Twelve Angry Men

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 given numerous remakes, adaptations, and tributes.

Description

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. This was first made as a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series, and was aired as a live CBS Television production on 20 September 1954. The drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title.

Stage

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.^[1][2]

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.^[3]

The London West End production of the play opened in November 2013, originally running until 1 March 2014, but extended until 14 June 2014, at the Garrick Theatre starring Tom Conti, Jeff Fahey, Nick Moran and Robert Vaughn.^[4]

Films

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.^[5]

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."^[6]

12 Angry Lebanese is a 2009 documentary film that chronicles efforts to stage an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men with inmates inside Beirut’s Roumieh Prison.^[7]

In 2014, Chinese film director Xu Ang remade it as 12 Citizens. It was shown at the 2014 Rome Film Festival on October 19, 2014^[8] and was released in China on May 15, 2015.^[9]

Television

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, Héctor Elizondo, Robert Foxworth, Kevin Kilner, Richard Kind, Armin Shimerman, Joe Spano and Steve Vinovich.^[10]

Casts

Juror #	Character	1954 Studio One actor	1957 film actor	1997 film actor	2004 stage actor	2007 stage actor	2013 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. Tends to attempt to prevent heated arguments.	Norman Feld	Martin Balsam	Courtney B. Vance	Mark Blum	George Wendt	Luke Shaw	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	David Calvitto	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	Jeff Fahey	12th
4	A rational stockbroker, unflappable, self-assured, and analytical	Walter Abel	E. G. Marshall	Armin Mueller-Stahl	James Rebhorn	Jeffrey Hayenga	Paul Antony-Barber	11th
5	A soft-spoken young man from a violent slum, in the book a Milwaukee Brewers fan, in the movies and on Broadway, a Baltimore Orioles fan	Lee Phillips	Jack Klugman	Dorian Harewood	Michael Mastro	Jim Saltouros	Ed Franklin	3rd
6	A house painter, tough but principled and respectful	Bart Burns	Edward Binns	James Gandolfini	Robert Clohessy	Charles Borland	Robert Blythe	6th
7	A salesman, sports fan, superficial and indifferent to the deliberations	Paul Hartman	Jack Warden	Tony Danza	John Pankow	Mark Morettini	Nick Moran	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	Martin Shaw, Tom Conti	1st
9	A wise and observant elderly man. Identified as "McCardle" at the end	Joseph Sweeney	Joseph Sweeney	Hume Cronyn	Tom Aldredge	Alan Mandell	Robert Vaughn	2nd
10	A garage owner; a pushy and loudmouthed bigot	Edward Arnold	Ed Begley	Mykelti Williamson	Peter Friedman	Julian Gamble	Miles Richardson, William Gaminara	10th
11	A thoughtful German watchmaker and naturalized American citizen	George Voskovec	George Voskovec	Edward James Olmos	Larry Bryggman / Byron Loquon	David Lively	Martin Turner	4th
12	A wisecracking, indecisive advertising executive	Will West	Robert Webber	William Petersen	Adam Trese	Craig Wroe	Owen O'Neil, Robert Duncan	8th

Homages and references in other works

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, Sesame Street, and Charmed.

• The fifth season of the BBC TV series of Hancock's Half Hour contains an episode called "Twelve Angry Men". It is a parody of the original film with the central concept being reversed. Hancock spends the episode trying to convince the jury that a man caught red handed stealing some jewellery is innocent when he is clearly guilty using hyperbolic invective, appeals to sentiment and emotional blackmail instead of reasoned argument.
• 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.
• A season 11 episode of Family Guy, "12 and a Half Angry Men," is a parody of this film, where the town mayor is accused of murder, with Brian and Peter called to be members of the jury and Brian taking on the position of the eighth juror.
• Season three of Inside Amy Schumer devoted an episode to one sketch, a parody of 12 Angry Men where the twelve men must decide if Amy Schumer is hot enough to have her own TV show.^[11]

In the 1965 play 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 1967 Odd Couple 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.

References

1. "Twelve Angry Women": All-Female Version of Classic
2. Acting Company of Greenwich – Past Productions, January 27 – February 5, 1995
3. Roundabout's '12 Angry Men' & Thomas Return for 2nd Tour
4. Fiona Mountford (12 November 2013). "Twelve Angry Men, Garrick Theatre - review". London Evening Standard (Alexander Lebedev/Evgeny Lebedev/Daily Mail and General Trust). Retrieved 24 January 2014.
5. Die zwölf Geschworenen at the Internet Movie Database
6. "Official Awards at the 64th Venice Film Festival – The Drew Handler Award of Excellence in the Film and Picture Category". Archived from the original on March 8, 2012.
7. "12 Angry Lebanese: The Documentary". FSLC. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
8. "Shier gongmin (12 Citizens)". filmguide.romacinemafest.it (in Italian). Retrieved May 17, 2015.
9. "十二公民 (2014)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
10. "L.A. Theatre Works: Twelve Angry Men". Online trailer. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
11. Holmes, Linda (6 May 2015). "Amy Schumer Puts Her Own Looks On Trial". NPR.org. Retrieved 10 May 2015.