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1. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Before Kate Winslet inspired sympathy as the reformed Nazi guard in The Reader, the urgent questions of guilt, morality, culpability, and proper punishment regarding the most vicious crimes in human history were explored much more adroitly, and without the romantic kitsch, in the 1961 masterpiece Judgment at Nuremberg.

Maximilian Schell won an Oscar for his portrayal of the aggressive but passionate defense attorney who had the unenviable task of explaining the acts of certain German judges during the horrific World War II events in their country. Spencer Tracy is the lead judge on the case, and Burt Lancaster is one of the main defendants. Marlene Dietrich makes another appearance, this time as the widow of a German general sentenced to death by one of the German judges under the Nazi regime. The cast alone suggests brilliance.

And the brilliance is delivered. Not only is the acting as flawless as you’d expect from this cast, the difficult questions of right and wrong, moral guilt and legal guilt, and proper punishment that it explores, still resonate today in our society given events from Abu Ghraib to the Boston Marathon bombings. Cynical almost to a fault, Judgment also suggests at the political expediency for the U.S., caught in the beginning of the Cold War, of going easy on some defendants at Nuremberg. And as even-handed as one can be about these events, the movie also explores fairly German explanations for why they did what they did.

Historic, insightful, and thought-provoking, Judgment at Nuremberg is probably one of the best movies ever made. Had it been released any other year, it would have not run against the buzz saw of the critical and Oscar behemoth West Side Stor, and would have won more prizes from critics and the industry alike. No matter, as it remains far and away the most searing and thought-provoking courtroom drama in history. I don’t think - and, I hope - no movie will ever surpass it.

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