12 Angry Men (1957) | |
| Director(s) | Sidney Lumet |
| Producer(s) | Henry Fonda, George Justin (associate), Reginald Rose |
| Top Genres | Drama |
| Top Topics | Based on Play, Courtroom, Justice, Prejudice |
Featured Cast:
12 Angry Men Overview:
12 Angry Men (1957) was a Drama - Black-and-white Film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Henry Fonda, Reginald Rose and George Justin.
SYNOPSIS
This is perhaps the most famous classic-movie courtroom drama. The jurors get their instructions in a murder case and enter a hot, close jury room to begin deliberating. The first count shows only Fonda holding out for acquittal. Then the fireworks begin, fueled by fatigue, heat, and the different personalities and experiences of the jurors. In Lumet's debut, he breaks every rule of cinema action, setting his story in one claustrophobic room and using multiple takes from different angles to provide movement. Originally a teleplay, this was Fonda's only experiment with producing. Remade for cable TV with Jack Lemmon.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.12 Angry Men was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2007.
Academy Awards 1957 --- Ceremony Number 30 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Director | Sidney Lumet | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Henry Fonda and Reginald Rose, Producers | Nominated |
| Best Writing | Reginald Rose | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
12 Angry Men – Take 2 – Henry Fonda
By Virginie Pronovost on Feb 2, 2019 From The Wonderful World of CinemaI had already written about 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957) on this blog when I wrote about Lee J. Cobb’s paternal roles in this film and in Golden Boy (Rouben Mamoulian, 1939). But there’s another 12 Angry Men’s actor that obviously deserves to be discussed: Henry Fonda, juror #... Read full article
DOUBLE BILL #13: Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and 12 Angry Men (1957)
By Carol Martinheira on Apr 12, 2018 From The Old Hollywood GardenDOUBLE BILL #13: Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and 12 Angry Men (1957) On April 12, 2018 By CarolIn Uncategorized Courtroom dramas never disappoint. They?re tense, gripping, dramatic and emotional and, more often than not, they grab you by the throat and they don?... Read full article
What I Learned from 12 Angry Men
By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 16, 2016 From 4 Star FilmsRecently I got the chance to sit down with a group of friends and watch 12 Angry Men together. Many of them had never seen it and hearing their reactions was immense fun for me. But as we talked for a few minutes afterward, I began to realize that really each of these characters represents something... Read full article
What I Learned from 12 Angry Men
By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 16, 2016 From 4 Star FilmsRecently I got the chance to sit down with a group of friends and watch 12 Angry Men together. Many of them had never seen it and hearing their reactions was immense fun for me. But as we talked for a few minutes afterward, I began to realize that really each of these characters represents something... Read full article
12 Angry Men (1957)
By Beatrice on Jun 1, 2016 From Flickers in Time12 Angry Men Directed by Sidney Lumet Written by Reginald Rose 1957/USA Orion-Nova Pictures Repeat viewing/Netflix rental #333 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Lumet gathered all the great character actors of the 50’s into one room with Henry Fonda and made a stage play work com... Read full article
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Quotes from
Juror #3: You *what*?
Juror #7: You heard me, I... had enough.
Juror #3: What do you mean you've had enough? That's no answer!
Juror #7: Hey listen, you just uh... take care of yourself, huh? You know?
Juror #11: He's right. That's not an answer. What kind of a man are you? You have sat here and voted "guilty" with everyone else because there are some baseball tickets burning a hole in your pocket? And now you've changed your vote because you say you're sick of all the talking here?
Juror #7: Now listen buddy!
Juror #11: Who tells you that you have the right like this to play with a man's life? Don't you care...
Juror #7: Now wait a minute! You can't talk like that to me!
Juror #11: I *can* talk like that to you! If you want to vote "not guilty" then do it because you are convinced the man is not guilty, not because you've had enough. And if you think he is guilty then vote that way! But don't you have the guts to do what you think is right?
Juror #7: Now listen...
Juror #11: Guilty or not guilty?
Juror #7: I told ya! Not guilty!
Juror #11: Why?
Juror #7: ...Look, I don't have tuh...
Juror #11: You *do* have to! Say it! Why?
Juror #7: Uhh... I don't uh... think he's guilty!
Juror #11: [stares back with impatient resignation and finally sits down]
Juror #8: It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth. I don't really know what the truth is. I don't suppose anybody will ever really know. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we're just gambling on probabilities - we may be wrong. We may be trying to let a guilty man go free, I don't know. Nobody really can. But we have a reasonable doubt, and that's something that's very valuable in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless it's SURE. We nine can't understand how you three are still so sure. Maybe you can tell us.
[Juror #9 has pointed out that the woman witness across the street had marks on her nose indicating she normally wore glasses]
Juror #8: [to Juror #4] Do you wear glasses when you go to bed?
Juror #4: No. I don't. No one wears eyeglasses to bed.
Juror #8: It's logical to assume that she wasn't wearing them when she was in bed. Tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep.
Juror #3: How do you know?
Juror #8: I don't know - I'm guessing! I'm also guessing that she probably didn't put her glasses on when she turned to look casually out of the window. And she, herself, testified the killing took place just as she looked out. The lights went off a split second later - she couldn't have had time to put them on then. Here's another guess: maybe she honestly thought she saw the boy kill his father - I say she only saw a blur.
Juror #3: How do you know WHAT she saw? How does he know all that? How do you know what kind of glasses she wore? Maybe they were sunglasses. Maybe she was far-sighted. What do you know about it?
Juror #8: I only know the woman's eyesight is in question now.
Juror #11: She had to be able to identify a person sixty feet away - at night - without glasses.
Juror #2: You can't send someone off to die on evidence like that!
Juror #3: Oh, don't give me that.
Juror #8: Don't you think the woman might have made a mistake?
Juror #3: No.
Juror #8: It's not POSSIBLE?
Juror #3: No, it's not possible!
Juror #3: [Juror #8 goes to Juror #12] Is it possible?
Juror #12: [nods] Not guilty.
Juror #8: [#8 goes to #10] Do you think he's guilty?
[#10 shakes his head 'no']
Juror #3: I think he's guilty!
Juror #8: [#8 goes to #4] Do you?
Juror #4: No. I'm convinced. Not guilty.
Juror #3: What's the matter with you?
Juror #4: I have a reasonable doubt, now.
Juror #9: Eleven to one!
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Facts about
Sidney Lumet had the actors all stay in the same room for hours on end and do their lines over and over without taping them. This was to give them a real taste of what it would be like to be cooped up in a room with the same people.
Shot in a total of 365 separate takes.
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