Introduction

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the release of 12 Angry Men's most well-known incarnation, the movie that was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb. Written by highly regarded television writer Reginald Rose, 12 Angry Men was first produced for the small screen in 1955, with Robert Cummings as Juror 8, the role made famous two years later by Fonda. The plot of 12 Angry Men is straightforward: twelve white male New Yorkers are sent to a small, hot, airless room to deliberate over the testimony they have just heard in a murder trial. The film's relevance to legal scholars is obvious and was acknowledged earlier this year when its fiftieth anniversary was commemorated in a symposium at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. Topics included the ways in which the film functions as a drama, and how it can even be seen as a religious allegory.