1957 • 96 minutes
Directed by Sidney Lumet
With Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden
John Fiedler, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber

After the final closing arguments are presented, a judge gives his instructions to the jury: The question they are deciding is whether the defendant—a teenage boy from a city slum—stabbed and killed his father. The jury is further instructed that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence. The jury of 12 retires to the jury room, where they begin to become acquainted with each others' personalities and discuss the case.

The film then revolves around the jury's difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict, mainly due to several of the jurors' personal prejudices. An initial vote is taken, and 11 of the jurors vote "guilty," except for Juror number 8, the lone dissenter. He says that the evidence presented is circumstantial, and the boy deserves a fair deliberation.

The plot depicts the various personalities of people likely to be called to jury duty; however, two general personality types emerge: those who take the job seriously enough to weigh the evidence and deliberate as duty calls, and those who fail in that duty for whatever reason. The theme stresses the importance of the jury system and pitfalls of rushing to judgment.

Adapted from Wikipedia

Watch the trailer here:

"The film leaves a tremendous impact."—Variety

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