The best courtroom drama ever made

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2019)

This is one of the greatest movies not only of the 1950s, but of all time. What makes it unique are the direction, the actors' performances, the cinematography and the set. In my opinion, whoever loves classic movies or movies in general should watch this movie at least once in a lifetime - it's that great and perfect! This movie should be even shown in film schools as a textbook example of how to make a movie without special effects but only with a good script and talented actors. That's it: a movie shot in black and white and for almost all the time the film is set in a small room.
The direction (by Sidney Lumet in his debut) is top-notch and the actors' performances are all career-bests. Henry Fonda has never given a better performance than the one he gives in this movie, and all the other actors - Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, Robert Webber, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler for naming a few - who were still unknown at the time, are great here and give great support to Fonda. All in all, an exceptional movie in all ways.