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12 Angry Men

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12 Angry Men

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Also known as Twelve Angry Men

1957 American film by Sidney Lumet

AI overview

"12 Angry Men" is a 1957 American film directed by Sidney Lumet that follows twelve jurors as they deliberate over a murder case, with one juror working to convince the others to reconsider their initial guilty verdict. The film is considered a classic because it explores themes of justice, prejudice, and the importance of careful reasoning in the legal system.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Film · TMDB

8.6

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

Released: 1957-04-1097 minDir: Sidney LumetDramaBudget: $397,751Box office: $4.4M

Cast

  • Martin Balsam as Juror 1
  • John Fiedler as Juror 2
  • Lee J. Cobb as Juror 3
  • E.G. Marshall as Juror 4
  • Jack Klugman as Juror 5
  • Edward Binns as Juror 6

Themes

  • death penalty
  • anonymity
  • court case
  • judge
  • jurors
  • innocence
  • witness
  • knife
  • matter of life and death
  • based on play or musical

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Ratings

IMDb

9/10

981,488 votes

Rotten Tomatoes

100%

Metacritic

97/100

Year
1957
Runtime
96 min
Genres
Crime, Drama
Rated
Approved
Awards
Nominated for 3 Oscars. 16 wins & 12 nominations total

via OMDb · IMDb

Internet Archive

audio

12 Angry Men: Zechariah

Listen at Internet Archive →

via archive.org

~29 min read

Encyclopedic overview

12 Angry Men is a 1957 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet in his feature directorial debut, adapted by Reginald Rose from his 1954 teleplay. A critique of the American jury system during the McCarthy era, the film tells the story of a jury of twelve men as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a teenager charged with murder on the basis of reasonable doubt; disagreement and conflict among the jurors forces them to question their morals and values. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Henry Fonda (who also produced the film with Rose), Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E. G. Marshall, and Jack Warden.

An independent production distributed by United Artists, 12 Angry Men received acclaim from critics, despite a lukewarm box-office performance. At the 30th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. It is regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “12 Angry Men” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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