Never blindly submit to the obvious, and there are layers and layers separating the obvious from reality and the truth. That's the message conveyed by the 1957 Henry Fonda starrer 12 Angry Men.
Henry Fonda's Voice of Dissent
An 18-year old teenager is accused of stabbing his father. Eyewitness accounts and circumstantial evidence point towards him, as the 12-member jury deliberates on the verdict. There is near unanimity among the jury, save Henry Fonda's character.
It is this lone voice of dissent, who sows the seeds of doubt. He argues that guilt cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt. One by one, the others come round.
A new-found sense that it is not an open-and-shut case enables some of the converts to put on their thinking caps, and formulate arguments establishing there is room for doubt.
Jury Members Evolve
It is also a personal awakening for many of the characters. The old man in the autumn of his life, epitomises courage of conviction, and the willingness to listen to alternative opinions. He is the first among the other jurors to firmly rally behind Fonda's character. The diffident-looking character who started out by asking whether he could pass when asked to vote, metamorphoses into a quick thinker who points out numerous holes in the prosecution's case.
There is the juror who fails miserably in his bid to establish guilt, as he seeks to substitute arguments with belligerence. And the two who swing the way they feel the wind is blowing.
The film, shot almost entirely in a claustrophobic jury room, brings to life the characters of the 12 jurors. The arguments show up the hidden strengths of some, and exposes the weaknesses of others.
Fonda is backed by a stellar supporting cast that includes Martin Balsam, Lee J Cobb, John Fiedler and Jack Warden.
12 Angry Men was originally written for television by the playwight Reginald Rose, and was broadcast on CBS's show Studio One in 1954. Rose wrote the screenplay for the film version, which he co-produced with Fonda.
12 Angry Men fails at the Oscars
12 Angry Men was a box-office disaster in 1957, and was battered in the Oscar race by The Bridge on the River Kwai. Debutant director Sidney Lumet's effort did not win even a single Oscar, out of three nominations. Henry Fonda did not even get a nomination for best actor, while Lumet lost out to David Lean for The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Fonda won the best actor Oscar in 1982 at the age of 76 for On Golden Pond, a few months before he died.
The 84-year-old Lumet is still active as a director. His last film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was released in 2007.
