12 Angry Men



12 Angry Men, by Sidney Lumet, may be the most radical big-screen courtroom drama in cinema history. A behind-closed-doors look at the American legal system as riveting as it is spare, the iconic adaptation of Reginald Rose’s teleplay stars Henry Fonda as the initially dissenting foreman on a jury of white men ready to pass judgment on a Puerto Rican teenager charged with murdering his father. What results is a saga of epic proportions that plays out in real time over ninety minutes in one sweltering room. Lumet’s electrifying snapshot of 1950s America on the verge of change is one of the great feature-film debuts.

Disc Features

- New high-definition digital restoration (with uncom­pressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Frank Schaffner’s 1955 television version, with an introduction by Ron Simon, curator at the Paley Center for Media
- Production history of 12 Angry Men, from teleplay to big-screen classic
- Archival interviews with director Sidney Lumet
- New interview with screenwriter Walter Bernstein about Lumet
- New interview with Simon about writer Reginald Rose
- New interview with cinematographer John Bailey in which he discusses cinematographer Boris Kaufman
- Tragedy in a Temporary Town (1956), a teleplay directed by Lumet and written by Rose
- New interview with cinematographer John Bailey about director of photography Boris Kaufman
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by writer and law professor Thane Rosenbaum

DVD:
Criterionforum.org user rating averages


Blu-ray:
Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Wow, loaded with features - though I wonder why the commentary didn't make the journey from the MGM disc.

The inclusion of the TV version makes this release essential.

The TV version of 12 Angry Men is pretty turgid (and has been available on DVD for a couple of years). But "Tragedy in a Temporary Town" is one of the most exciting live TV dramas, and has never been commercially available before.

I'm sad to see Lumet didn't have a chance to participate in this release before his death like he did with The Fugitive Kind last year. His candidness and insight were welcome for all the DVDs he contributed to in the past, even non-Lumet pictures like his Ran interview.

Very happy to see Criterion is getting to release this. It's such an important film, and maybe the best courtroom drama in the medium. I never fail to catch it when I can if it's on TCM or any other cable network.

I'm incredibly surprised (in a good way) that Criterion is releasing this film. The MGM 50th Anniversary Edition is really good (and cheap), yet Criterion seems to improve in the extras department. Was there any hint from Criterion that they were releasing this? Are there any other MGM classics that Criterion is planning on releasing?

The summary for this release specifically calls the accused kid 'Puerto Rican' though I have no memory of that ever being stated in the film. All that's implied is that the accused is from the slums which does not indicate race/ethnicity and leaves the audience to interpret Ed Begley's prejudice based on any number of things, including class/economical reasons. If anything, I've always assumed the accused was Sicilian based on his brief appearance in the film, particularly because Italians/Sicilians were more often portrayed as the street hoods types in this era of Hollywood, not Hispanics. Did I overlook something somewhere?

Earlier this year Criterion had stated in an email to someone that 12 Angry Men was coming. I may be remembering this wrong, but I think they might also be releasing The Apartment.

I've been watching this movie since I was a kid. I can't remember if it's explicitly said so in the movie or not, but we always thought the kid was supposed to be Puerto Rican.

Seriously?! Wow, I had heard about this but not The Apartment. I hope you're right.

I'm in the same boat as Tribe. I don't remember that it was stated explicitly but for some reason I always thought he was Puerto Rican. Still, the summary is the first time ever I've seen someone state the teenager's ethnicity.

I think I would have remembered if The Apartment had ever been hinted at and mentioned here. And a search turns up nothing.

I also always thought that the kid was Puerto Rican, but I wonder if maybe that's what's said in the HBO remake, just because that was the version I saw first.

I believe the cable remake was Showtime rather than HBO.

Anyway, I always thought it was evident that Begley's prejudice was based on race / ethnicity. I don't think that PR is ever explicitly specified, but Hispanic was always my impression (which in NY in the 1950s would most likely be PR, I think).

I always thought the ambiguity about the kid's race/background was one of the strengths of the screenplay.

I used to watch this film ALL the time but haven't seen it in a couple of years, but the one juror always kept referring to "those/these people" and his motivations were obviously based on race. I was always under the impression the kid was Hispanic as well, but I'm pretty sure it was never officially said he was Puerto Rican.

Actually, Googling "12 Angry Men Puerto Rican" brings up a lot of descreiptions for the film where they mention the defendent is Puerto Rican, so it must have either been written into the screenplay or possibly the original press release or something and has just sort of stuck around.

I see this as the cinematic equivalent of squabbling over what state Springfield is in.

It's something to talk about though and it actually does hold some minor thematic importance to the film. I agree with whoever said that the more ambiguous who the defendant is the better the film can work.

I thought that The Apartment was brought up in a similar way as 12 Angry Men, but it must have just been some rumour. After 12 Angry Men I don't really think Criterion will be able to get much more high profile MGM titles unfortunately.

I agree. I see a kid who is ensconced in shadows and rather racially ambiguous, and then I hear that ambiguity in the "slum kid" references in the dialogue, and I see the film as more timeless than if specific races or locations or whathaveyou were referenced.

Yes, I agree. The race of the defendant is not as important as that of the twelve white men who hold his fate in their hands, wielding their power with benevolence or vengeance.

I thought one of the jurors was black?

Darn, I thought that I might have forgotten someone