Vintage Movie Club — 12 Angry Men

Welcome to the first Vintage Read Show Book & Movie Club selection.
Every month I will introduce a vintage book or vintage movie and give you just enough information…(no spoilers) so that you’re eager to read, watch, or do both!

The first vintage movie club selection is 12 Angry Men and I was very excited to discover a review of it recently while flipping through one of my 1950’s movie mags. ( I show you in the video link at the end of this article!)

The author, Reginald Rose, wrote the original book in 1954, however, he authored the first screenplay for television and it was produced & shown on television before it ever became the movie we know today.

Henry Fonda was captivated by the story and he was eager to produce the movie and star in it. Although he starred in many box office hits throughout his career 12 Angry Men was to be the only movie where he acted as actor/producer.

He recruited a little known director who worked in television at the time, Sydney Lumet. Sydney Lumet went on to have a very successful career and was honored with four Oscar nominations for directing, some of his famous films include The Verdict, Network, and Serpico.

It was a wise move for Henry Fonda to take a punt on this unknown director because 12 Angry Men was shot within a very confined set, the jury room. A TV director such as Sydney Lumet was used to working within a small set and he bought the necessary skills and experience to really capture the drama and tenseness of the story within that confined space. The only shots outside that small jury room set were the opening montage and the closing scene. As a result, you can really feel the claustrophobic situation the jurors are in as their flawed personalities reveal themselves.

Henry Fonda as Juror number eight is the only one that holds a reasonable doubt about the murder suspect, & he won’t declare him guilty, therefore, ruining any hope of a unanimous verdict. It is his strength and courage that results in a review of the evidence.

Will it get the suspect off or not? You’re going to have to watch the movie to find out!

I would love to hear from you and what you think of 12 Angry Men. I provided a little more background to this brilliantly tense movie in my video review below.