Twelve Angry Men

--207.191.189.245 (talk) 19:26, 30 October 2013 (UTC)Italic text--207.191.189.245 (talk) 19:26, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

For other uses, see Twelve Angry Men (disambiguation).

Twelve Angry Men is a drama written by Reginald Rose concerning the jury of a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. The following year it was adapted for the stage, and in 1957 was made into a highly successful film....................................................Since then it has been adapted, remade, and homaged numerous times.

Description

Main article: Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One)

The play concerns the deliberations of the jury of a homicide trial. At the beginning, they have a nearly unanimous decision of guilty, with a single dissenter of not guilty, who throughout the play sows a seed of reasonable doubt. It was first made as a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series, and was aired as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954. The drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title.

Stage

Main article: Twelve Angry Men (play)

Rose wrote several stage adaptations of the story. In 1964, Leo Genn appeared in the play on the London stage. In other theatrical adaptations in which female actors are cast, the play is retitled 12 Angry Jurors, 12 Angry Men and Women or 12 Angry Women.

In 2004, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a Broadway production of the play, starring Boyd Gaines as a more combative Juror No. 8, with James Rebhorn (No. 4), Philip Bosco (No. 3), and Robert Prosky as the voice of the judge. In 2007, 12 Angry Men ran on a national theatre tour with Richard Thomas and George Wendt starring as Jurors No. 8 and No. 1, respectively. The 2008 tour does not include Wendt but features another television personality, Kevin Dobson of Kojak and Knots Landing, as Juror No. 10.

Films

Main articles: 12 Angry Men (1957 film), Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, and 12 (2007 film)

It was rewritten again in 1957 as a feature film, 12 Angry Men which Sidney Lumet directed, and which starred Henry Fonda. It was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay.

In 1963, the German Television Channel ZDF produced a film adaption under the title Die zwölf Geschworenen.

Indian director Basu Chatterjee remade it as Ek Ruka Hua Faisla in 1986.

In 2007, Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov completed 12, his remake of the film. The jury of the 64th Venice Film Festival assigned its special prize to this remake "to acknowledge the consistent brilliance of Nikita Mikhalkov's body of work."

The teleplay was made as a Kannada film titled Aa Mukhagalu, staged in the early 1980s, and as a Dashamukha in 2012.

Television

Main article: 12 Angry Men (1997 film)

'12 Angry Men' was remade for television in 1997. Directed by William Friedkin, the remake stars George C. Scott, James Gandolfini, Tony Danza, William Petersen, Ossie Davis, Hume Cronyn, Courtney B. Vance, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Mykelti Williamson, Edward James Olmos, Dorian Harewood, and Jack Lemmon. In this production, the judge is a woman and four of the jurors are black, but most of the action and dialogue of the film are identical to the original. Modernizations include a prohibition on smoking in the jury room, the changing of references to income and pop culture figures, more dialogue relating to race, and occasional profanity.

Radio

In 2005, L.A. Theatre Works recorded an audio version of 12 Angry Men, directed by John de Lancie, with a cast including Dan Castellaneta, Jeffrey Donovan, Hector Elizondo, Robert Foxworth, Kevin Kilner, Richard Kind, Armin Shimerman, Joe Spano and Steve Vinovich.

Casts

Juror #	Character	1954 stage actor	1957 film actor	1997 film actor	2004 stage actor	2007 stage actor	Votes 'not guilty'
1/The Foreman	The jury foreman, somewhat preoccupied with his duties; proves to be accommodating to others. An assistant high school football coach	Norman Fell (billed as Norman Feld)	Martin Balsam	Courtney B. Vance	Mark Blum	George Wendt	9th
2	A meek and unpretentious bank clerk who is at first domineered by others but finds his voice as the discussion goes on.	John Beal	John Fiedler	Ossie Davis	Kevin Greer	Todd Cerveris	5th
3	A businessman and distraught father, opinionated and stubborn with a temper; the antagonist	Franchot Tone	Lee J. Cobb	George C. Scott	Philip Bosco / Robert Foxworth	Randle Mell	12th
4	A rational stockbroker, unflappable, self-assured, and analytical	Walter Abel	E. G. Marshall	Armin Mueller-Stahl	James Rebhorn	Jeffrey Hayenga	11th
5	A young man from a violent slum, in the book a Milwaukee Brewers, in the movies and on Broadway, a Baltimore Orioles fan	Lee Philips (billed as Lee Phillips)	Jack Klugman	Dorian Harewood	Michael Mastro	Jim Saltouros	3rd
6	A house painter, tough but principled and respectful	Bart Burns	Edward Binns	James Gandolfini	Robert Clohessy	Charles Borland	6th
7	A salesman, sports fan, superficial and indifferent to the deliberations	Paul Hartman	Jack Warden	Tony Danza	John Pankow	Mark Morettini	7th
8	An architect, the first dissenter and protagonist. Identified as "Davis" at the end	Robert Cummings	Henry Fonda	Jack Lemmon	Boyd Gaines	Richard Thomas	1st
9	A wise and observant elderly man. Identified as "McCardle" at the end	Joseph Sweeney	Joseph Sweeney	Hume Cronyn	Tom Aldredge	Alan Mandell	2nd
10	A garage owner; a pushy and loudmouthed bigot	Edward Arnold	Ed Begley	Mykelti Williamson	Peter Friedman	Julian Gamble	10th
11	A European watchmaker and naturalized American citizen	George Voskovec	George Voskovec	Edward James Olmos	Larry Bryggman / Byron Loquon	David Lively	4th
12	A wisecracking, indecisive advertising executive	Larkin Ford (billed as William West)	Robert Webber	William Petersen	Adam Trese	Craig Wroe	8th

Homages

Many television series have episodes based on the teleplay. These include Hancock's Half Hour, Picket Fences, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, The Dead Zone, Early Edition, The Odd Couple, King of the Hill, Matlock, 7th Heaven, Veronica Mars, Monk, Hey Arnold!, Peep Show (TV series), My Wife and Kids, Robot Chicken, Charmed, and The Simpsons.

• In The Odd Couple, Oscar Madison, who served on a similar type of jury, was played by Jack Klugman, who played Juror No. 5 in the 1957 film. Further Odd Couple parallels to the film include John Fiedler (who featured as Oscar's friend in the film) and the fact that Felix takes the role of Juror No. 8 which Jack Lemmon (Felix in the film) plays in the 1997 version.
• In the fifth season Happy Days episode "Fonzie for the Defense", Howard and Fonzie are called up for jury duty. The case involves a black biker who is accused of stealing an old lady's purse, and seems to be a very open-and-shut case. Fonzie, however, is the only one who is certain that the young man is "not guilty-a-mundo", and must convince the rest of the jury. Also in reference to the teleplay was when Howard backs up Fonzie's not guilty vote on the basis that he is not going to send a man to prison without deliberating on the case and determining whether the defendant is indeed guilty.
• In the first season All in the Family episode "Edith Has Jury Duty", Edith is a member of a jury deliberating a murder trial. Similar to the teleplay, the weapon used was a knife and the accused was a Puerto Rican man. Edith was the one dissenting juror of a guilty verdict. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that someone else eventually broke down and admitted to the crime. As with many episodes, this one deals with the issue of racism and prejudice.
• In the 1993 Matlock episode "The Juror", Matlock was initially the lone juror voting "not guilty" and had to convince the others, one by one, with many personality conflicts erupting.
• In the 1994 Simpsons episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Homer Simpson intentionally goes against the rest of jury and votes "not guilty" so that he is sequestered at a hotel with free room service and cable television.
• In the first season episode of Hey Arnold! called "False Alarm", Arnold, Gerald, Helga, Phoebe, Harold, and Curly are a jury, and must reach a verdict over Eugene pulling a false alarm in school. Arnold is similar to Juror No. 8, and Curly is similar to Juror No. 3.
• In a Season 8 episode of Family Matters called "The Jury", Steve Urkel is the lone juror who believes the defendant is innocent of robbing a jewelry store despite what appears to be clear videotape evidence of the defendant's guilt. But Steve discovers something surprising in the tape that proves the defendant is innocent.
• In a Season 3 episode of My Wife and Kids called "Jury Duty", Michael and Jay are both called for jury duty and wind up on the same case. Michael declares it's an open and shut case, while Jay demurs. It turns out that she's the only person on the jury who believes the defendant is not guilty.
• In a 2000 episode of 7th Heaven called "Twelve Angry People" the Rev. Eric Camden is the lone juror who believes the defendant is guilty and must convince the other jurors of his guilt, the complete opposite of the teleplay's plot. This adaptation also deals with racism in the criminal justice system and the jury's initial willingness to invoke jury nullification in response both to that racism and a police corruption scandal that rocked Glen Oak, the fictitious California town where the series was set.
• An episode of the TV series Monk, "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty", heavily spoofs the original 12 Angry Men teleplay. In this episode, the jury is presiding over the case of a man accused of stabbing another man attempting to make a bank deposit. Many of the jurors resemble a 12 Angry Men juror in some way or form:
  • Adrian Monk (Juror No. 11) is the initial "not guilty" holdout, much like Juror No. 8 in the teleplay.
  • Patel (Juror No. 2) is a parallel to Juror No. 11 (both are immigrants proud to be in America).
  • One juror is given the name Mr. Cobb, a tribute to Lee J. Cobb (the actor playing Juror No. 3 in the 1957 12 Angry Men), both of whom are the last people to vote "guilty".
  • The episode's sports fan juror (Juror No. 10) parallels the teleplay's Juror No. 7, and both make baseball references.
  • Both include a single initial "not guilty" vote and the same type of blade used to commit both crimes.
  • A panning shot in the episode of the jury room is supposed to mimic a similar scene in the 1957 movie.
• In season 3, episode 20 of the comedy show Malcolm in the Middle, "Jury Duty", Lois finds herself in a position of juror eight, demanding that the jury take the case seriously. Later on in the episode she removes herself from the jury after making a parallel between the teenager on trial and her son (much like juror three).
• In an episode of the sketch show Robot Chicken, a skit parodying the film was made using Little People toys called "12 Angry Little People".
• In season 4 of Charmed, Phoebe has a premonition during a murder trial that reveals the defendant is innocent despite the overwhelming evidence against him. As she desperately stalls in the jury room, Piper, Paige and Leo frantically try to discover the real killer in time to free the wrongly accused man.
• A season 11 episode of Family Guy, "12 and a Half Angry Men," is a parody of this film.

External links

• ​Twelve Angry Men​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Twelve Angry Men (teleplay) at IMDb
• 12 Angry Men (1957 film) at IMDb
• 12 Angry Men at IMDb
• 12 (Mikhalkov, 2007) at IMDb