Thursday, July 14, 2011

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

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4 comments:

  1. AudreyJuly 14, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    This is SUCH a powerful film. I really enjoyed it.

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  2. Bobby RiversJuly 14, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    Stanley Kramer had a gift for taking performers famous for musical comedies and directing them in some of their best film work in non-musical projects: Fred Astaire in ON THE BEACH, Gene Kelly in INHERIT THE WIND, Ethel Merman non-singing and stealing IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, Judy Garland in JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG. Even Dick Van Dyke in the rarely-mentioned drama, THE RUNNER STUMBLES.

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  3. richgoldstein13July 14, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Thanks for the heads up. I look forward to this.

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  4. MovieNut14July 14, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    Oh, I just love Monty's work in this. Along with From Here to Eternity, he was robbed of an Oscar.

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