[WGH]

Twelve Angry Men could have been made today such that the jurors deciding the accused fate bring their preconceived ideas of guilt and racism to bare while deliberating a murder trial. The all star cast includes Henry Fonda, who is the lone hold out in what needs to be a unanimous guilty verdict. The other 11 jurors just want to get on with their lives because the accused is obviously guilty. What follows is the tightest, most riveting 96 minutes in the history of film, a genuine masterpiece.




Directed by Sidney Lumet, the camera focuses on each character as the tension builds:
"At the beginning of the film, the cameras are positioned above eye level and mounted with wide-angle lenses, to give the appearance of greater depth between subjects, but as the film progresses the focal length of the lenses is gradually increased. By the end of the film, nearly everyone is shown in closeup, using telephoto lenses from a lower angle, which decreases or "shortens" depth of field. Lumet stated that his intention in using these techniques with cinematographer Boris Kaufman was to create a nearly palpable claustrophobia."¹




The all star cast includes:

Martin Balsam as Juror 1, the jury foreman; a calm and methodical assistant high school football coach.
John Fiedler as Juror 2, a meek and unpretentious bank worker who is initially dominated by others.
Lee J. Cobb as Juror 3, a hot-tempered owner of a courier business who is estranged from his son; the most passionate advocate of a guilty verdict.
E.G. Marshall as Juror 4, an unflappable and analytical stock broker who is concerned with the facts of the case.
Jack Klugman as Juror 5, a man who grew up in a violent slum, and is sensitive to insults about his upbringing.
Edward Binns as Juror 6, a tough but principled house painter who consistently speaks up when others are verbally disrespected, especially the elderly.
Jack Warden as Juror 7, a wisecracking salesman who expresses indifference to the case.
Henry Fonda as Davis, Juror 8, a humane, justice-seeking architect; initially the only one to vote "not guilty" and openly question the seemingly clear evidence presented.
Joseph Sweeney as McCardle, Juror 9, a wise and intelligent senior who is highly observant of the witnesses' behaviors and their possible motivations.
Ed Begley as Juror 10, a pushy, loud-mouthed, and xenophobic garage owner.
George Voskovec as Juror 11, a European watchmaker and naturalized American citizen who demonstrates strong respect for democratic values such as due process.
Robert Webber as Juror 12, an indecisive and distractible advertising executive.



Nominated for 3 Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay. It lost to The Bridge on the River Kwai in all three categories.

Twelve Angry Men is included in AFI's 100 Best American Films Of All Time and #2 in AFI's 10 greatest COURTROOM DRAMA films of all time with a 100% rating on RT
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000013_12_angry_men

 

¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Angry_Men_(1957_film)