Incredibly Good Film

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2019)

An incredible film that is even more incredible for the fact that it was filmed almost entirely in one small room and was made on a surprisingly small budget. The film did have a top Hollywood star in Henry Fonda but while director Sidney Lumet would go on to an amazing career this was his first work outside of television. The film earned 3 important Oscar nominations for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Writing but would lose all three categories to Bridge on the River Kwai and was not successful at the box office. Despite all this more than 50 years later this film currently sits at #5 on the IMDB Top 250 films of all time, a position that I believe is justified.
The film is essentially the story of a jury deliberation of a murder case involving a Hispanic youth that initially appears to be clear cut until one man raises questions mostly to ensure that everyone has given the case their full consideration, when doubts arise the tempers flare and the prejudices of some jury member's surface. Now instead of an exercise in fair play we have the juror's undertaking a decision that will determine the fate of a young man whose innocence becomes more and more likely.
The most effective aspects of Lumet's direction are making a film that is almost entirely dialogue in one room incredibly compelling and making that single set dramatic and effective. The tension mounts through out the film as the deliberation nears it conclusion and Lumet adjusts the cameras and the lenses to build a feeling of claustrophobia in the small extremely hot jury room.
The other major contributor was Reginald Rose who wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film with Fonda.
In addition to Fonda in what I believe is his best career performance we have host of recognizable faces including; Martin Balsam, Lee J Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Ed Begley and one very recognizable voice is John Fiedler who better known as the voice of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh.