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Community Corner

Classic Movie Matinees @ The Library: '12 Angry Men'

As part of its classic movie matinees series the Durham Public Library will show the 1957 film 12 Angry Men tomorrow, May 8, at 1:30 pm.

ADMISSION IS FREE.

Below are some notes that might entice you to attend and help  you enjoy the film more.  Don Bourret

MOVIE NOTES

by Don Bourret, a life-long movie buff  (donb41@comcast.net)

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12 Angry Men

When 12 Angry Men opened in May, 1957, it received huge critical acclaim, even a spread in Life magazine; but it did poorly at the box office. I remember seeing it as a teenager in the nearly empty Central Theater in West Hartford. Of course back in those days I went to almost everything; but, even without appreciating fully every point and nuance, I knew I was seeing something special.

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It’s not surprising that it did poor box office. In 1957, everything had a big budget, lush production values, Technicolor, wide-screen, stereo sound and lots of action, all to counterattack the relentless invasion of television. This was a black and white movie about a dozen middle-aged men sitting around a single small room, often shouting at each other, with a $350,000 budget, peanuts even in those days. It was too much like television that you got at home for free, also not surprising given its origin. Over the decades, however, it has found its following and risen to the prestigious status it deserves, showing up on most “100-best-movies” lists and has been chosen by Turner Classic Movies as an “Essential.”

 

It did have a few things going for it. It was adapted by Reginald Rose from his brilliant 1954 teleplay of the same name, which played live once on Studio One and was not seen since until very recently. Note: If you have internet and subscribe to HULU, go to the television section, search for the Studio One Anthology series, and you can watch this original show, which starred Robert Cummings, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold and a host of other TV regulars..

 

Although Henry Fonda, who co-produced the film (his one and only time), was the only bankable star, the film boasts some of the finest character actors ever to grace a screen: Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Ed Begley, Robert Webber, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, John Fiedler, Joseph Sweeney and George Voskovek (the only actor who appeared in the TV version also), all of whom you will recognize from later career successes. Today this would be called a “dream cast.”

The director was Sidney Lumet, a television veteran making his feature film debut. He would go on to direct such masterpieces as Network, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Fail Safe, The Verdict, The Hill, Murder On The Orient Express, among others, films garnering more that fifty Academy Award nominations and winning many. And he showed his directing chops right out of the gate in this first effort.

These were men on one of the hottest days of the year who sweat, swear, smoke, yell and pace, all in the tiny confines of a stifling jury room without air conditioning. All the tension comes from personality conflicts, dialogue and body language, not action. Lumet wanted the audience to feel the same sense of entrapment the men must have felt, and he used camera devices to achieve this. As the picture unfolded he used increasingly longer lenses, making the walls seem to move closer and closer and the room smaller and smaller. In addition, for the first third of the movie he shot the action from above eye level; for the second third, at eye level; and for the final third, below eye level. So toward the end, not only were the walls closing in but also the ceiling begins to appear, increasing the sense of claustrophobia and raising the tension of the last part of the film dramatically. Only in the final shot, showing the jurors leaving the room and courthouse, does he use a wide-angle lens from a high-above-eye-level position, giving the audience air to breathe after their ninety-five confined minutes. Although the film feels like it is shot in real-time, much more time actually elapses in the action, revealed mainly by the changing weather and lighting outside the room’s one window.

Why “angry?” A few are angry from the outset for various personal reasons, baggage they bring in. Most are not, but they all get there sooner or later, again for various reasons: disgusted at how long this taking, upset at their opinions being dismissed or being accused of some bias, incensed at others’ bullying tactics, etc.

While often considered a courtroom drama, it really is not. Except of a few minutes at the beginning, we never see the courtroom and never see any of the trial. A Puerto Rican teenager (whom we glimpse for only a moment) has been on trial for allegedly stabbing his abusive ex-convict father to death. The judge admonishes the jury that to return a verdict of guilty they must all agree to that beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the central message of the story. At an initial show of hands, eleven jurors vote for guilty. Only Juror #7 (Fonda) votes not guilty, not because he believes the boy is not guilty but because he has some doubts and believes there should be some deliberation before coming to a life or death decision. By the end of the film we still never know for sure if the boy is guilty or not, but numerous doubts have surfaced through the heated discussions.

The film is a crash course in the Constitution’s guarantee of a fair trial for everyone and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. This message is more relevant than ever in light of recent forensic breakthroughs (e.g., DNA) and revelations of hundreds of inmates on death row in error. It certainly is an “Essential.”

 

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