Twelve Angry Men is an American courtroom 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. It was adapted for a film of the same name, directed by Sidney Lumet, and released in 1957. Since then it has been given numerous remakes, adaptations, and tributes.
See main article: Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One) and Twelve Angry Men (play). The play explores the deliberations of a jury of a homicide trial, in which a dozen "men with ties and a coat" decide the fate of a teenager accused of murdering his abusive father. In the beginning, they are nearly unanimous in concluding the youth is guilty, influenced by their own background and upbringing.[1] One man dissents, declaring him "not guilty", and he sows a seed of reasonable doubt. Eventually, he convinces the other jurors to look beyond their own personal bias and support a unanimous "not guilty" verdict.
American writer Reginald Rose first wrote this work as a teleplay for the Studio One anthology television series; it aired as a live CBS Television production on 20 September 1954. He adapted the drama for the stage in 1955 under the same title.
Rose wrote several stage adaptations of the story. 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.[2] [3] [4]
One early adaptation was staged in San Francisco in 1955.[5]
In 2003 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the British producer/director Guy Masterson directed an all-comedian revival[6] at the Assembly Rooms, including Bill Bailey as Juror 4, Phil Nichol as Juror 10, Owen O'Neill as Juror 8, Stephen Frost as Juror 3, and Russell Hunter as Juror 9. The production broke the existing box office record for drama at the Fringe Festival and garnered much critical acclaim.[7]
In 2004, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a Broadway production of the play at the American Airlines Theatre, starring Boyd Gaines as Juror No. 8, with James Rebhorn (No. 4), Philip Bosco (No. 3), and Robert Prosky as the voice of the judge.[8] 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 did not include Wendt but featured Kevin Dobson, of Kojak and Knots Landing, as Juror No. 10.[9]
In 2004–05, the British producer/director Guy Masterson directed a hugely successful Australian version of his hit Edinburgh 2003 production, produced by Arts Projects Australia and Adrian Bohm[10] at QPAC Brisbane, Sydney Theatre and Melbourne Athenaeum. Shane Bourne played as Juror 3, Peter Phelps as Juror 4, Marcus Graham as Juror 8, George Kapiniaris as Juror 2, and Henri Szeps as Juror 9.[11] This production won three Melbourne Green Room Awards and a nomination for "Best Play" at the Sydney Helpmann Awards.
Several London West End productions of the play have been made. In 1964, Leo Genn headed a cast which included Mark Kingston, Paul Maxwell, Arnold Ridley and Robert Urquhart. In 1996 a production at the Comedy Theatre directed by Harold Pinter starred Kevin Whately, with Timothy West, Peter Vaughan and Whately's fellow actor in the British comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Tim Healy, with a star of the first movie version E. G. Marshall as the voice of the judge. A further revival opened in November 2013 at the Garrick Theatre and was extended until June 2014, starring Tom Conti, Jeff Fahey, Nick Moran and Robert Vaughn.[12]
In June 2022, Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis will open a world premiere musical adaptation based on Reginald Rose's teleplay called Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical, with a book by David Simpatico and music and lyrics by Michael Holland.[13]
See main article: 12 Angry Men (1957 film), Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, 12 Angry Men (1997 film), 12 (2007 film), 12 Citizens and Vaaimai.
It was written 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.
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".[14]
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.[15]
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[16] and was released in China on May 15, 2015.[17]
Vaaimai (2016) is a Tamil language adaptation of Twelve Angry Men.[18]
See 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 ethnicity, discussion about who else could have committed the murder if it wasn't the defendant, references to execution by lethal injection as opposed to the electric chair, and occasional profanity.
In a theatrical version of the play that was once shown in the 1970s on Spanish Television (TVE1), the title given was ("Twelve Men Without Mercy").
In 1963, the West German television channel ZDF produced a film adaptation under the title .
In 1962, The Dick Van Dyke Show had an episode called One Angry Man, a clear reference to Twelve Angry Men in which Rob Petrie, the main character, is summoned to do Jury duty. Like in the movie, Petrie is the only stand-out among the jurors who wish to rapidly send the defendant to jail so they can return to their respective occupations. Throughout that part of the show, numerous references to the names of the actors as well as those of the characters of the movie are mentioned, with comedic effect.
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.[19]
| Juror # | 1954 Studio One actor | 1957 film actor | 1997 film actor | 2003 stage actor | 2004 stage actor | 2005 stage actor | 2007 stage actor | 2013 stage actor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||||||||
| 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. The ninth to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 2 | |||||||||
| A meek and unpretentious bank clerk who is at first domineered by others but finds his voice as the discussion goes on. The fifth to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 3 | / Robert Foxworth | ||||||||
| A businessman and distraught father, opinionated and stubborn with a temper; the main antagonist. The twelfth to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 4 | |||||||||
| A rational stockbroker, unflappable, calm, and analytical. He remains among the most neutral of the jurors, examining the case through facts and not bias. The eleventh to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 5 | |||||||||
| A soft-spoken paramedic from a violent slum, traditionally the youngest juror. The third to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 6 | |||||||||
| A house painter, tough but principled and respectful. The sixth to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 7 | , Sean Power | ||||||||
| A wisecracking salesman, sports fan, seemingly indifferent to the deliberations. The seventh to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 8 | , Tom Conti | ||||||||
| An architect, the first dissenter and protagonist. Identified as "Davis" at the end. | |||||||||
| 9 | |||||||||
| A wise and observant elderly man. Identified as "McCardle" at the end. The second to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 10 | , William Gaminara | ||||||||
| A garage owner; a pushy and loudmouthed bigot. The tenth to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 11 | / Byron Loquon | ||||||||
| A thoughtful immigrant watchmaker and naturalized American citizen who demonstrates strong patriotic pride. The fourth to vote "not guilty". | |||||||||
| 12 | , Robert Duncan | ||||||||
| An indecisive advertising executive who is easily swayed by the others. Originally the eighth to vote "not guilty" before changing back and forth three times. | |||||||||