by Julian Spivey

One of the greatest film scripts ever written is without a doubt “12 Angry Men,” penned by Reginald Rose.

The film proves that great films can be made that merely take place in a single room. In an age where computer graphics and special effects are used to hold an audience’s lack of attention films like “12 Angry Men” (1957) and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller “Rear Window” (1954) are sadly lost in today’s society.

“12 Angry Men,” directed by Sidney Lumet in his directorial debut, is the story about a jury trying to decide whether or not an unnamed, immigrant juvenile is guilty of killing his own father. The story seems open and shut at the beginning of the film, until one of the jurors played by Henry Fonda has doubts about the teen’s guiltiness. The rest of the film is brilliantly laid out in the juror’s room as the twelve men go back in forth on why they think the teen is innocent or guilty.

The twelve actors, in order by juror number: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec and Robert Webber all portray their respective characters excellently.

“12 Angry Men” is truly one of the few films in the history of cinema that includes almost flawless acting by the entire cast. The only minor flaw with the script seems to be that Juror number 12, played by Webber, doesn’t seem as important throughout the film as the other eleven jurors.

Every actor in the great ensemble cast does an excellent job at bringing their character’s characteristics to the forefront during the film to get the audience to identify with them, something that seems hard to do as the majority of the characters names are never mentioned. Only Fonda and Sweeney’s characters exchange last names after the case is resolved at the film’s finale.

Fonda seems to be at his best when he’s fighting for the little man or the innocent man as he does in this film as well as films like John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940) and William A. Wellman’s “The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943). His naturalistic, every-man type of acting really comes off in a special manner that few other actors have.

Cobb does a great job as the antagonist of the story. His character, juror number three, seems to want the young teens head in a noose from the beginning and he remains steadfast in his beliefs to the film’s very end.           

The film is amazing in its many aspects, as it provides views on such topics as communism, McCarthyism and racism. One of the film’s most moving scenes is when the jurors all turn their backs on the racist attitudes and behavior of juror number 10, played by Begley.