Another of the movies that I hear a lot about but have never seen. Well, now I have and I thought it was good. Although they had a lot of star power to help in that too. I wonder how well it would have been received if the starring roles were a bunch of slobs instead of Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Dietrich and Garland… However, every time they showed Werner Klemperer all I saw was Col. Klink from “Hogan’s Heroes”
The premise is simple. Long after the original trials of the big names and big-time German leaders, the US tries the German judges that knowingly condemned or sentenced innocent men. They plead that they were following orders, that they were doing it for the love of their country or that they didn’t know how bad it was.
The prosecutor and the judge are getting pressure from the Army to lighten up and give soft sentences because they need to look out for public opinion. The Berlin blockade had just begun and it was not a good time to be unpopular with the people. After showing the human side of the crimes and arguing his point and fighting with the other judges, each of the men are found guilty.
This came out four years after “12 Angry Men” and to me it had the same feel. One man holding out for the truth no matter what pressure he is feeling, he will rule on what is right, not what is popular. I liked it.
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