In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.
"The event the world will never forget."
Top Billed Cast
Spencer Tracy
Dan Haywood
Richard Widmark
Tad Lawson
Maximilian Schell
Hans Rolfe
Burt Lancaster
Ernst Janning
Marlene Dietrich
Mrs. Bertholt
Judy Garland
Irene Hoffman Wallner
Montgomery Clift
Rudolph Petersen
William Shatner
Harrison Byers
Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews
C CinemaSerfVerified TMDB Critic
2023-04-20
Spencer Tracy is the presiding judge at the fictitious trial of some of the most evil Nazis to have survived the end of WWII. Chief amongst them is the formidable former jurist "Dr. Ernst Janning" (Burt Lancaster). Richard Widmark is tasked with leading the prosecution; Maximilian Schell as their defender. Make no mistake, this is no standard courtroom melodrama. The performances from all - especially a sensitive and measured Tracy who tries, despite every sense of humanity within himself pulling him otherwise - to remain as impartial and fair in the face of the evidence of brutality presented...
B badelfVerified TMDB Critic
2026-05-07
> Where were we when Hitler began shrieking his hate in the Reichstag? Where were we when our neighbors were being dragged out in the middle of the night to Dachau? Where were we when every village in Germany has a railroad terminal where cattle cars were filled with children being carried off to their extermination? Where were we when they cried out in the night to us?...
