12 Angry Men (50th Anniversary Edition)
by Sidney Lumet
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Actor: Ed Begley, Edward Binns, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, Rudy BondDirector: Sidney Lumet
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Cinematographer: Boris Kaufman
Composer: Kenyon Hopkins
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of 12 Angry Men (50th Anniversary Edition)
DVD Review: Not to be Repeated
Summary: 5 Stars
As I find myself now going for years without going to the movies, at times I have asked myself whether I've just lost enthusiasm for them, or perhaps it's just middle age.
No! We don't have this quality of film come to screen often anymore, being too worried about someone's virginity or frat-boy antics, or cheap horror.
As a prior reviewer so aptly stated, there isn't much required in the way of complication to make a great, classic movie. However, one must start with a great screenplay; this is sorely lacking now. Twelve Angry Men is a great example of how little is required when the right ingredients are there. I think there were maybe 4 sets, one of which was outside steps. The main set, the jury room, hosted almost all the movie, along with a small bathroom. The talents of the actors, and their mating with their parts, is in perfect balance. All are appropriate, all are superb.
Of course, time has marched on since this movie was released. The Rushes and Seans out there would condemn it with that hated word, 'liberal', but that's all right, too. Decency, which Fonda radiates in this part, always comes out on top. Yet another film shot in the twilight of black and white cinematography, and as master example at that.
DVD Review: 12 Angry Men DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
Distributor was great; received the DVD in quicker than expected. The DVD itself is wonderful, with a nice bonus documentary about the making of 12 Angry Men.DVD Review: Still Great After All These Years
Summary: 5 Stars
Teenagers today are supposed to refuse to watch black and white, and to sniff at anything more than 15 minutes old. Several people told me to get the remake of this instead of the original, but when I showed it to 95 undergraduates they were completely spellbound (that means quiet) and active in discussion afterwards. It may be old, and outdated in parts (unlikely that a juror would sneak a switchblade into the jury room; unlikely that a jury would be 12 white men) but so what? This is one of those films where every part is perfectly cast and acted. I was a little confused for a bit by Amazon's listing as Martin Balsam as the lead actor (he plays a relatively secondary role), but evidently they do this in alphabetical order. Henry Fonda, of course, is the key actor here.
If you have a use for it, there is a very nice 15 minute intro to the film included with a couple of noted talking head legal types (Robert Shapiro, Gloria Allred) explaining the fine points and what would not happen today.
DVD Review: 12 Angry Men
Summary: 5 Stars
Fantastic movie. I used it in my classroom to demonstrate the import role a jury plays.DVD Review: Drama in the Jury Room
Summary: 5 Stars
The film begins at the entrance to a courthouse (the classic style from the 19th century). A man is on trial for murder in the first degree. The judge reads the law, the jury will decide from the conflicting testimonies. It is a hot day, no air conditioning. [Hot weather is associated with higher crime and violence.] The conversations tell about the jurors (all male for a murder case). The foreman asks for a preliminary vote, then a discussion. The first vote by hand is 11 for guilty. The jury begins to discuss the case. The holdout talks about the miserable life of the 18-year old who stabbed his father. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. One juror discusses the facts of the eyewitness identification. [No physical evidence.] The heat and the arguments affect the jurors. Did the defendant get a competent defense? They examine one piece of evidence. If that type of knife was available to others, would it be proof of guilt? [Jurors shouldn't investigate on their own.]
They vote again by secret ballot, and only ten vote guilty. The characters of the jury are shown. Is one juror affected by his own family history? The dissident juror points out how a passing elevated train would make extreme noise to block out conversation and the noise of a falling body. Then another juror votes `not guilty'. One juror questions the lack of fingerprints on the knife handle. The next vote adds another `not guilty'. How accurate was the time estimate? The next vote is six to six. The more they discuss the evidence the more doubt is raised about the case. Would a memory be affected by emotional stress? How would that knife be used in a stabbing? More vote for acquittal. Does prejudice motivate one juror? They review the testimony of the eyewitness. Note how some jurors see things the others have missed. Do people wear eyeglasses to bed? There is now a reasonable doubt for some. And so the jury reaches a verdict. [Note how a person's background and emotion affect how they view events.]
You can contrast this drama to your own experience. It wasn't that dramatic. This film can serve as a tutorial: jurors discuss the testimony and apply reason and common sense. The most common cause for wrongful conviction is still faulty eyewitness identification. This was known in the late 19th century.
Description of 12 Angry Men (50th Anniversary Edition)
Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made" (The Hollywood Reporter).Sidney Lumet's directorial debut remains a tense, atmospheric (though slightly manipulative and stagy) courtroom thriller, in which the viewer never sees a trial and the only action is verbal. As he does in his later corruption commentaries such as Serpico or Q & A, Lumet focuses on the lonely one-man battles of a protagonist whose ethics alienate him from the rest of jaded society. As the film opens, the seemingly open-and-shut trial of a young Puerto Rican accused of murdering his father with a knife has just concluded and the 12-man jury retires to their microscopic, sweltering quarters to decide the verdict. When the votes are counted, 11 men rule guilty, while one--played by Henry Fonda, again typecast as another liberal, truth-seeking hero--doubts the obvious. Stressing the idea of "reasonable doubt," Fonda slowly chips away at the jury, who represent a microcosm of white, male society--exposing the prejudices and preconceptions that directly influence the other jurors' snap judgments. The tight script by Reginald Rose (based on his own teleplay) presents each juror vividly using detailed soliloquies, all which are expertly performed by the film's flawless cast. Still, it's Lumet's claustrophobic direction--all sweaty close-ups and cramped compositions within a one-room setting--that really transforms this contrived story into an explosive and compelling nail-biter. --Dave McCoy
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