Seldom has such a powerhouse of acting talent been assembled and what a film! This is a sensitive and emotive subject and needs to be handled professionally and with respect. Stanley Kramer skillfully draws first rate performances from his 'A' list cast. He avoids sentimentality or traditional 'hollywoodisms', creating an atmosphere so real that we feel that we are observers in a genuine court room. The graphic footage, actually taken at the liberation of some of the camps, only serves to make this film more harrowing and yet effective. Kramer has been brilliant in his casting. The solid judge Spencer Tracy is authoritive, whilst having wrestle with his own personal feelings. Maxamillian Schell is effective as the young attorney, ambitious and yet misguided in his loyalties. Montgomery Clift, a tortured soul in real life, uses his own deamons to brilliant effect as the simpleton, who has been subjected to steriliztion. The stand-out however is Judy Garland, as the Hausfrau falsely accused of intimacey with a Jew. Garland proves, in her short sequences, that she is very much an equal in the acting game as she is a legendary musical star. That she, for the second time in her career was not awarded the oscar, for which she was nominated, is one of the greatest oversights in the history of the Academy. She acts with her very soul. The only peice of miscasting in my mind is Burt Lancaster. Whilst he is , as always, professional. His performance as an accused German Judge does not quite gel. Altogether though, a brave and risky film which really pays off.