Tagline: Life is in their hands — Death is on their minds!
12 Angry Men movie storyline. Sidney Lumet’s debut directorial film, a taut courtroom drama based on Reginald Rose’s television play. In a hot summer courtroom in NYC, a teenaged Latino (Savoca) is on trial for murdering his father with a switchblade knife, and faces the electric chair if convicted.
The twelve jurors assemble together to decide the fate of the minority defendant after being given instructions from the judge about ‘innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.’ In a seemingly open-and-shut case, the jurors rapidly vote for conviction, but one lone liberal dissenter, Juror # 8 (Fonda) holds out for innocence. In the sweaty, claustrophobic room, the tempers, prejudices and personalities of the cranky, smoking men are displayed as they examine the evidence and deliberate their verdict.
12 Angry Men is a 1957 American courtroom drama film adapted from a teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose.[4][5] Written and co-produced by Rose himself and directed by Sidney Lumet, this trial film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt, forcing the jurors to question their morals and values. In the United States, a verdict in most criminal trials by jury must be unanimous. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: out of 96 minutes of run time, only three minutes take place outside of the jury room.
12 Angry Men explores many techniques of consensus-building and the difficulties encountered in the process among a group of men whose range of personalities adds intensity and conflict. No names are used in the film; the jury members are identified by number until two members exchange names at the end. The defendant is referred to as “the boy” and the witnesses as “the old man” and “the lady across the street”.
12 Angry Men (1957)
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber, Tom Gorman, James Kelly
Screenplay by: Reginald Rose
Cinematography by: Boris Kaufman
Film Editing by: Carl Lerner
Art Direction by: Bob Markell
Makeup Department: Herman Buchman
Music by: Kenyon Hopkins
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: April 13, 1957
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