Twelve Angry Men

One of my favorite films is the 1957 version of 12 Angry Men directed by Sidney Lumet. On my most recent trip to Atlanta (two weeks ago), it was the only movie of the four I'd brought that I got around to watching. It's a marvelous movie with an exceptional cast. The premise: an all white male jury in mid 1950's New York City is set to deliberate the fate of young black man tried for murder. A slam dunk three minute verdict becomes a tense discussion to sift truth from the fact and fiction presented at a trial we never see, but learn of only through these back room discussions.

Why bring it up now?

Well it is a favorite, but the spark was a phone conversation today with my aunt. She was telling me about their recent trip to New York and the ground work they were laying for my trip there this summer (I'm going back to the Jersey Shore, but that usually includes a trip to the city too) when she started gushing about a great show they saw on Broadway, Twelve Angry Men. After learning that she'd never heard of the movie before, we exchanged glowing reviews and then I promised that I would bring the DVD with me this summer (I can't believe that it's only $7.50 at Amazon, it is after all #21 on the IMDb Top 250).

The CurtainUp review answers a question that was bugging me, was it ever on broadway before? The answer? No.

Finally, I also got around to checking out the 1997 television version, which I'd head good things about. The reviews are good so I may need to go rent that at some point to compare and contrast (there is a good user comment near the top which does that and speaks well to the quality of the remake).

And finally, to those who would argue (I've had this argument before) that To Kill a Mockingbird is a better treatment of the subject, I say the two films are different. I love both the book (I had the pleasure of reading it again a few years ago when Adam brought it home from school) and the movie (I borrowed it from a friend a few years ago and bought it shortly afterward). While there are numerous similarities, they are distinctly different and I watch Twelve Angry Men quite a bit more frequently.