Directed by
Sidney Lumet
Written by
Reginald Rose (story/screenplay)
Cast
Martin Balsam – Juror #1
John Fielder – Juror #2
Lee J. Cobb – Juror #3
E.G. Marshall – Juror #4
Jack Klugman – Juror #5
Ed Binns – Juror #6
Jack Warden – Juror #7
Henry Fonda – Juror #8/Mr Davis
Joseph Sweeney – Juror #9
Ed Begley – Juror #10
George Voskovec – Juror #11
Robert Webber – Juror #12
The chief advantage of going to a movie instead of going to a play is in the production values. Generally speaking, the sets are more elaborate, the acting more polished and the special effects are more impressive. But there are some films that look like they could quite easily be performed as plays. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is one example – most of the action takes place on one set. Another is Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men. In fact, I went to a stage production of 12 Angry Men in 2004. While I enjoyed it, it paled in comparison to the film version.
12 Angry Men is deceptively simple. In this black and white film, twelve people are looked away in a jury room. We only learn the names of two of the jurors, and even then only at the end of the film. The jurors’ task is to come up with a verdict in a murder trial. If they reach a guilty verdict, the judge has no choice but to impose the death penalty. The case seems like it is open and shut. Through the deliberations, a character study emerges for every individual in the room. We see the mild-mannered man, the elderly sage, the bigot, the young executive and so on. Despite the title of the film, there are really only two angry men – the previously mentioned bigot and Juror #3 (Lee J .Cobb). Cobb puts in a brilliant performance as a man who is struggling with his personal life and refuses to set aside his own emotional interpretation of the case in order to judge it fairly.
Juror #3’s antithesis is Juror #8 (Henry Fonda). Juror #8 is the only man at the beginning of the film that is prepared to look at the evidence and examine it piece by piece. In fact, the jury votes 11:1 to convict in the first vote. Fonda portrays Juror #8 as a cautious and methodical man. Like the rest of the jury he has no vested interest in the outcome of the case – but he is concerned with the process. To Juror #8 the procedural fairness is the most important part of a juror’s duty.
Ultimately the film stands as an endorsement of the rule of law and the role that every citizen in a free country can play in it. It hammers home the idea that such a role is precious and is not to be taken on lightly. Perhaps the most important idea we see in the film is that you can be a dissenter from popular opinion and yet remain loyal to certain foundational principles. This was an important lesson in the aftermath of McCarthyism.
12 Angry Men is a reasonably short film – just over one and a half hours, but it is a film that sticks with you. So many movies depict courage in battle or in times of mortal danger. This one shows the importance of having the courage to stand by your convictions in circumstances that any one of us will possibly – maybe even probably – face at some point in our lives. I highly recommend this film.
If you enjoyed 12 Angry Men, you may also enjoy:
Rear Window
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hurricane
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| Grrrrr! |
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