Twelve Angry Men
Commentary and Resources

In Twelve Angry Men, his 1957 classic about the inner workings of a jury, Sidney Lumet confines us to the same stifling, claustrophobic jury room with Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, E. G. Marshall, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, and seven other distinguished working actors of the Fifties. In this opening shot of the New York courthouse, a well known film and TV icon for law and crime dramas, the viewer looks up at the imposing columns and grand entrance of this hall of justice. Make a note the next time you see this shot on your favorite TV program; it's homage to Lumet, one of the great American film directors of our time.


Internet Resources
"New jury movie loaded with acting talent" by Ron Tank of CNN
review of the 1997 remake

"Twelve Angry Men (1997)" by Steve Rhodes
Silicon Valley Today

"Twelve Angry Men (Studio One, 1957)" by Steve Rhodes
review of the original LIVE production of 12 A.M. (1954) (1957 version based on this)

"Twelve Angry Men? Think Again"
By Joseph A. Rice, Ph.D. of The Jury Research Institute

Review of the 1997 version by Nick Amado
"40 years later, a second attempt at the film is made, and the only question this viewer could manage was 'why?'"

"12 Angry Men" by Ms. Linda Holmes
--a review of the 1957 version

 


  • Lynne Viti, lviti@wellesley.edu
  • Wellesley College Writing Program
  • Date created: August 24, 1998
  • Last modified by Kathy Roche '03 on: July 30, 2001
  • Date expired: June 2002