100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #36: 12 Angry Men (1957)

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Adapted from the 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose.

12 actors. One room. Endless drama.

That was essentially the premise of Reginald Rose’s brilliant television movie (still a novel concept at the time of its release) following a jury panel hung up in their room by a singular man who challenges the notions of the legal process and pushes his fellow citizens to think for themselves in the case of a young boy who allegedly killed his father. Three years after its release comes the feature film adaptation by one of the greatest directors of all time, Sidney Lumet. For his directing of the film he received a nomination at the Oscars for “Best Director”: all the more notable considering this was his debut feature.

Shot in memorable black-and-white cinematography by Boris Kaufman (the Oscar-winning DP for On the Waterfront) the film constantly reinvents the ways in which stories were told in Hollywood, at a time when overseas Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa were laying the groundwork for modern cinema.¹ Many veteran and amateur cinephiles have studied this film shot-for-shot as a perfect model of efficient, powerful filmmaking. The film is shot in a series of primarily long takes, with cuts only being used when necessary. This heightens the sense of immersion within the small room as the camera moves slowly from being shot on a wide-angle lens to a telephoto lens by the end: making every single bead of sweat on the jurors’ foreheads that much more visible for the audience as the tension continues to escalate.

The film is led by Henry Fonda, who was often known for playing leads with strong moral compasses: and it is his character’s job to sway the rest of his 11 comrades from their vote of “Guilty” against the boy on trial. Rounding out the cast are veteran character actors Lee J. Cobb (who also had just come off a nomination for his work in On the Waterfront), Martin Balsam, and Jack Warden. Just like in the original TV movie, each of the twelve jurors has a unique and distinct personality: for example E.G. Marshall’s Juror #4 is hyper-factual and self-serious, whereas Robert Webber’s Juror #12 is a marketing man more interested in telling jokes and selling his products than taking any meaningful side in the debate. The cast even includes two actors from the original production: Joseph Sweeney as the old but wise Juror #9 and George Voskovec as the sharp, European immigrant Juror #11.

Each of the twelve characters gets to shine in their own way, despite the fact that some are literally louder voices in the room they all have an impact on one another in the several hours (condensed for screentime, of course) they share in that small, hot room. Cobb’s Juror #3 is perhaps the angriest of the men in the room, harboring a personal vendetta in the whole mix that is unrelated to the entire case: as the film progresses he comes increasingly violent and agitated. Some of the quieter, more meek characters such as Balsam’s Juror #1 and John Fiedler’s comedically small-voiced² Juror #2 still have their own character arcs throughout the film and many memorable lines and scenes: in this film, there literally can’t afford to be any small characters.

Reginald’s adaptation of his own teleplay is aggressively tight and is as scrutinizing as the characters themselves, exploring every angle of the case in creative ways that encourage the audience to join in on the whole process as they watch. Changes from the original teleplay include far more “character moments” with the jurors, which also could have been encouraged by Lumet while filming and maybe even by some of the actors themselves. The dialogue moves at such a brisk pace for so much of the film that whenever it slows down during any sort of monologue it keeps you rapt at attention. The script also essentially ensures that each of the twelve characters, in a way, share the role of the protagonist: they must each undergo some sort of arc to overcome their shortcomings in the process. In the case of the heroic Juror #8, it is overcoming his own doubts about himself; for Cobb’s #3 it is moving on from the past. Good scripts force characters to grow amidst the most challenging of circumstances, and this film is no exception.

12 Angry Men stands as one of the greatest films of all time: I have personally seen the film upwards of eight or nine times at this point and not once has it gotten old or stale. Those who wish to study or make films would find it well worth their while to begin with this one, especially for Lumet’s tight direction and work with cinematographer Kaufman. It’s a simple concept performed at the highest caliber, serving as a poignant reminder of the importance of thinking for yourself amidst the cacophony of a world of ambivalent noise.

1. Some maintain that 1957 was the greatest year for movies ever. Notable films released during that year besides 12 Angry Men include Bergman’s Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Wilder’s The Spirit of St. Louis.

2. Fiedler is most famously known as the original voice of Piglet. Try getting that out of your head when watching this film!