12 Angry Men (1957 film)

12 Angry Men is a 1957 American drama film with elements of film noir, adapted from a teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose. Written and coproduced by Rose himself and directed by Sidney Lumet, this trial film tells the story of a jury made up ofmen as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. In the United States, a verdict in most criminal trials by jury must be unanimous. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set with the exception of the films opening, which begins outside on the steps of the courthouse followed by the judges final instructions to the jury before retiring, a brief final scene on the courthouse steps, and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room. The total time spent outside the jury room is three minutes out of the full 96minutes of the movie.

The story begins in a New York City courthouse, where an nineteenyearold boy from a slum is on trial for allegedly stabbing his father to death. Final closing arguments having been presented, a visibly bored judge instructs the jury to decide whether the boy is guilty of murder. If there is any reasonable doubt of his guilt they are to return a verdict of not guilty. The judge further informs them that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence.The jury retires to a private room, where the jurors spend a short while getting acquainted before they begin deliberating. It is immediately apparent that the jurors have already decided that the boy is guilty, and that they plan to return their verdict without taking time for discussionwith the sole exception of JurorHenry Fonda, who is the only not guilty vote in a preliminary tally. He explains that there is too much at stake for him to go along with the verdict without at least talking about it first. His vote annoys the other jurors, especially JurorJack Warden, who has tickets to a baseball game that evening and JurorEd Begley, who believes that people from slum backgrounds are liars, wild, and dangerous. ........

Source: Wikipedia