Judgment at Nuremberg Page #20

Synopsis: 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 (Spencer Tracy) hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), but also from the widow of a Nazi general (Marlene Dietrich), an idealistic U.S. Army captain (William Shatner) and reluctant witness Irene Wallner (Judy Garland).
Genre: Drama, War
Production: United Artists
  Won 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 25 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.2
Metacritic:
60
Rotten Tomatoes:
90%
NOT RATED
Year:
1961
186 min
4,141 Views


and he went along with them.

Ernst Janning...

who made his life...

excrement...

because he walked with them.

Your Honor...

it is my duty...

to defend Ernst Janning.

And yet, Ernst Janning has said he is guilty.

There is no doubt he feels his guilt.

He made a great error

in going along with the Nazi movement...

hoping it would be good for his country.

But if he is to be found guilty...

there are others who also went along...

who also must be found guilty.

Ernst Janning said:

"We succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."

Why did we succeed, Your Honor?

What about the rest of the world?

Did it not know the intentions

of the Third Reich?

Did it not hear the words

of Hitler's broadcasts all over the world?

Did it not read his intentions

in Mein Kampf...

published in every corner of the world?

Where is the responsibility

of the Soviet Union...

who signed in the pact with Hitler...

enabled him to make war?

Are we now to find Russia guilty?

Where is the responsibility of the Vatican...

who signed in the concordat

with Hitler...

giving him his first tremendous prestige?

Are we now to find the Vatican guilty?

Where is the responsibility

of the world leader Winston Churchill...

who said in an open letter

to the London Times in :

"Were England to suffer a national disaster,

I should pray to God...

"to send a man of the strength of mind

and will of an Adolf Hitler."

Are we now

to find Winston Churchill guilty?

Where is the responsibility

of those American industrialists...

who helped Hitler to rebuild his armaments,

and profited by that rebuilding?

Are we now to find

the American industrialists guilty?

No, Your Honor.

Germany alone is not guilty.

The whole world is as responsible for Hitler

as Germany.

It is an easy thing

to condemn one man in the dock.

It's easy to condemn the German people...

to speak of the basic flaw

in the German character...

that allowed Hitler to rise to power,

but also...

comfortably ignore

the basic flaw of character...

that made the Russians sign pacts with him,

Winston Churchill praise him...

American industrialists profit by him.

Ernst Janning said he is guilty.

If he is...

Ernst Janning's guilt is the world's guilt.

No more, no less.

Major, we have to give the military governor

every help that we can give him.

We have to get tons in the air a day.

This is some operation.

Did you ever think we'd be flying coal

and tomatoes in these crates?

Tad, you and I have been friends

a long time.

That's why I called you here.

What are you going to do

in court tomorrow?

You know damn well what I'm going to do.

I know what you want to do:

Recommend they put them behind bars

and throw away the key.

You know what's going on here now?

Yeah.

I know what's going on.

Tad, you're an army man.

You know what we're up against.

The others may not, but you do.

I'll tell you the truth.

I don't know what's going to happen

if they fire on one of those planes.

I don't know what's going to happen.

But if I do know this:

If Berlin goes, Germany goes.

If Germany goes, Europe goes.

That's the way things stand.

That's the way they stand.

Look, Matt, I'm going to go the limit.

And not you, not the Pentagon,

not God on His throne is going to make me...

Who do you think you're talking to?

Who the hell do you think you're talking to?

When you were marching into Dachau

with those troops, I was there, too.

You think I'll ever forget it?

Look, I'm not your commanding officer.

I can't influence your decision,

and I don't want to.

But I want to give this to you,

and I want to give it to you straight.

We need the help of the German people.

And you don't get the help

of the German people...

by sentencing their leaders

to stiff prison sentences.

The thing to do is survive, isn't it?

Survive as best we can, but survive.

Just for laughs, Matt...

what was the war all about?

What was it about?

And that concludes

presentation of documentary evidence...

against these defendants.

Your Honors...

during the three years that have passed

since the end of the war in Europe...

mankind has not crossed over into Jordan.

In our own country,

Rate this script:4.8 / 4 votes

Abby Mann

Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer. more…

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