It is 1947, and one of the biggest trials in the history of the world is about to happen. Four Nazi judges are going to be put on the stand for being a court official during the Nazi Regime. Due to these men ignoring the fact that they helped murder 6 million Jewish people, and did not put any Nazis on trial for their heinous crimes of killing vast amounts of people for political power. These court officials are taking the wrap and are being charged with crimes against humanity. The officials being put on trial are DR. Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster), Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer), Werner Lampe (Toben Meyer), and lastly Fredrich Hofstetter (Martin Brandt). The judge controlling this trial is a hard-nosed judge, Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) , a man who wants to know more as to why these men did what they did, then just throw them to the wolves. The court is now in session: ORDER IN THE COURT.
This movie is probably one of the most topical films in today’s day and age about how history is trying to be ignored or removed. This movie can’t be removed because of how popular it was as it won two academy awards and was nominated for eleven more Oscars during the 1963 Academy Awards! And the acting in this film is outstanding. Tracy gives one of the most outstanding performances in the film by showing how a judge who is in a foreign land knows the history of the country but not the people. Keep in mind, this is during the reconstruction era, people are trying to get their lives back, and he wants to see what life is like for them. To get a sense of what these judges could have stopped or prevented, another actor that does a great job is Montgomery Clift. He gives a great performance as Rudolph Peterson, a man who was maimed and attacked physically and verbally by the Nazis. He was put through torturous practices all because they thought he was feeble minded. Clift was also nominated for his intensely heated twelve minute scene in the film. The other performance that can not be missed is Lancaster giving the performance of a lifetime; for an actor who is soft spoken, this role is far from his usual personality. He plays a brooding judge who knows what his crime is and what he has done to millions of people and the people of Germany, but he would rather not be put on the stand and tried. All I have to say is Lancaster’s speech is one of the most eye opening, sincere and tear jerking speeches about how a man is pouring his heart out for destroying the country he loved, and for destroying and killing people and their lives who lived there, and also because of their religion. As well as how no one as a judge in Germany in that time did anything to stop these awful things from happening. Lastly, the directing is outstanding. It gives a true lonesome feel to the movie of when Clift is put on the stand and he truly looks alone with the way the camera angles were shot of where he is just sitting there in a quiet court room, and how it also makes the viewer feel with Clift to because there is no sound, but Clift talking. Lastly the thing that will make you uncomfortable is in this film you will see real film from the internment camps in the movie and what the U.S. Soldiers all saw. This film truly took showing people what happened in this time period seriously. It is an eye opening topical film that should stand the test of time, because history shows us how we should prevent things like this from ever happening again. Just like the old saying goes “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” was written by philosopher George Santayana. I give this film 9 gold bars for acting, 9 for writing, and 10 for directing and that is it. I will see you the next time you want to come back to the movies.