12 Angry Men

Of all the feature films that I have presented in my class, the one film that I have shown more than any other in Sidney Lumet's 1957 film 12 Angry Men.  It is not because it is my favorite film (although it is fair to say that it is one of my favorites); it is because it is a film that I have yet to become distanced from due to overviewing, which is remarkable considering that I end up watching it two times per year.  The only other feature film that I can think of that I can consistently watch on this level is Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night; which admittedly has the added advantage of featuring The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania.  For the record, the two films I have probably seen more that any other films, due to my class rather than due to personal preference, are Edwin Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1902) and Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1903).  This is not to say that I don't like these two early films, by the way.

But 12 Angry Men maintains a special place in my heart, despite being overly familiar with the plot.  Based on a live television drama originally directed by Franklin Schaffner for the Studio One program, the film takes Reginald Rose's teleplay almost verbatim (Rose also wrote the screenplay).  Lumet himself came from television, and his reluctance to cut when he can move the camera instead effectively betrays his live television background.  Lumet himself maintains control of the camera technology in service to his narrative (ably abetted by UFA-trained director of photography Boris Kaufman).  For example, the camera begins above eye level.  As the film progresses, the camera moves to eye level and descends to view the characters from below as the tension between characters increases.  Similarly, Lumet starts with wider angle lenses at the beginning of the film granting the jury room that occupies all but two or three  minutes of the film's running time more apparent space.  As the tension increases, Lumet moves to normal lenses finally utilizing telephoto lenses to squash space making the jury room uncomfortably claustrophobic.

But what makes 12 Angry Men really work, and what makes it a hard film to get sick of, is the actor's performances that bring these well-written characters to life.  It is an amazing film that ends up putting the acting skills of Henry Fonda as one of the weakest in the film (which is not the same as saying that his performance is weak).  The performances of Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, Martin Balsam, E. G. Marshall, John Fieldler, Ed Begley and especially Lee J. Cobb are stunning.  Also strong are the performances of Edwin Binns, George Voskovec, and Joseph Sweeney (the latter two actors also coming from the live television version of 12 Angry Men).  Only Robert Webber's performance occasionally seems forced, but it is hardly a fatal flaw (and this is not to say that his performance is bad, it just pales in comparison to his competition).  These performances make 12 Angry Men a very entertaining film despite the absence of special effects, explosions or gunplay (though there is a knife).

As a side, the original television version was thought to be lost except for the first one-half hour, but a complete copy showed up in 2003.  It seem to me that it is time that this teleplay deserves a video release.