BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT, 16 March 2001
by Russell Bouthiller

Certainly no event of the twentieth century can compare to the terror of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. How the perverse philosophy of this single madman managed to seduce an entire culture will inspire the creative talents of scholars and dramatists alike for an untold measure of time. From the bleak imagery of SHINDLER’S LIST to the black humor of HOGAN’S HEROES, the Second World War has discharged an army of exceptional characters over a minefield of extraordinary plots.

Indeed, had we no visual reference to the unspeakable horror of the death camps, the impact of the Holocaust would undoubtedly be far more difficult to grasp. Had we not Leni Riefenstahl’s TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, a glorification of the Nuremburg Party Convention of 1934, the significance of this once benign Bavarian community would have far less resonance. These are the blistering reflections of the Nazi past and they provide the back-story to Abby Mann’s JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG.

Originally a tele-play in the late 1950s, and later adapted by the author to motion picture and novel formats, JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG is based on the war-crimes trials of occupied Germany in 1948. Now, some four decades after its original inception, Mann once again has adapted his stirring courtroom drama and, this time, it plays out nightly on the Broadway stage at the Longacre Theatre.

JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG explores the prosecution of lesser-known Nazis figures against the backdrop of changing political alignments in Post-war Europe. What makes Mann’s story so compelling is that he chose not to dramatize the prosecutions of Hitler’s better-known henchmen. The relative obscurity of the defendants moves the drama away from probing the culpability of infamous figures to exploring the responsibility of all Germans. The four defendants serve as a metaphor for an entire nation and, in a sense, for all such acts of barbarity throughout history.

Presiding over this tribunal is Judge Haywood, a provincial magistrate recently retired by the voters back home. As the trial progresses, Haywood gets it from about as many fronts as the Germans did. There’s the Allied prosecutor determined to seek justice, a fellow judge whose primary focus is the mutable politics at play, the lovely and sophisticated widow of a convicted Nazi Officer, a contrite and well-respected defendant and, of course, the incendiary counsel for the accused.

George Grizzard, who wraps himself in this Solomonic mantle, has not only the characters on stage with whom to contend but also the titanic figure of Spencer Tracy. In the popular 1961 feature film, the steely-haired actor set firm his imprimatur on the role of Judge Haywood. The talented Grizzard, however, quiets the ghost with a simple examination of the facts. Haywood is an affable soul, free of pretenses. Grizzard quickly gets to the heart of his character and paves the way for others in the cast to do the same.

The actor with, perhaps, the greatest challenge is Michael Hayden as the defense counselor, Oscar Rolfe. He shares the stage with Maximilian Schell who won an Oscar for his fiery performance in this very role. In this stage adaptation, Schell portrays defendant Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster’s role in the film), the one-time judicial paragon who sold out to the Nazis by upholding the racist Nuremburg Laws.

By their very nature, courtroom dramas lend themselves to a proscenium framework. Set designer James Noone and lighting designer Brian MacDevitt provide an appropriately grim setting. Sepia-toned still projections from the Nazi era evoke the chilling sense that the eyes of countless millions watch over these proceedings; however, the baroque inscription of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew scroll set prominently above a central doorway might leave some a bit puzzled.

This stage adaptation of JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG faces the inescapable comparison to the classic motion picture which garnered the Oscar and New York Film Critics’ Award for Mann’s brilliant screenplay. With a dream cast that included such legendary players as Tracy, Schell, Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Montgomery Clift, and Judy Garland—all under the firm leadership of Stanley Kramer—this presents director John Tillinger with no small case to put forward. But, with a roster of players that includes Patricia Conolly, Robert Foxworth, Michael Mastro, Joseph Wiseman and Marthe Keller, there is every reason to believe that audiences will render a winning verdict.