Twelve Angry Men

This 1957 movie was a great film. It has been remade several times in several formats and will inevitably continue to be redone. The reason is that the story is timeless.

The cast of this movie was very strong. Henry Fonda, Lee Cobb, Jack Klugman, E G Marshall, and Jack Warden lead the cast as twelve jurors being asked to determine the guilt of a young man accused of murdering his own father. The case is seen by the jurors as an open and shut case and they quickly vote 11 to 1 to convict. Henry Fonda's character is against the immediate conviction. He is not sure he is innocent but thinks that with a young man facing the death penalty they should consider the evidence more clearly.

A pattern emerges. The case was very circumstantial. The truthfulness of eye witness testimony is debated. One must judge the potential motive of a murderer but also the motive of a witness. The real truth in this movie is that so often jurors can be maniipulated much as advertisers manupulate consumers.

Often what is seen is not what is fact and this applies to a courtroom as well.

Through the course of the movie Fonda's side starts winning converts leading to a very strong ending.

This is a great, very riveting movie.