12 Angry Men

1957 · directed by Sidney Lumet

Rating

99/100

Hit

yes

Prestige lists

AFI 100, Criterion, NFR

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet, rates 99/100 — a hit. See how its director, cast and crew rate across their careers.

Cast

• Martin Balsam
• John Fiedler
• Lee J. Cobb
• E.G. Marshall
• Jack Klugman
• Edward Binns
• Jack Warden
• Henry Fonda
• Joseph Sweeney
• Ed Begley

Crew

• Boris Kaufman — Director of Photography
• Carl Lerner — Editor
• Kenyon Hopkins — Original Music Composer
• Reginald Rose — Screenplay

More from Sidney Lumet

1. Network (1976) — 94/100 · hit
2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) — 84/100 · hit
3. Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) — 82/100 · hit
4. Fail Safe (1964) — 81/100 · hit
5. Serpico (1973) — 81/100 · hit
6. The Verdict (1982) — 79/100

How these numbers work: Methodology