12 Angry Men

"It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite!"

1957 1h 37m EN

🤯

8.6

MASTERPIECE

★8.6TMDB · 10,438

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

“It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite!”

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Cast

Martin Balsam
Juror 1
John Fiedler
Juror 2
Lee J. Cobb
Juror 3
E.G. Marshall
Juror 4
Jack Klugman
Juror 5
Edward Binns
Juror 6
Jack Warden
Juror 7
Henry Fonda
Juror 8

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sidney Lumet
Writers: Reginald Rose, Reginald Rose
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $4M — a 11.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

69 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sidney Lumet, shot by Boris Kaufman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kenyon Hopkins. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Carl Lerner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Martin Balsam and John Fiedler and Lee J. Cobb carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sidney Lumet directs. Boris Kaufman behind the camera. Kenyon Hopkins scores. Carl Lerner cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $4M — a 11.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
369 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Sidney Lumet, shot by Boris Kaufman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Kenyon Hopkins. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Carl Lerner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Martin Balsam and John Fiedler and Lee J. Cobb carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite!".
9IMDB entry: tt0050083 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1010,438 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
11Classified under 23 themes, including "death penalty", "anonymity", "court case", "judge".
12Released under 67 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Boris Kaufman
Original score: Kenyon Hopkins
Editing: Carl Lerner
Makeup / hair: Herman Buchman
Sound: Al Gramaglia
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $397,751
Box office: $4,360,000
Return: 1096% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: 12 Angry Men (1957)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Golden Bear
BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor
Grand Prix

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Sidney Lumet

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Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2013-05-13
★ 10/10
Master piece. Fantastic script and evolution of the characters.
John Chard2020-03-29
★ 9/10
Unlikely, but it is possible. 12 Angry Men is directed by Sidney Lumet and adapted from a teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose. The cast is headed by Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb. The film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or innocence of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. Except for two short scenes at the beginning and end of the film, it's filmed entirely on one set, that of the jury deliberation room. Sweaty, gritty, claustrophobic - all words that sit snugly in the context of Lumet's excellently crafted deconstruction of 12 men trying to arrive at one verdict in the case of a Puerto Rican youth on trial for the murder of his father. The evidence appears overwhelming, there's witnesses, a murder weapon and motive, the boy is surely on his way to the electric chair. 11 of the men are convinced he's guilty, only one man stands alone, Henry Fonda's juror number 8, who refuses to turn in a vote of guilty until the evidence and facts are discussed at length. As the others rail against him and tempers get frayed, juror number 8 prompts the others to examine their own prejudices and commitment to justice. A lesson in tight direction and editing, and with performances to match, 12 Angry Men is quite simply not to be missed by those seeking to venture into classic cinema. 9/10
barrymost2021-12-06
★ 10/10
Jurors: Martin Balsam John Fiedler Lee J. Cobb E.G. Marshall Jack Klugman Edward Binns Jack Warden Henry Fonda Joseph Sweeney Ed Begley George Voskovec Robert Webber 12 jurors deliberate on the guilt or innocence of a young Spanish-American man accused of murdering his father. As the moments tick by, the discussion becomes an expose of each individual man's thoughts, feelings, prejudices, and secrets. This is Fonda at his best, backed up with excellent support from all 11 of his fellow jurors. Lee J. Cobb is also a standout. Crackling script by Reginald Rose, with superb direction by Sidney Lumet. Full of memorable moments and great dialogue and character development; this is one of the greatest courtroom dramas this reviewer has ever seen.