrible thing along were depraved criminals and monsters, then these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake or a flood- or any other natural disaster- because that is what you would've expected of them. That good, even remarkable people in a time of crisis can delude themselves into heinous crimes against humanity is something to remember, to be guarded against.

In another part, Judge Heywood mentions that a country is what it is when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. When it seems that expediency and the means of the enemy are what survival rest on. But survival as WHAT? A country isn't a rock, it's made up of people and that what you do under the most dire of circumstances IS what reveals your true character. Personal morality is more important than the good of the state or going along with someone else's idea of right.

I appreciated that the movie took time to delve into each character and found them all to be believable in their own way. Tracy is the realistic, but fair minded judge. Despite his seemingly perfect sense of justice, he even admits to another judge that when he became a judge, he knew there were people he wasn't supposed to touch, if he was to remain a judge. But he also points out, how do you expect me to look the other way at the death of over 6 million people?

Maximilan Schell is the cocky, young attorney. In a later scene, after sentencing, he tells Judge Haywood that he will wager him that all the defendants will be out within a short time. Haywood looks him right in the eye, telling him that he has admired his gift for logic in the courtroom- that what he says is logical in view of the times we live in- but to be logical isn't to be right & nothing in God's earth can ever make it right.

Rolfe is committed to leaving the German people some dignity. But at what price? Are we to raise the specter again for "love of country?"
Burt Lancaster really has only one body of speech in the whole movie and whether or not it is credible that a defendant would do such a thing, it is a more of a reality check in the movie. Over and over we hear people say, "we didn't know those places existed!" As Burt's character says, "where were we when our neighbors were being dragged out in the middle of the night? where were we when they cried out to us? were we deaf, dumb, blind?!"

Widmark as Col. Lawson is perfect. He has seen it with his own eyes and is committed to making sure that the guilty are punished and that is won't happen again. He is played as being a bit overzealous, but having witnessed in PERSON what he shows to the court in movies of the camps- who can blame him? After all, these judges weren't just doing their job. Many of them profited from it. It is perhaps even more sinister than the movie goes into.

Most of all, this movie is a powerful statement about personal responsibility. In one of the closing lines, Ernst Janning tells Judge Haywood that he never knew it would come to that- all those people, he never knew. Judge Haywood tells him that it came to that the minute he sentenced a man to death that he KNEW to be innocent.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS