Day 17: Reasonable Doubt

12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Starring: 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

Here is a task that really determines what kind of filmmaker you are: make jury duty interesting.  And don't forget to make it entertaining and thought-provoking as well.  Oh, and while you're at it, make sure you make the sight of twelve guys sitting around a table for an hour and a half visually interesting. 

This would be a daunting task for any director.  But if you're a first-timer, like Sidney Lumet was, it must have been downright scary.  The script for 12 Angry Men is, essentially, a filmed play.  It all takes place (for the most part) in one room, on one set.  There is very little action and a lot of talking.  How do you keep an audience's interest?

Well, it doesn't hurt to hire the best actors you can find.  And they don't get much better than Henry Fonda (Juror #8) and Lee J. Cobb (Juror #3).  In the film, they continually oppose each other as Fonda tries to explain his reasonable doubt as to whether a young man has killed his own father.  Cobb has no doubts in his mind, even as the other ten jurors (all fine actors in their own right) change their verdicts.  The two play off each other superbly; as Fonda calmly tries to explain his position, Cobb vehemently defends his opinions and displays an amazing amount of realistic rage completely uncharacteristic of most actors of the day. 

Even with all the great acting, this film would not have been nearly as effective if everything were static and stagy.  And thankfully, it's not.  Lumet uses a variety of simple but effective camera techniques, all designed to convey the appropriate mood.  As the movie progresses, wide-angle lenses were used to make the room look smaller than normal, giving a real sense of claustrophobia.  Several key scenes are played out in extreme close-ups.  But contrary to this (and the most effective part of the film) was when Juror #10 (Begley) gives an impassioned speech, declaring the boy guilty simply because he's "one of them."  As his racist tirade goes on, the other jurors leave the table.  Consequently, so does the camera.  It backs slowly away from him until he stands completely alone, with no one to back him up.

This was a great little film, even if Fonda does get preachy at times. But it's also a hell of a debut from Sidney Lumet.  It's interesting to look back to the early films of certain directors to see how far they've come.  But Lumet seemed to be on top of his game from the get-go.  This is the kind of debut film most people only dream about.  And Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network were all still in his future.  This was the start of one of Hollywood's smartest filmmakers.