12 Angry Men (1957)

Popularity:

Up 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Reginald Rose (story)
Reginald Rose (screenplay)

Release Date:

April 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Life Is In Their Hands -- Death Is On Their Minds!

Plot:

A jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence.

Plot Keywords:

Jury | Murder | Vote | Deliberation | Trial

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Martin Balsam	...	Juror 1
John Fiedler	...	Juror 2
Lee J. Cobb	...	Juror 3
E.G. Marshall	...	Juror 4
Jack Klugman	...	Juror 5
Edward Binns	...	Juror 6
Jack Warden	...	Juror 7
Henry Fonda	...	Juror 8
Joseph Sweeney	...	Juror 9
Ed Begley	...	Juror 10
George Voskovec	...	Juror 11
Robert Webber	...	Juror 12
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rudy Bond	...	Judge (uncredited)
Tom Gorman	...	Stenographer (uncredited)
James Kelly	...	Guard (uncredited)
Billy Nelson	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
John Savoca	...	The Accused (uncredited)
Walter Stocker	...	Man Waiting for Elevator (uncredited)

Directed by
Sidney Lumet

Writing credits
Reginald Rose		(story)
Reginald Rose		(screenplay)

Produced by
Henry Fonda	....	producer
George Justin	....	associate producer
Reginald Rose	....	producer

Original Music by
Kenyon Hopkins

Cinematography by
Boris Kaufman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Carl Lerner		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Bob Markell		(as Robert Markel)

Makeup Department
Herman Buchman	....	makeup

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Kranze	....	assistant director (as Donald Kranze)

Sound Department
James A. Gleason	....	sound
Al Gramaglia	....	re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Saul Midwall	....	operative cameraman
Muky	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Kenyon Hopkins	....	conductor

Other crew
Faith Hubley	....	script supervisor (as Faith Elliott)

Production Companies

• Orion-Nova Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (as A United Artists Presentation)
• Les Artistes Associés (1958) (France) (theatrical)
• Nova Film (1957) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• United Artists Films (1957) (Finland) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1957) (Argentina) (theatrical) (as Artistas Unidos)
• United Artists (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Shochiku Select (1959) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1967) (Finland) (TV)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• SF Home Entertainment (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• New Star (2013) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2013) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA VideoDiscs (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Varus Video (Russia) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Solters & Digney  publicity (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Finland:K-8 | Japan:G (2009) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #18206) | USA:TV-PG (tv rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

New York County Courthouse - 60 Centre Street, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Orion-Nova Productions

Trivia:

There are three jurors with glasses: #12 removes his from the nose six times, #4 removes it one time and #2 never removes it.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the rainstorm the juror turns on the light by pushing the switch down. At the end of the movie, as they are exiting the jury room, the light switch is in the up position.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man in corridor:You did a wonderful job, wonderful job!
Judge:To continue, you've listened to a long and complex case, murder in the first degree. Premeditated murder is the most serious charge tried in our criminal courts. You've listened to the testimony, you've had the law read to you and interpreted as it applies in this case...

Movie Connections:

Version of Die zwölf Geschworenen (1963) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Dance of the Cuckoos

Simple but great.

'12 Angry Men' is an outstanding film. It is proof that, for a film to be great, it does not need extensive scenery, elaborate costumes or expensive special effects - just superlative acting.

The twelve angry men are the twelve jurors of a murder case. An eighteen-year-old boy from a slum background is accused of stabbing his father to death and faces the electric chair if convicted. Eleven of the men believe the boy to be guilty; only one (Henry Fonda) has doubts. Can he manage to convince the others?

The court case provides only a framework, however. The film's greatness lies in its bringing-together of twelve different men who have never met each other before and the interaction of their characters as each man brings his own background and life experiences into the case. Thus, we have the hesitant football coach (Martin Balsam), the shy, uncertain bank clerk (John Fiedler), the aggressive call company director (Lee J. Cobb), the authoritative broker (E.G. Marshall), the self-conscious slum dweller (Jack Klugman), the solid, dependable painter (Edward Binns), the selfish salesman (Jack Warden), the calm, collected architect (Fonda), the thoughtful, observant older man (Joseph Sweeney), the racially bigoted garage owner (Ed Begley), the East European watchmaker (George Voskovec) and the beefcake advertising agent (Robert Webber) who has plenty of chat and little else.

Almost the entire film takes place in just one room, the jury room, where the men have retired to consider their verdict. The viewer finds him or herself sweating it out with the jury as the heat rises, literally and metaphorically, among the men as they make their way towards their final verdict. Interestingly, the jurors (apart from two at the end) are never named. They do not need to be. Their characters speak for them.

Henry Fonda is eminently suitable and excellently believable as the dissenter who brings home the importance of a jury's duty to examine evidence thoroughly and without prejudice. Joseph Sweeney is delightful as Juror No. 9, the quiet but shrewd old man who misses nothing, whilst E.G. Marshall brings his usual firmness and authority to the role of Juror No. 4. All the actors shine but perhaps the best performance is that of Lee J. Cobb as Juror No. 3, the hard, stubborn, aggressive, vindictive avenger who is reduced to breaking down when forced to confront the failure of his relationship with his own son.

Several of the stars of '12 Angry Men' became household names. Henry Fonda continued his distinguished career until his death in 1982, as well as fathering Jane and Peter. Lee J. Cobb landed the major role of Judge Henry Garth in 'The Virginian'. E.G. Marshall enjoyed a long, reputable career on film and t.v., including playing Joseph P. Kennedy in the 'Kennedy' mini-series. Jack Klugman was 'Quincy' whilst John Fiedler voiced Piglet in the 'Winnie The Pooh' films and cartoons.

Of the twelve, only John Fiedler, Jack Klugman and Jack Warden* are still alive. Although around the eighty mark, they are all still acting. The film was still available on video last year and it is shown on t.v. fairly frequently. I cannot recommend it too highly!

(*John Fiedler died June 2005. Jack Warden died July 2006.)