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: I just want to talk.
Juror #7: Well, what's there to talk about? Eleven men in here think he's guilty. No one had to think about it twice except you.
Juror #10: I want to to ask you something: do you believe his story?
Juror #8: I don't know whether I believe it or not - maybe I don't.
Juror #7: So how come you vote not guilty?
Juror #8: Well, there were eleven votes for guilty. It's not easy to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.
Juror #7: Well now, who says it's easy?
Juror #8: No one.
Juror #7: What, just because I voted fast? I honestly think the guy's guilty. Couldn't change my mind if you talked for a hundred years.
Juror #8: I'm not trying to change your mind. It's just that... we're talking about somebody's life here. We can't decide it in five minutes. Supposing we're wrong?
Juror #7: Supposing we're wrong! Supposing this whole building should fall down on my head. You can suppose anything!
Juror #8: That's right.
Juror #10: All right, who was it? I wanna know.
Juror #11: Excuse me, this was a secret ballot. We all agreed on that. Now if the gentleman wants it to remain secret...
Juror #3: Secret? What do you mean secret? There are no secrets in a jury room, I know who it was.
[to Juror #5]
Juror #3: Brother, you really are something, you sit here vote guilty like the rest of us, then some golden-voiced preacher starts tearing your poor heart out about some underprivileged kid, just couldn't help becoming a murderer, and you change your vote. Well if that isn't the most sickening... Why don't you drop a quarter in his collection box!
Juror #5: Oh now just wait a minute, listen, you can't talk to me that, who do you think you are?
Juror #4: Now calm down, calm down!
Juror #5: No, now who do you think you are?
Juror #4: It doesn't matter, he's very excitable, just sit down.
Juror #3: Excitable! You bet I'm excitable. We are trying to put a guilty man in the chair where he belongs, and then someone starts telling us fairytales and we're listening!
Juror #1: Heya, c'mon now.
Juror #3: [to Juror #5] What made you change your vote?
Juror #9: He didn't change his vote. I did!
Juror #10: Ohhh fine.
Juror #9: Would you like me to tell ya why?
Juror #7: No I wouldn't like you to tell me why...
Juror #9: Well I'd like to make it clear anyways, if you don't mind.
Juror #10: Do we have to listen to this?
Juror #6: The man wants to talk.
Juror #9: Thank you.
[motions to Juror #8]
Juror #9: This gentleman has been standing alone against us. Now he doesn't say that the boy is not guilty, he just isn't sure. Well it's not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others, so he gambled for support and I gave it to him. I respect his motives. The boy is probably guilty, but - eh, I want to hear more. Right now the vote is ten to two. [Juror #7 gets up and heads to the bathroom]
Juror #9: Now I'm talking here, you have no right to leave this room... Juror #8: He can't hear you, and he never will. Let's sit down.
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Facts about
Nominated for 3 Oscars, the film lost out in all its categories to The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Most of the hard-working (relatively inexperienced) crew were longshoremen. Because there wasn't enough movie work to feed them all year, they'd have two union cards: their Local 52 cards and their ILA cards.
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