12 Angry Men

Here in America, along with many countries around the world including Canada, England, Ireland, and Australis to name a few, there is a right to be judged by a jury of your peers. It's a concept that can be traced from the Ancient Egyptians, to the Greeks, to the Magna Carta, and all the way through to present day. For a lot of us getting that letter in the mail signals that ones service has arrived. For those selected to serve, it means hearing evidence and debating the facts of the case to determine a verdict. Our subject today revolves around that very subject. A group of twelve men, unknown to one another who must reach a verdict to determine one man's fate. A movie that despite its box office failure has become a timeless classic of cinema.

So if you're like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey, then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that's a tall glass of cold chocolate milk, which I gotta tell ya, really hits the spot. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

Our subject today is a well loved film from 1957 and a movie that has gone down as one of the best. This movie is brilliant for so many reasons, some of which we'll get into as we go, I promise. It's a movie that seems so simple, but beneath the surface is so purposeful and beautifully layered. For mw though, I always wondered what the inspiration was behind it. The answer, I found was in the screenwriter, Reginald Rose. Rose stated that he wrote this movie as a way to remind the American people to be understanding with one another and work together, otherwise he feared democracy would crumble. That sentiment is really well communicated throughout this picture, that despite differing opinions and temperaments, we can come together and work toward a solution.

You may be wondering what the inspiration to that was. What was going on at the time of this movie that made Rose fear for America's future enough to write a movie like this? To answer that, we have to go back in time to an event that affected the country before the film's release in 1957. We're going back to the early 1950s, a time when one movement was making headlines regularly and stirring up controversy, fear, paranoia, and anger. A demagogue who went from relative obscurity to frontpage exposure with one bold and dangerous claim that stoked a flame that would end up damaging individual people and forging a rift within the country. His claim was that there were over two-hundred communists within the American political system and based on his claims, he knew who they were. His name was Joseph McCarthy and his red scare trials would engage the nation in fear and paranoia, causing a political and societal rift. He led trials of people accused of being communist and attacked their character, while threatening jail time or career termination on the basis of little or distorted evidence. This spread fear through the country and caused widespread suspicion and distrust of not only other people, but of the government itself. By the end, in 1954, McCarthy had ruined his own reputation and was relieved of his duties, but it was too little too late as thousands of people had either been wrongly imprisoned or had been blacklisted from their careers. This led several well-known figures like Lucile Ball, Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, W.E.B. Dubois, and many more to be deeply affected.

In that same year, of 1954, Reginald Rose began writing a play to be aired on television. A play about twelve men, hearing the case of a young man accused of murder. Twelve men who must, through unity and deliberation, reach a unanimous verdict. It's a story that, when all was said and done would go from a television play to a full length feature and would become an American cinematic classic.

12 Angry Men is a movie about a jury who after hearing the evidence and testimony of a trial are locked in a room to deliberate and determine a verdict. It's within this small room, on the hottest day of the year, and with open windows for air where both their deliberations and the vast majority of the film take place. As the camera makes its way around the room we hear conversations between them and through that conversation we also understand their mindset and thoughts about the case. Some also divulge their plans for later on and what they plan to do with the rest of the day.

The case they're hearing deals with homicide. The defendant is a young man from a low-income household charged with the murder of his own father. Based on conversation in the room we can tell that there are some biases and judgements based on the young man's background. The punishment for this crime is a hefty one, afterall, murder is the most hienious crime there is and so the weighing of evidence should be done in earnest.

To issue a guilty verdict, the vote must be unanimous and from the inner-room banter people are pretty confident there won't be any issues wrapping things up quickly. When they sit down to tally their vote, one by one the men state their verdict and one by one a guilty verdict is spoken...that is, except one. So, when juror number eight announces not-guilty, the room becomes silent and sharp glances are aimed at the brave man for uttering the negative to everyone else's positives. Seeing as though the jury is hung, they must deliberate more to reach a unanimous conclusion and thus our tale unfolds.

Only a small part of this movie is that we as the audience no nothing of the trial, afterall the only scenes of the courtroom are brief exchanges that act like bookends of the film. Instead, we ourselves put the pieces of the puzzle together along with the men inside the room, involving us in the deliberation.

XII Angry Men was directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Henry Fonda. Released in 1957, it was the director's debut to feature filmmaking. Before this movie Lumet had worked in TV and theater. and the producers took a chance on the young director, seeing potential. Alongside Lumet was an all-star cast of actors including Lee J Cobb, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, and Henry Fonda. Not a bad way to begin your directing career with a cast like that.

This movie plays a lot on how we the audience perceive what's happening and feel watching the story unfold. 12 Angry Men is a shining example of how deliberate camera angles add to the story and the audience's experience. One of the feelings emanated is the sense of claustrophobia. Sure, the film is all shot in one room and of course the actors do a great job selling it, but the camera angles used were carefully chosen to aid in that feeling. In fact, Lumet describes this in his book, "Making Movies". In it he describes his thought process, stating:

"I shot the first third of the movie above eye level, shot the second third at eye level and the last third from below eye level. In that way, toward the end the ceiling began to appear. Not only were the walls closing in, the ceiling was as well. The sense of increasing claustrophobia did a lot to raise the tension of the last part of the movie."

This happens gradually and he executes that plan so expertly that we don't notice it visually, but instead feel it emotionally. I found that really interesting and find his level of planning and execution amazing.

Every movie begins with a simple idea or inspiration. Rose, the writer of 12 Angry Men, stated in an interview that

There are so many great scenes and sequences in this film, but one of my favorites is kind of subtle, but one I find pretty powerful. If you've never seen this movie, the twelve men in this small room are debating a case on the hottest day of the year with no ventilation except for the open windows on one side of the room overlooking Manhattan. Throughout the first half of the movie we see people sweating, brushing sweat off their brow, and suffering in the heat, all while engaging in pretty intense debate. Tension is gradually being built up like water on a dam, building pressure and creating cracks until it gives way to chaos. Soon after it begins to downpour. Rain pours into the room through the windows and ironically the men rush to close the very things that have been their only source of reprieve and contact with the outside world. It's this part of the movie I really enjoy...the rain. In the movie it almost acts like a brief reset button and washes away some of tension from the room. We get some moments of brevity all while the calming sound of rain water pouring down soothes us and the men in the room for a bit. When the debating continues the sound of the rain stays with us and with it comes a new outlook. This simple tool, of introducing rain, an outside element to a movie about a room indoors is brilliant. It awakens our senses to something new and does much the same to the jurors.

When our subject today debuted it didn't do very well at all. All things considered, it was considered a box office flop. This might be surprising, knowing its reputation today. This was largely in part because the studio didn't strategize its distribution effectively and the film's chances of turning a profit were never really able to be realized. In fact, some of the cast including Henry Fonda were never even paid for their roles.

Despite this though, 12 Angry Men is among the best movies ever made, not only in the hearts of fans, but the minds of critics as well. This was even true when it was released, meeting rave reviews despite a disappointing box office return. It was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Director, Writing, and Beat Picture during a year in which Bridge on the River Kwai snatched up seven awards during the program. Stars of the picture also loved their involvement and even Henry Fonda maintained that it was one of the best pictures he ever worked on. Since its release it's been consistently celebrated as a gem of American cinema.

This film has has an enormous influence not just on cinema, but outside of the medium as well. Without a doubt, it's become a timeless classic of cinema and a movie that still entertains and touches people to this day.

If you'd like to watch 12 Angry Men I'm pleased to say that you can find it on a wide variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find it on Tubi. Tubi is a streaming service with a diverse catalog of TV and Movie options and the best part is, it's totally free.

Apart from Tubi you can also find it on Pluto TV, which like Tubi offers a diverse catalog and is totally free.

XII Angry Men can also be found on The Criterion Channel. The Criterion Channel is a service of tremendous value for any seasoned or bourgeoning film fan from our friends at the Criterion Collection. The Criterion Channel offers pricing options of either $10.99 per month or $99 per year, which is what I chose to do.

Lastly, you can also find it on Google Play, Apple TV, Redbox, and Vudu for $3.99 to rent.

If you like this podcast tell your friend and follow is on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Each week there will be new content including hints about episodes before they air. If you'd like to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at glazedcinema.com. There you'll find more info about the show and a place to submit ideas for future episodes. For film fans who are hearing impaired, the blog page on our website features each episode in written form as well. As always, thanks for listening and I hope to see you next time with another beverage and another fine film on Glazed Cinema.