12 Angry Men (1957)

User Rating:

8.9/10   

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Reginald Rose (story)
Reginald Rose (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 July 1957 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Life Is In Their Hands -- Death Is On Their Minds!

Plot:

A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Jury | Trial | Jury Room | Restroom

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Martin Balsam	...	Juror #1
John Fiedler	...	Juror #2
Lee J. Cobb	...	Juror #3
E.G. Marshall	...	Juror #4
Jack Klugman	...	Juror #5
Edward Binns	...	Juror #6
Jack Warden	...	Juror #7
Henry Fonda	...	Juror #8
Joseph Sweeney	...	Juror #9
Ed Begley	...	Juror #10
George Voskovec	...	Juror #11
Robert Webber	...	Juror #12

Also Known As:

Twelve Angry Men (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #18206) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company:

Orion-Nova Productions

Trivia:

As the film failed to make a profit, Henry Fonda never received his deferred salary. Despite this setback, Fonda always regarded 12 Angry Men (1957) as one of the three best films he ever made, the other two being The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and The Ox-Bow Incident (1943).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Juror #8 is imitating the old man going to the door, as he is completing the first leg of his walk the shadow of the camera following him is clearly visible on the floor by his feet.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[In a tedious manner, sounding bored and tired]
Judge: To continue, you've listened to a long and complex case: murder in the first degree. Premeditated murder is the most serious charge tried in our criminal courts . You've listened to the testimony, you've had the law read to you and interpreted as it applies in this case...

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV)

Great Film Reflecting American Cultural Changes

12 Angry Men is a terrific film that reflects a lot of the past problems and the proposed solutions of immigration, youth violence, and of course, overcoming one's own background and discrimination. The film surprised me in how progressive it was, and the ending social conclusions that it reached.

In the film you can see clearly form a rift between the upper class, conservatives who are unwilling to change and the progressives who are proposing change for the better of all of us; this film, deep down, is a very class conscious and socially conscious film about discrimination and the deep lines it had in American society in 1957.

Although the film's portrayal is sometimes overly simplistic, drawing a "stubborn, pig-headed" conservative versus "righteous, just" progressive, one can find that this was very much so a necessary film for its' time. In many ways, it is a work that was socially far advanced.

Also what is interesting is the fact that it is a film that is done with great simplicity; some actors, and a room... It relies greatly upon the pure talent of the actors, and the great direction of Sidney Lumet -- this film is truly unique due to the true minimalism it embraces in its' production tactics, yet this is something that could easily go unnoticed due to the incredible quality of the film.