Year: 1957
Category: Legal drama.
Director: Sidney Lumet.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Ed Begley, John Fiedler, Robert Webber, Jack Klugman, George Voskovec, Joseph Sweeney, Edward Binns, Billy Nelson, John Savoca, Rudy Bond, James Kelly.
In New York an 18-year-old is accused of murdering his own father, all the evidence is against him, the facts were presented and now the jury, a group of 12 men in a room, must decide if there is reasonable doubt or no, if there is not, the accused must be sentenced to death.
11 of the men in the room firmly believe that the young man is guilty of the crime of which he is accused, but one of them, the jury number 8, is not sure and decides to put everything that the other 11 men think they know about the case in doubt, each fact, each witness, each evidence. Is he guilty or not? It is a question with an answer that these 12 men should try to find despite being flogged by heat, exhaustion and impatience.
The direction of Sidney Lumet is impeccable, creating one of the most important films of its kind despite developing the whole story within a single location, here there are no detective investigations, corruption of the judge or lawyers, nor is there a plot secondary, there is only 12 men in a room discussing a strictly legal issue: the result is fantastic.
The performances are really fabulous, each of the actors does their work brilliantly, each one defines their respective character in a way that gives much more depth than the script confers on them. And it is true, Henry Fonda and especially Lee J. Cobb do a magnificent interpretation that steals all the attention, however, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, EG Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley , George Voskovec and Robert Webber do a very good job too. Each character has its moment of importance and the actors did the best job possible.
Since 1957, the year in which it was released, the film has been the inspiration for plays, other similar films and even remakes, however, as on every occasion no matter how good the other works are, I will always recommend see the original film first, luckily, unlike what happened to me with Psycho or Dial M for Murder, with 12 Angry Men I could see the original first, and my feeling was satisfactory.
If you have not seen it yet, I invite you to see it and if you already did and want more, you can rent or buy the movie or Reginald Rose's book on Amazon.
I think I saw one of the remakes and it was brilliant! I wonder if I can still find the original.
I have not seen the remake, but I've heard it was good. I'll have to see it to compare the two versions. Thanks for comment!
I just recently watched this movie. I hadn't heard of it or seen it before. Really enjoyed it. :)
Great! It's one of my favorite legal dramas, it's good that you enjoyed it, thanks for comment. :)
I really like this movie, I always consider it as the ”must watch” for everyone how is interested in the history of cinematography.
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I agree, I also consider that this is an important film for all those interested in the history of cinematography. Thanks for comment. Thanks for comment by the way.
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One of the greatest black and white films ever. I would actually recommend this for anyone who is used for modern movies that think old movies are boring drags. The single location actually helps the movie IMHO. There is no real way to improve anything about this movie for a modern audience. Psycho (1960) looks dated in several aspects. 12 Angry Men is fast paced and very smartly written that speaks to both intellect and emotion. More people need to see this.
Yes, I also consider that this is one of the classic movies that did not lower its quality even though it was filmed 62 years ago. I also think that having single location was good for the film, it helped a lot to maintain the atmosphere and the dynamics. It's great that you liked the film, thanks for comment.
Flags courtesy @themarkymark, he knew it would be exactly what you wanted! wink!