Nuremberg: Then And Now
By
Leonard Zwelling
Upon the recommendation of a close friend, the BW and I went to an actual movie theater to see the new film Nuremberg which is based on an account of the 1946 trial of Hermann Goring (the second highest leader in Nazi Germany) and other Nazi leadership. The critical issue facing the victors in WWII was what exactly were the Nazis guilty of and what international law was to be used as a metric to determine their guilt or innocence.
This film also focuses on the relationship developed between an American psychiatrist played by Academy Award winner Rami Malek and Goring played by another Oscar winner, Russell Crowe. In essence, the psychiatrist is trying to understand how intelligent men like Goring could commit such atrocities. I will not spoil the plot any further.
I did not like this film at all, although the BW did. I thought the writing was pedestrian, the acting amateurish (especially Malek who was mugging his way through the part), and in general, despite a host of great talent including Michael Shannon playing the Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson who created the Nuremberg trials, this movie simply was not well made at all. I must also admit to dozing off briefly a few times.
In our discussion on the way home in the car, the BW and I agreed that we remember Judgment at Nuremberg as being a better movie, but neither of us had seen that one in years. For you young people out there, that film was released in December of 1961 and went on to many Oscar nominations and two wins for Best Actor, Maximilian Schell, and best screenplay, Abby Mann. This film was directed by Stanley Kramer. I saw it in the theater in the early part of 1962. (I had seen it before Oscar night in 1962, which was around Passover back then.)
So, we did what we could not have done in 1962, we rented it for $3.99 on Apple TV and watched it for the first time in 60 years on a cold Sunday afternoon.
It holds up magnificently. It is a great film and more relevant today than even back then, just 13 years after the events being depicted. It raises the issue of how totalitarian regimes get started and why people who recognize the coming danger do not speak up. Sound relevant?
This is a black and white film set in 1948, two years after the start of the Nuremberg trials and the events in Nuremberg. The major Nazi fish have been killed before 1948, executed after trial, or having committed suicide including Hitler ad Goebbels. Now the prosecution led by the United States is trying the German judges who sentenced their fellow countrymen to sterilization, prison, or death unjustly, often because they were Jewish or Communists. Once again, the lead character is trying to comprehend how human beings could have done the things the Nazis did. That character is played by the great Spencer Tracy (Oscar nomination) who is the chief justice of the tribunal running the trial. The person he is trying to understand is the head of the justice department during the Third Reich. He is played by Burt Lancaster, in a role that was very unusual for him. Also in this film are Judy Garland (Oscar nomination), Montgomery Clift (Oscar nomination), Marlene Deitrich, and as an aide to Spencer Tracy, probably the only cast member still alive, William Shatner (pre-Captain Kirk).
The two dueling attorneys are Richard Widmark for the prosecution and Oscar winner Schell as the defense attorney. How Schell uses impeccable logic to make his case that the four judges he is defending are not guilty is a thing to behold and again, more relevant today than in 1961.
I will not spoil this film either because you really ought to watch it. How a piece of art from over 60 years ago can speak to today’s politics so accurately is a tribute to Mann, the screenwriter, Kramer, the director, and all those real movie stars. This is great writing, acting, and directing. This is a great film. The newer one is not. Skip the new one. Go for the classic. It’s way better. There’s no charge for parking. The popcorn is cheaper and so is the ticket.
And, by the way, if you want to see what real movie stars looked and acted like, see this film. The only actor today that I could liken to Spencer Tracy may be Tom Hanks who is a little more Jimmy Stewart, but somehow lends the common, credible touch to everything he does. Treat yourself to greatness for four bucks and save twenty-five by missing the new one. It’s really a poorly made film. This oldie is a goodie.
