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12 Angry Men

1957 drama film by Sidney Lumet

12 Angry Men is a 1957 film about a dissenting juror in a murder trial who slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Reginald Rose from his 1954 teleplay.
Life Is In Their Hands -- Death Is On Their Minds!(taglines)

Juror #6

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  • Well, I'm not used to supposin'. I'm just a workin' man. My boss does all the supposin'-- but I'll try one. Supposin' you talk us all out of this and, uh, the kid really did knife his father?
  • [To #3 after he insults #9] What are you talkin' to him like that for? Guy talks like that to an old man really oughta get stepped on, you know. You oughta have more respect, mister. If you say stuff like that to him again... I'm gonna lay you out.

Juror #8 / Davis

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  • It’s very hard to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And no matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth.

Juror #9 / McCardle

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  • [Juror #7 has been throwing bits of paper at the fan. One of them bounces off it and hits #9 in the head.] That's a damn stupid thing to do.
  • [Revealing that he was the first to join #8 in voting not guilty] This gentleman has been standing alone against us. It's not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others. So he gambled for support - and I gave it to him.
  • Gentlemen, that's a very sad thing...to be nothing.

Juror #10

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  • It's pretty tough to figure, isn't it? A kid kills his father. Bing! Just like that... It's the element... I'm telling ya, they let those kids run wild up there. Well, maybe it serves 'em right.
  • Oh, listen, I don't see what all this stuff about the knife has got to do with anything. Somebody saw the kid stab his Father, what more do we need? You guys can talk the ears right off my head you know what I mean? I got three garages of mine going to pot while you're talking! So let's get down and get out of here!

Others

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  • Judge: If there's a reasonable doubt in your minds as to the guilt of the accused, a reasonable doubt, then you must bring me a verdict of not guilty. If however, there is no reasonable doubt, then you must in good conscience find the accused guilty. However you decide, your verdict must be unanimous. In the event that you find the accused guilty, the bench will not entertain a recommendation for mercy. The death sentence is mandatory in this case. You are faced with a grave responsibility. Thank you, gentlemen.

Dialogue

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#7: You a Yankee fan?
#5: No, Baltimore.
#7: Baltimore? That's like being hit in the head with a crow bar once a day.
#8: This kid's been kicked around all of his life. You know, born in a slum. Mother dead since he was nine. He lived for a year and a half in an orphanage when his father was serving a jail term for forgery. That's not a very happy beginning. He's a wild, angry kid, and that's all he's ever been. And you know why because he's been hit on the head by somebody once a day, every day. He's had a pretty miserable eighteen years. I just think we owe him a few words, that's all.
#10: I don't mind telling you this, mister. We don't owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn't he? What do you think that trial cost? He's lucky he got it. You know what I mean? Now look, we're all grown-ups in here. We heard the facts, didn't we? You're not gonna tell me that we're supposed to believe this kid, knowing what he is. Listen, I've lived among them all my life. You can't believe a word they say. You know that. I mean, they're born liars.
#9: Only an ignorant man can believe that... Do you think you were born with a monopoly on the truth?
#2: It's hard to put into words. I just think he's guilty. I thought it was obvious from the word, 'Go'. Nobody proved otherwise.
#8: Nobody has to prove otherwise. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant doesn't even have to open his mouth. That's in the Constitution.
#8: [To #10] Let me ask you something. You don't believe the boy's story, how can you believe the woman's? She's "one of them" too, isn't she?
#10: ...You're a pretty smart fella, aren't you?
#8: There were two witnesses to the murder. What if they're wrong?
#12: What do you mean, what if they're wrong? What's the point of having witnesses at all?
#8: Could they be wrong?
#12: Well no, I don't think so.
#8: Do you 'know' so?
#12: Come on. Nobody can know something like that. This isn't an exact science.
#8: That's right, it isn't.
#3: You're talking about a matter of seconds! Nobody can be that accurate.
#8: Well, I think that testimony that can put a boy into the electric chair should be that accurate.
#8: There's another thing I'd like to talk about for a minute. I think we've proven that the old man couldn't have heard the boy say "I'm going to kill you," but supposing—
#10: You didn't prove it at all. What're you talking about?
#8: But supposing he really did hear it. This phrase, how many times has each of us used it? Probably hundreds. "I could kill you for that, darling." "If you do that once more, junior, I'm going to kill you." "Get in there, Rocky, and kill him!" We say it every day. It doesn't mean we're going to kill someone.
#3: Wait a minute. What are you trying to give us here? The phrase was "I'm going to kill you," and he screamed it out at the top of his lungs! Don't tell me he didn't mean it. Anybody says a thing like that the way he said it, they mean it.
#10: "Bright"? He's a common ignorant slob. He don't even speak good English.
#11: He doesn't even speak good English. [smiles at #10]
#8: ...But I'd like to find out if an old man who drags his foot when he walks, because he had a stroke last year, could get from his bedroom to the front door in 15 seconds.
#3: He said 20 seconds.
#8: He said 15!
#3: He said 20 seconds! What are you trying to distort–!
#11: He said 15.
#3: How does he know how long 15 seconds is?! You can't judge a thing like that!
#9: He said 15 seconds, he was very positive about that!
#3: He was an old man! Half the time, he was confused! How could he be positive about anything?!
[#3 then stops, realizing what he had just said.]
#3: What do you mean you want to try it? Why didn't his lawyer bring it up if it's so important?
#5: Well, maybe he just didn't think of it huh?
#10: What do you mean didn't think of it? Do you think the man's an idiot or something? It's an obvious thing.
#5: Did you think of it?
#10: Listen smart guy, it don't matter whether I thought of it. He didn't bring it up because he knew it would hurt his case. What do you think of that?
#8: Maybe he didn't bring it up because it would of meant bullying and badgering a helpless old man. You know that doesn't sit well with a jury, most lawyers avoid it if they can.
#7: So what kind of a bum is he then?
#8: That's what I've been asking, buddy.
#8: I think this is what happened: the old man had heard the fight between the boy and his father a few hours earlier. Then, while lying in bed, he heard a body hit the floor in the boy's apartment, and he heard the woman scream from across the street. He got up, he tried to get to the door, heard someone racing down the stairs and *assumed* it was the boy.
#3: Assumed? Brother, I've seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day, but this little display takes the cake. Y'all come in here with your hearts bleedin' all over the floor about slum kids and injustice, you listen to some fairy tales, suddenly you start gettin' through to some of these old ladies... well, you're not getting through to me, I've had enough! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU GUYS?! YOU ALL KNOW HE'S GUILTY! HE'S GOT TO BURN! YOU'RE LETTING HIM SLIP THROUGH OUR FINGERS!
#8: Slip through our fingers? Are you his executioner?
#3: I'M ONE OF 'EM!
#8: Maybe you'd like to pull the switch?
#3: For this kid, you bet I would!
#8: I feel sorry for you. What it must feel like to want to pull the switch! Ever since we walked into this room, you've been acting like a self-appointed public avenger! You want to see this boy die because you personally want it, not because of the facts! You're a sadist!
[#3 lunges wildly at #8, who holds his ground. Several jurors hold #3 back]
#3: Let me go! I'll kill him! I'LL KILL HIM!
#8: ...You don't really mean you'll kill me, do you?
#11: I beg pardon.
#10: "I beg pardon?" What are you so polite about?
#11: For the same reason you are not: it's the way I was brought up.
#3: That business before when that tall guy, what's-his-name, was trying to bait me? That doesn't prove anything. I'm a pretty excitable person. I mean, where does he come off calling me a public avenger, sadist and everything? Anyone in his right mind would blow his stack. He was just trying to bait me.
#4: He did an excellent job.
#10: I don't understand you people! I mean all these picky little points you keep bringing up. They don't mean nothing! You saw this kid just like I did. You're not gonna tell me you believe that phony story about losing the knife, and that business about being at the movies. Look, you know how these people lie! It's born in them! I mean what the heck? I don't have to tell you. They don't know what the truth is! And lemme tell you, they don't need any real big reason to kill someone, either! No sir!
[#5 gets up from his seat]
#10: They get drunk. Oh, they're real big drinkers, all of 'em, you know that! And bang: someone's lying in the gutter. Well, nobody's blaming them for it. That's the way they are! By nature! You know what I mean? VIOLENT!
[#9 rises and crosses to the window]
#10: Where are you going? Human life don't mean as much to them as it does to us!
[#11 gets up and walks to the other window]
#10: [Beginning to sound desperate] Look, they're lushing it up and fighting all the time, and if somebody gets killed, so somebody gets killed! They don't care! Oh, sure, there's some good things about 'em, too! Look, I'm the first one to say that.
[#8 gets up and walks to the nearest wall]
#10: I've known a couple who were OK, but that's the exception, y'know what I mean?
[#2 and #6 get up from the table. Everybody's back is to #10]
#10: Most of 'em, it's like they have no feelings! They can do anything! What's goin' on here? I'm trying to tell you, you're making a big mistake, you people! This kid's a liar! I know it. I know all about them!
[#7 turns away, and the Foreman gets up and walks away]
#10: [Increasingly desperate] Listen to me...They're no good! There's not a one of 'em who's any good! I mean, what's happening in here? I'm speaking my piece, and you...
[#12 gets up and walks to the window]
#10: Listen to me...We're, we're...This kid on trial here, his type...Well, don't you know about them? There's a...There's a danger here. These people are dangerous. They're...wild. Listen to me...Listen.
#4: I have. Now sit down and don't open your mouth again.
[#10 sits in a corner table and does not speak for the rest of the film]
#9: It's eleven to one.
#7: So, what do we do now?
#8: You're alone.
#3: I don't care if I'm alone or not! It's my right.
#8: It's your right.
#3: Well, what do you want from me?
#8: We want your arguments.
#3: I gave ya my arguments!
#8: We're not convinced! We want to hear them again. We have as much time as it takes.
#3: Everything... every single thing that came out in that courtroom, but I mean everything... says he's guilty. What d'ya think? I'm an idiot or somethin'? Why don't cha take that stuff about the old man; the old man who lived there and heard everything? Or the business about the knife! What, just because he found one exactly like it? The old man saw him. Right there on the stairs. What's the difference how many seconds it was? Every single thing. The knife falling through a hole in his pocket...you can't prove that he didn't get to the door! Sure, you can hobble around the room and take all the time you want, but you can't prove it! And that stuff with the El! And the movies! Now there's a phony deal if I ever saw one. I'd betcha five thousand dollars I'd remember the names of the movies I saw! I'm tellin' ya: every single thing that has went on has been twisted... and turned. This business with the glasses. How do you know she didn't have 'em on? This woman testified in open court! And that thing about hearin' the kid yell... huh? Listen, I've got all the facts here... [He struggles with his notebook, throws it on the table] Ah! Well, there it is! That's the whole case! [He turns towards the window as the other jurors stare at him] Well, SAY SOMETHING! ...You lousy bunch of bleedin' hearts. You're not goin' to intimidate me! I'm entitled to my own opinion! [Sees the picture of his son on the table] Rotten kids...you WORK YOUR LIFE OUT! [He lunges at the picture and tears it to pieces. He suddenly realizes what he's doing, stops, then breaks down] No. Not guilty. Not guilty!
[Last lines]
#9: Hey, what's your name?
#8: Davis.
#9: My name's McCardle. [pause] Well, so long.

Cast

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See also

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