Sidney Lumet Frames 12 Angry Men with Artful Precision

 

           One of the most incisive, stimulating dramas from the 1950s, United Artists’ forceful production of 12 Angry Men allows audiences a deep dive into the diverse aspects that can go on in a jury room as the peers therein attempt to make a “beyond a reasonable doubt” decision. Screenwriter Reginald Rose, adapting his 1954 Emmy-winning teleplay Twelve Angry Men based on Rose’s own experiences as a juror, provides a fascinating take on the motivations, egos and biases that can come into play among an array of contrasting personalities as they seek (or try to overlook) key facts in a murder case, while attempting to determine the validity of the evidence presented by presumed eyewitnesses. Director Sidney Lumet, in a remarkable cinematic directional debut, adroitly focuses on each jury member in order to paint a full portrait of the man’s assets and flaws, while perfectly capturing the mood involved in the dour jury room surroundings, aided by Boris Kaufman’s rich black and white lensing, Carl Lerner’s complex editing and a sparse, melancholic hinged score by Kenyon Hopkins that helps set the time-and-place. One of the most dynamic, gifted casts ever, led by Henry Fonda as Juror #8, the protagonist determined to give the accused a fair shake when the initial odds look dire, work in perfect tandem with Lumet, each coming through with definitive, highly individual performances that stand as benchmarks in their careers.

Born in 1924, Lumet started his landmark career as a child actor on Broadway, before WWII caused a break in this vocation. Post-war, Lumet honed his directional skills working off-Broadway, then thrived as one of the most prolific helmers of live television fare. This expansive background made him an ideal choice to oversee a film based almost entirely on one set. Using Rose’s concise, multi-faceted script, Lumet is able to emphasize the tense environment and array of emotions each juror encounters, allowing the theatrical nature of key moments to come across in vivid fashion, due to careful staging and precise use of close-ups that reveal a juror’s mindset, while also giving the actors and camerawork the freedom to bright forth the sometimes-florid drama with a sense of immediacy and truth. The ambience Lumet is able to maintain for the 96-minute run time is also a prime achievement, with a viewer first feeling the humid, sweat-inducing courtroom climate, then a sense of relief when rain comes midway through to offer the jurors a welcome reprieve as temperatures continue to rise. Lumet also wisely provides one lingering shot of the despondent young man on trial early on, before fading into the actual jury room. This sole image stays with a viewer throughout the proceedings as a humane point of identification, reminding one of the life at stake depending on the jury’s final decision.  After this outstanding endeavor, Lumet would continue as a major force in American film, often showcasing stories based in New York City and featuring powerful acting, offering such work as A Long Day’s Journey into Night, The Pawnbroker, Serpico, possibly peaking in the mid-1970s with Dog Day Afternoon and Network, continuing apace in the 1980s with Prince of the City, The Verdict and Running on Empty, then finishing his career with aplomb via 2007’s Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, before passing in 2011.

By 1957, Henry Fonda had firmly established his screen image of the ideal American over a two-decade career as a leading figure in films, with his iconic Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, perfectly-pitched comic work opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve and his calm-yet-intense work as the most consciousness and decent citizen in 1943’s classic The Ox-Bow Incident just three of his soaring interpretations. Co-producing 12 Angry with writer Rose after gaining clout via his massive success on stage and in the 1955 film version as the title figure in Mr. Roberts, Fonda’s clear involvement with the 12 Angry material can be witnessed in his focused, dedicated portrayal of the honest, morally upright juror #8. As the intricacies of the plot develop, Fonda also does a great of suggesting, along with the character’s decency, the self-satisfaction and ego that may also be compelling #8 to challenge the opinion of his associates. In the wrong hands this role could grow tiresome and unbelievable, as the juror relentlessly questions nearly every observation of his peers, but Fonda so clearly conveys the search for honesty and justice driving the man that a viewer can only feel great admiration for the courage and principals he possesses. Following this triumph, Fonda would continue to score on stage and film, including changing gears to phenomenal effect as one of the cinema’s nastiest villains in 1969’s Once Upon a Time in the West, then eventually winning an Oscar in 1982 for a much more likeable delineation opposite Katharine Hepburn and daughter Jane in his final feature film On Golden Pond, shortly before his passing later that year.

Lee J. Cobb, as the easily riled juror #3, finds perhaps the most ideal role for the bombastic playing style that helped make him a top character star on stage and screen during this period, particularly via his breakthrough as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway and his Oscar-nominated mob boss in On the Waterfront. 12 Angry provides Cobb ample opportunities for his high-powered emoting, especially when #3 frequently tangles with Fonda’s juror over contrasting opinions but also gives Cobb room to show a more ruminative side as he finds parallels between #3’s own life and the trial. Equally adept character player Ed Begley, a few years from his Oscar win for Sweet Bird of Youth, has one of the richest roles as juror #10, a garage owner firm in his belief there can only be one outcome in regard to the verdict. In a bravura scene, Begley does an expert job illustrating the inner hate impelling #10’s beliefs, while also suggesting the man isn’t initially aware how limiting and unfair his perspective is.

As juror #4, a calm, reflective stockbroker who appears only interested in reviewing the case without bias, E.G. Marshall’s stillness is remarkably effective. Marshall conveys the character’s various thoughts with subtle craft, detailing possible changes in the man’s stance on the crime without making it clear to a viewer exactly what his final vote will be, with Lumet knowing when to place Marshall front-and-center as juror #4 mulls over the twists and turns relating to the evidence. Jack Warden, after first making an impact in 1953’s From Here to Eternity, then gaining further exposure on television’s Mr. Peepers, witnessed a big 1957 uptick in his screen career, with good work in Edge of the City and The Bachelor Party also attaching notice. In 12 Angry, as juror #7, a successful, down-to-earth salesman who appears as interested in making a baseball game as in reaching the correct verdict, Warden invests the role with an uncomplicated, easy-going demeanor that helps add believability to the role.

Martin Balsam, as the foreman of the group (a.k.a. juror #1), also makes his name as an important character actor in a part that allows him to showcase how admirably he could bring depth, distinction and spontaneity to an everyman role, traits that served him well for the rest of his career, many other high-profile works. In his second film at the start of a lengthy tenure in movies, the handsomely bespeckled, amiable Robert Webber has an easy infinity with the camera as juror #12, the friendly ad executive who attempts to bring some levity to the proceedings, while also showing a more involved nature as temperatures flare up and serious choices need to be made by each juror. Similarly in his second film of an expansive acting career, John Fielder shows some of the traits that would make him a star character player as a go-to guy for parts requiring a timid disposition as juror #2, an unassuming, mild-mannered bank teller who manages to show some heart and defiance when pressured by some of his aggressive peers.  

One of two actors recreating his fine work in the teleplay, George Voskovec lends great dignity and, when warranted, passion and urgency to his most famous screen role as juror #11, an introspective European-born watchmaker trying to ensure his peers are fully invested in making a fair decision. Joseph Sweeney also makes a strong connection with the audience in adapting his television role to the big screen as juror #9, the eldest member of the group who proves himself benevolent, rational and insightful as the discussion of the case unfolds. Years before major stardom on television, Jack Klugman registers as the tough, no-nonsense juror #5, who has a vivid moment wherein he takes umbrage over labeling the defendant worthless due to his lower-class background #5 strongly identifies with. Finally, Edward Binns offers a humane, likeable portrait of juror #6, a house painter who compassionate team player, but one able to stand up to any disrespect or injustice he notices his colleagues displaying.

It would take 12 Angry time for public perception to place the work among film history’s great dramas, with lukewarm box office awaiting the movie’s April 1957 release. However, critics fully grasped its merits from the get-go, resulting in the film placing in the top ten on both The New York Times and Time magazine’s ten best lists and ranking second on the National Board of Review’s top ten, gaining Fonda a Best Actor British Academy Award and winning Rose a Writers Guild of America prize for Best Written Drama, attaining the Golden Bear for Best Picture at the Berlin Film Festival, and granting Lumet a finalist spot from the Director’s Guild of America and one of four Golden Globe nominations, along with ones for Best Drama, Actor (Fonda) and Supporting Actor (Cobb). At the Oscars, Lumet and the film would repeat for nods, with rose cited among the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees, with the cast overlooked, with the ensemble nature of the piece providing the only clue for how Fonda could be left off the short list after creating one of his most intelligent and artful performances. Recently 12 Angry has factored in the forefront on several lists, with it ranked at #2, just behind To Kill a Mockingbird, on the AFI’s 2008 list of Top Courtroom Dramas, the year after it made the AFI’s 10^th Anniversary list of the 100 greatest American films and inclusion on the National Film Registry’s inductees. The film’s increasing reputation as a landmark drama also led to a 1997 television update of the material led by Jack Lemmon and an Emmy-winning George C. Scott as jurors #8 and #3. Those wishing to delve deep into superior dramatic fare so impactful it causes viewers to reconsider how they might approach any assumptions they have in regard to (seemingly) reasonable beyond a doubt facts of a case will find themselves held in rapt reverence by the gripping, thought-provoking entertainment found in the company of 12 Angry Men.