In the jury room we are introduced to twelve men, each from a different walk of life and all with distinct opinions about the case. Slowly they mill about the room anticipating that this will be a quick deliberation and that soon they will depart and resume their normal lives. When a preliminary vote is cast, one dissenting juror casts a vote of not guilty. It is not that juror #8 (Henry Fonda) believes the defendant to be innocent, but that the boy’s fate should not be hastily decided upon. Completely clad in white, juror #8 represents mans humanity weighing in on the rashness of jumping to conclusions. Over the course of the film, through logic, deduction and guile, he will slowly sway the others to see that the circumstantial evidence used against the boy is not irrefutable and that there is a measure of reasonable doubt as to whether the boy is guilty of the charges against him.

12 Angry Men was first broadcast as a live drama on television the previous year. Though incredibly popular in its initial airing, it had been seen by relatively few people, as most families still did not own a television. Fonda thought the intensity of the screenplay would transfer well to the big screen and he secured the film rights to the play. The rest of the cast is a veritable who’s who of great character actors from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Martin Balsam, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, Robert Webber, Edward Binns, E.G. Marshall and Jack Klugman are all names that most filmgoers of the following two decades would recognize from their rich and respected résumé’s. The one standout in the ensemble is Lee J. Cobb (Juror #3), who is mesmerizing as the antagonist whose personal struggle with his runaway son overshadows his reasoning and casts him in the role of the self-righteous zealot, hell bent on getting the boy executed. The remaining cast members excel in their supporting roles and act as a counterbalance between Fonda and Cobb, each bringing small nuances to their characters that enlivens the dialogue. From the opening title to the end credits you will lay witness to one of the greatest examples of cinematic drama ever produced in Hollywood, a true work of celluloid art.