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12 ANGRY MEN Best Drama, 1957 - 5-Star Masterpiece No Action Required: Great Dialogue Coming Out of the Mouths of Great Actors Makes This One Powerful Film 12 Angry Men was groundbreaking drama when it appeared on CBS's Studio One in 1954. The script, by television writer Reginald Rose (The Defenders), features an all-male ensemble cast in which the characters are nameless jury members in a murder trial. A teenage boy has been accused of knifing his father, and the evidence includes the body, the boy's knife and several witnesses. The film rights were bought by Henry Fonda, who co-produced the film with Rose in 1957. It was directed by Sidney Lumet and it was his first film. Previously, he had directed television dramas. He went on to direct some very famous films, including Serpico, Murder On The Orient Express, Network, Dog Day Afternoon and The Verdict. When the 12 Angry Men begins, the jury is filing into the jury room to consider their verdict. The camera angle is wide and high, creating a sense of space. But as the drama progresses, it tightens to a long, low lens. Lumet says he did this to create a sense of claustrophobia. Only one member of the jury believes the boy on trial may be innocent (Henry Fonda). The others are totally convinced of his guilt. Over the course of the film, they debate the evidence and, one-by-one, change their minds. How that happens is what makes this such a remarkable film, and one of the true gems of screenwriting. The cast is practically a Who's Who of character actors, including Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Ed Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec and Robert Webber. Some of the performances - like Fonda, Cobb, Marshall, Klugman and Warden - are remarkable. The script is masterful, as it weaves the psyches of the twelve jurors into one taut drama. Even though the entire story takes place in a single room, and there is really no "action" per se, it is spellbinding to watch each man wrestle with his own conscience in light of his ever growing doubts over the evidence. It is pretty obvious where the film is heading: but how it gets there is what makes it so fascinating. 12 Angry Men should be required viewing for every man, woman and child in America because it shows our legal system in action better than anything I've ever seen. It is a story about how easy it is to presume someone's guilt based on prejudice, anger or circumstantial evidence. The power of questions - and a reasonable doubt - is all it takes to turn a jury dead set against a defendant totally around. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay Oscars, and won the Writers Guild of America Award, among others. |
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