Review: Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

 IMDb Synopsis: In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes. 

I'm going to start off and say that this was one of the most amazing and mind-blowing films I've ever seen. Stanley Kramer made an absolute masterpiece that should have taken home the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1961.

Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Shell, Judy Garland, and Montgomery Clift. If it's not already obvious, this film has a heckuva cast. All of the actors delivered flawless performances, but I think the most profound ones came from the supporting cast- particularly Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift. Anyone who has seen A Star Is Born knows that Judy was a wonderful actress, and she proves it again in Nuremberg. Monty Clift is one of my all time favorite actors, and I think it's safe to say that this is my personal favorite of his performances (although I do love A Place In the Sun and From Here to Eternity). His acting was so deep and genuine to the point that I found it to be heart-breaking.

The direction in Nuremberg is stunning, but I don't expect anything less from Stanley Kramer, who also directed two of my favorite films, The Defiant Ones (1958) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Spencer Tracy's last film. Rob Reiner actually compared it to his film A Few Good Men, which I have not seen, but is considered to be one of the all time greats.

Overall, Judgment at Nuremberg is an amazing film and a complete essential for anyone who loves films as much as I do. You can watch it here if you have not already done so.

5/5 stars

My Movie Character Personality Soup

A few weeks ago, I saw Brandie from True Classic's post  of movie characters she thought defined/described her, and that automatically had me thinking of who I would pick to define myself. I spent awhile and managed to come up with the top five movie characters that I feel relate to me the most:

Amanda Bonner (Katharine Hepburn) from Adam's Rib (1949, dir. George Cukor).

I've always been a feminist, so Amanda's personality and boldness hits close to home. And who wouldn't love to have those cheekbones?

Belle (Paige O'Hara) from Beauty and the Beast (1991, dir. Gary Trousdale).

She's a bookworm and people think she's strange. That's all too familiar...

Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) from The Wizard of Oz (1939, dir. Victor Fleming).

I'm originally from a small town, and, trust me, I know what it's like wanting to be "over the rainbow".

Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) in Spellbound (1945, dir. Alfred Hitchcock).

My love for Bogie made me want to choose Ilsa Lund, but I ended up going with Constance since we share a strong interest in psychology.

Jim Stark (James Dean) in Rebel Without a Cause (1955, dir. Nicholas Ray).

I wouldn't call myself a rebel or a trouble-maker by any means. But, at times, I can't help but identify with certain aspects of Dean's character in a way that I've never understood. Back to the part where people think I'm strange.

Honestly, there are probably several- maybe even dozens- more film characters much like myself, but this is just what I felt resembled me the most. 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Until next time...