#591: LUMET, Sidney: 12 Angry Men (1957)

LUMET, Sidney (United States)

12 Angry Men [1957]

Spine #591
Blu-ray

12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet, may be the most radical courtroom drama in cinema history. A behind-closed-doors look at the American legal system that is as riveting as it is spare, this iconic adaptation of Reginald Rose's teleplay stars Henry Fonda as the dissenting member on a jury of white men ready to pass judgment on a Puerto Rican teenager charged with murdering his father. The result is a saga of epic proportions that plays out over a tense afternoon in one sweltering room. Lumet's electrifying snapshot of 1950s America on the verge of change is one of the great feature film debuts.

96 minutes
Black & White

Monaural

1:66:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2011

Director/Writers

Screenplay by Reginald Rose.

Sidney Lumet was 33 when he directed 12 Angry Men.

Other Lumet films in the Collection:

#515: The Fugitive Kind (1960)
#1011: Fail Safe (1964)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twenty-six page booklet featuring an essay by writer and law professor Thane Rosenbaum.

Commentary

None.

Television version

From 1955 by Frank Schaffner, with an introduction by Ron Simon, curator at the Paley Center for Media.

Production history

Of 12 Angry Men, from teleplay to big-screen classic.

Archival interviews

With director Lumet.

Interview 1

With screenwriter Walter Bernstein about Lumet.

Interview 2

With Simon about writer Rose.

Tragedy in a Temporary Town

From 1956, a teleplay directed by Lumet and written by Rose.

Interview 3

With cinematographer John Bailey about DP Boris Kaufman.

Original theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
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