My Oscar Journey!

Day 105: “Judgment at Nuremberg”

“Judgment at Nuremberg” centers around the Nuremberg trails in Germany that took place after the Holocaust. It depicts a specific trail of four German judges that sentenced executions and sterilizations of many Jews and others who were deemed unfit to live or breed based on the Nazi Nuremberg laws. This film was excellent. The performances were all amazing, the screenplay is off the charts and the story itself is just incredibly engaging. It was one of the first Holocaust films made and it has more of a tone of “The Reader” than something like “Life is Beautiful”. The film is nearly three hours but it honestly didn’t feel like it because it was paced so well. The issues it brings up are interesting and as an audience member it makes you think, “Who exactly knew what EXACTLY was going on in Germany during the Holocaust?” Like I said, the performances are amazing. Spencer Tracy (Best Actor Nomination) and Maximilian Schell (Best Actor Win) give spectacular leading performances here, but I think it’s Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift (Best Supporting Actor Nomination) and Judy Garland (Best Supporting Actress Nomination) who steal the show here. They all deliver performances so far from their usual types that they’re all almost unrecognizable in look and in speech. All of their trial scenes blew me out of the water. If Rita Moreno hadn’t been nominated for her wonderful performance as Anita in “West Side Story”, Garland would have went home with the Oscar and Clift should have won. Also making a small supporting performance in this film is a young William Shatner!