Written by | Reginald Rose |
---|---|
Place premiered | The juror's room |
Original language | English |
Subject | A courthouse drama: a boy's life at stake in the hands of the jury |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | 1954, late summer in a court jury room, New York City, New York |
Twelve Angry Men is a play by Reginald Rose adapted from his 1954 teleplay of the same title for the CBS Studio One anthology television series. Staged first in San Francisco in 1955, the Broadway debut came 50 years after CBS aired the play, on October 28, 2004, by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, where it ran for 328 performances.
The drama depicts a jury deliberating a verdict in a murder trial, in which the case at hand pertains to whether a young man murdered his own father. The story begins after closing arguments have been presented in the case, as the judge is giving his instructions to the jury. As in most American criminal cases, the twelve men must unanimously decide on a verdict of "guilty" or "not guilty". (In the justice systems of nearly all American states, failure to reach a unanimous verdict, a so-called "hung jury", results in a mistrial.) The jury is further instructed that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence.
In the jury room, the first vote is a nearly unanimous decision of guilty, with a single "undecided" dissenter, who throughout the deliberations sows a seed of reasonable doubt. The jurors become acquainted with the personalities of their peers. Several of them have different reasons for discriminating against the defendant: his race, his background, and the troubled relationship between one juror and his own son. The one dissenter gradually wins over the other jurors to a unanimous not-guilty verdict, by questioning the reliability of the evidence presented in court and exposing his fellow jurors' prejudices.
The characters are unnamed; throughout their deliberation, not a single juror calls another by his name, and they are identified in the script merely by number.
Rose wrote several variations on his own stage adaptation of the teleplay.
Dramatic rights to the film were sold and several versions based on the film were staged. It was staged in San Francisco in 1955 [1] and in Europe in 1958, including an adaptation by Andre Obey in Paris. [2]
In 1964, Leo Genn appeared in the London production, directed by Margaret Webster. For other theatrical adaptations, wherein female actors are cast, the play is often retitled 12 Angry People or 12 Angry Jurors.
Harold Pinter directed a production of the play, which opened at the Bristol Old Vic on March 7, 1996. [3] With set design by Eileen Diss, lighting design by Mick Hughes, and costume design by Tom Rand, its cast included Stuart Rayner (Juror 1, Foreman), Kevin Dignam (Juror 2), Tony Haygarth (Juror 3), Timothy West (Juror 4), Maurice Kaufmann (Juror 5), Douglas McFerran (Juror 6), Tim Healy (Juror 7), Kevin Whately (Juror 8), Alan MacNaughtan (Juror 9), Peter Vaughan (Juror 10), Robert East (Juror 11), Christopher Simon (Juror 12), Joshua Losey (Guard), and E. G. Marshall, as the Voice of the Judge. [3] Marshall had portrayed "#4" in Sidney Lumet's 1957 film version of the play. The production transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London the same year.
In 2003, the British producer/director Guy Masterson directed an all comedian revival [4] 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 during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which broke the existing box office record for drama at the Fringe Festival and garnered much critical acclaim. [5]
The Roundabout Theatre Company presented a Broadway production of the play in 2004, starring Boyd Gaines as a more combative Juror 8, with James Rebhorn (Juror 4), Philip Bosco (Juror 3), and Robert Prosky as the Voice of the Judge. Prosky had starred as "#3" in a Washington D.C. production of the show, opposite Roy Scheider as "#8" and Rene Auberjonois as "#5".
In 2005, 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 [6] at QPAC Brisbane, Sydney Theatre and Melbourne Athenaeum including Shane Bourne as Juror 3, Peter Phelps as Juror 4, Marcus Graham as Juror 8, George Kapiniaris as Juror 2 and Henri Szeps as Juror 9. [7] This production won three Melbourne Green Room Awards and a nomination for "Best Play" at the Helpmann Awards.
In 2007, L.A. Theatre Works presented a production of the play that was recorded as an audiobook; directed by John de Lancie, the cast included Dan Castellaneta, Jeffrey Donovan, Héctor Elizondo, Robert Foxworth, James Gleason, Kevin Kilner, Richard Kind, Alan Mandell, Rob Nagle, Armin Shimerman, Joe Spano, and Steve Vinovich. [8]
The London West End production opened in November 2013 (running until March 1, 2014) at the Garrick Theatre. Directed by Christopher Haydon, the cast included Martin Shaw, Robert Vaughn, Jeff Fahey, Nick Moran, Robert Blythe, Miles Richardson and Martin Turner. [9]
In 2014, Independent Theatre Pakistan performed an adaptation of this play at Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore, directed by Azeem Hamid. [10]
A 1954 television production for Studio One
Cast:
Sweeney and Voskovec repeated their parts in the 1957 film.
A 1957 feature film adaptation, produced and written by Rose himself, and directed by Sidney Lumet. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Cast:
A 1997 feature film adaptation, directed by William Friedkin.
Cast:
12 . A 2007 film adaptation. Director Nikita Michalkov
Cast:
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Tony Award | Best Revival of a Play | Nominated | |
Best Actor in a Play | Philip Bosco | Nominated | ||
Best Direction of a Play | Scott Ellis | Nominated | ||
Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Won | ||
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Philip Bosco | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Director of a Play | Scott Ellis | Nominated | ||
Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Won | ||
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Philip Bosco | Nominated | ||
Drama League Award | Distinguished Revival of a Play | Won |
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make findings of fact, and render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Most trial juries are "petit juries", and usually consist of twelve people. A larger jury known as a grand jury has been used to investigate potential crimes and render indictments against suspects.
12 Angry Men is a 1957 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet in his feature directorial debut, adapted from a 1954 teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose. A critique of the American jury system during the McCarthy Era, the film tells the story of a jury of twelve men as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a teenager charged with murder on the basis of reasonable doubt; disagreement and conflict among the jurors forces them to question their morals and values. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E. G. Marshall, and Jack Warden.
A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again.
Joseph Sweeney was an American actor who worked in stage productions, television and movies principally in the 1950s, often playing grandfatherly roles. His best-known role was as the elderly Juror #9 in the 1957 classic 12 Angry Men, the role he originated in a 1954 Westinghouse Studio One live teleplay of which the film was an adaptation.
Reginald Rose was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s.
Verdict of Twelve is a novel by Raymond Postgate first published in 1940 about a trial by jury seen through the eyes of each of the twelve jurors as they listen to the evidence and try to reach a unanimous verdict of either "Guilty" or "Not guilty". Verdict of Twelve is set in England in the late 1930s. Up to the final pages of the novel, till after the trial is over, the reader does not know if the defendant—a middle-aged woman charged with murder—is innocent or not.
The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002. The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.
Jiří Voskovec, known in the United States as George Voskovec, was a Czech-American actor. Throughout much of his career, he was associated with actor and playwright Jan Werich. In the U.S., he is known for his role as the polite Juror #11 in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.
"One Angry Veronica" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the thirty-second episode overall. Written by Russell Smith and directed by John T. Kretchmer, the episode premiered on UPN on December 7, 2005.
Studio One is an American anthology drama television series that was adapted from a radio series. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It premiered on November 7, 1948, and ended on September 29, 1958, with a total of 467 episodes over the course of 10 seasons.
Jason Scott Merrells is an English actor, who is best known for his roles in Casualty, Queer as Folk, Cutting It, Waterloo Road and Emmerdale.
The Verdict is a 2007 BBC television programme produced by RDF Media in which twelve celebrities form the jury in the trial of a fictional rape case. The programme was filmed with real legal and medical professionals, but with actors playing the victim, defendants, and witnesses. The jury considered their verdict in front of cameras.
12 Angry Men is a 1997 American made-for-television drama film directed by William Friedkin, adapted by Reginald Rose from his original 1954 teleplay of the same title. It is a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. The film aired on August 17, 1997 on Showtime.
Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is a 1986 Indian Hindi-language legal drama film directed by Basu Chatterjee. It is a remake of the Golden Bear winning American motion picture 12 Angry Men (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet, which was an adaptation from a 1954 teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose.
12 is a 2007 Russian legal drama film by director, screenwriter, producer and actor Nikita Mikhalkov. The film is a Russian-language remake of Sidney Lumet's 1957 film 12 Angry Men, which in turn was based on Reginald Rose's 1955 stage play, Twelve Angry Men, itself based on Rose's 1954 teleplay of the latter's same name.
"Twelve Angry Men" is an episode of the BBC television situation comedy programme Hancock's Half Hour, starring Tony Hancock and featuring Sid James, and first broadcast on 16 October 1959. Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the title is retrospectively applied; the episodes were not originally identified separately.
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.
"Twelve Angry Men" is a 1954 teleplay directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and written by Reginald Rose for the American anthology television series Studio One. It follows the titular twelve members of a jury as they deliberate a supposedly clear-cut murder trial, and details the tension among them when one juror argues that the defendant might not be guilty. Initially staged as a CBS live production on September 20, 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title, and as a feature film in 1957 titled 12 Angry Men. The episode garnered three Emmy Awards for writer Rose, director Schaffner, and Robert Cummings as Best Actor.
12 Citizens is a 2014 Chinese suspense crime drama film directed by Xu Ang. It was shown at the 2014 Rome Film Festival on October 19, 2014 and was released in China on May 15, 2015. The plot is based on and heavily references the plot of the 1954 teleplay Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Various localization changes were made, such as changing the original, everyman protagonist into a Prosecutor of the Chinese Communist Party.
Guy Alexander Masterson is a British actor, writer, theatre director, producer and playwright widely known for his solo theatre performances of Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm, and Shylock by Gareth Armstrong. He is a regular producer at the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival and responsible for several of its most notable productions including Twelve Angry Men in 2003, The Odd Couple in 2005 and Morecambe in 2009 – which transferred to London's West End and won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment, and The Shark Is Broken in 2019 – which transferred to London's West End and won a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best New Comedy. It opened on Broadway on August 10, 2023 for a 16 week run.