Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One)

For other productions, see Twelve Angry Men.

1st episode of the 7th season of Westinghouse Studio One

"Twelve Angry Men"

Westinghouse Studio One episode
Episode no.| Season 7
Episode 1
Directed by| Franklin Schaffner
Written by| Reginald Rose
Original air date| September 20, 1954 (1954-09-20)
Running time| 60 minutes
Guest appearances

* Robert Cummings as Juror #8
* Franchot Tone as Juror #3
* Edward Arnold as Juror #10
* Paul Hartman as Juror #7
* John Beal as Juror #2
* Walter Abel as Juror #4
* Norman Fell as Foreman / Juror No. 1

Episode chronology
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List of episodes

"Twelve Angry Men" is a 1954 teleplay directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and written by Reginald Rose for the American anthology television series Studio One. It follows the titular twelve members of a jury as they deliberate a supposedly clear-cut murder trial, and details the tension among them when one juror argues that the defendant might not be guilty. Initially staged as a CBS live production on September 20, 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title, and as a feature film in 1957 titled 12 Angry Men. The episode garnered three Emmy Awards for writer Rose, director Schaffner, and Robert Cummings as Best Actor.[1][2][3]

## Plot

[edit]

### Act I

[edit]

The program opens as a judge instructs the jury in a murder case that their verdict must be unanimous. In the jury room, an initial vote is 11 to 1 in favor of guilty. Juror #8 (Robert Cummings) is the holdout voting not guilty. Juror #3 (Franchot Tone) criticizes Juror #8 as being "out in left field." They go once around the table, each juror having an opportunity to express his point of view. Juror #10 (Edward Arnold) focuses on the neighbor who testified that she saw the defendant stab his father. Juror #7 (Paul Hartman) focuses on the defendant's record – reform school at age 15 for stealing a car, arrested for knife fighting, and he comes from slums that are breeding grounds for criminals. Juror #5 (Lee Phillips) takes offense and points out that he's lived in a slum his whole life – "maybe it still smells on me."

Juror #8 asks for the alleged murder weapon, a switchblade, to be brought into the jury room. Juror #4 points out that the shopkeeper where the defendant purchased the knife testified that it was the only one he had in stock and that it is a very strange knife. When the knife is brought into the jury room, Juror #8 pulls an identical knife from his pocket, and reveals he bought one from a junk shop around the corner from the defendant's house, suggesting it is less "strange" than what the shopkeeper thought.

Juror #8 asks for a secret ballot. If there are still 11 guilty votes, Juror #8 will go along. But if anyone votes not guilty, they will stay and talk it out. The votes are handed in.

### Act II

[edit]

The Foreman then reads the votes to everyone and, to their surprise, finds that another juror voted “not guilty”. There are now only 10 guilty votes. Juror #10 demands to know who it was, & Juror #3 believes it was #5 and berates him for it. Juror #9 (Joseph Sweeney) defends him and admits that he was the one who changed his vote.

Juror #8 focuses on the noise from the elevated train that passed by as the murder took place. One of the witnesses, an old man, claimed that he heard the defendant say, "I'm going to kill you," and then heard the body drop one second later. He questions how the witness could have heard these things, at a distance, with the train roaring by. Juror #5 changes his vote to not guilty. The vote is now 9–3.

Juror #8 next questions how the old man who's had a stroke and walks with two canes could have gotten up out of bed and run through his apartment to see the defendant running down the stairs. The old man testified this happened only 15 seconds after the murder. Juror #3 notes the old man was confused during the trial and suggests he may not have been precise when he stated it was 15 seconds. Juror #3 and the others pause, reacting to the import of Juror #3's question. Juror #8 performs a reenactment to show that the old man could not have gotten up and walked that distance in 15 seconds. Juror #2 times him with a watch and reveals the reenactment took 41 seconds. #8 then tells everyone that the old man must have assumed it was the defendant as soon as he heard footsteps before opening the door. Juror #3 complains about Juror #8's dishonesty and insists the defendant must face punishment. When Juror #8 calls Juror #3 a sadist, Juror #3 lunges and threatens to kill him.

### Act III

[edit]

A new vote is taken. It is now 6–6. Juror #2 (John Beal) is troubled by the angle of the stab wound. Juror #5 has knowledge about switch blades, having seen a knife fight, and says they are typically used with an underhand motion, but the wound here was from an overhand motion. Juror #7 changes his vote out of boredom of all the discussion. Juror #11 is disappointed and calls him out for playing with the boy’s life and his lazy reasoning. He demands the #7 take it seriously and provide a legitimate vote and reasoning for it. Another vote is taken, and it's 9–3 in favor of acquittal. Jurors 3, 4 and 10 are now the holdouts.

Juror #10 focuses on race, insisting the defendant must be guilty because, among other assumptions, "There isn't one of them that's got any good in them." The other jurors react in shock at Juror #10's tirade, and Juror #4 threatens Juror #10 to not speak again for the rest of the deliberation.

Juror #4 is still persuaded by the old lady who said she saw the defendant stab his father. One of the jurors recalls that the old lady wore glasses. She wouldn't have been wearing her glasses in bed, which is where she said she was, tossing and turning. Juror #8 says that all the old lady could have seen, without her glasses and through the train windows, was a blur. Juror #3 is left as the only guilty vote, but he finally gives in. The defendant is found not guilty.

## Cast

[edit]

The cast included performances by:[4]

* Robert Cummings as Juror No. 8
* Franchot Tone as Juror No. 3
* Edward Arnold as Juror No. 10
* Paul Hartman as Juror No. 7
* John Beal as Juror No. 2
* Walter Abel as Juror No. 4
* George Voskovec as Juror No. 11
* Joseph Sweeney as Juror No. 9
* Bart Burns as Juror No. 6
* Norman Fell as Foreman (Juror No. 1)
* Lee Phillips as Juror No. 5
* Larkin Ford (credited as Will West) as Juror No. 12

### Uncredited cast

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* Vincent Gardenia as Bailiff[citation needed]

Betty Furness presents Westinghouse appliances in breaks after each of the acts.[4]

## Production

[edit]

The production was staged in New York City and aired live on September 20, 1954, as the first episode in the seventh season of the program, Studio One. A kinescope recording was made for rebroadcast later on the west coast.[4]

It was written by Reginald Rose especially for Studio One. Felix Jackson was the producer and Franklin Schaffner the director. Wes Laws was the set decorator, and Willard Levitas provided the settings.[4]

The production won three Emmy Awards: for Rose's writing, Schaffner's direction, and for Robert Cummings as Best Actor.[5]

## Reception

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The performance received generally positive reviews. In 1997, Steve Rhodes wrote: "Cummings gives the best of several outstanding performances."[6]

## References

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1. ^ Holm, D. K. "TV on DVD Review: Small Screen Gems, 21 Angry Men" (Cinemonkey, December 08, 2008)
2. ^ Cornelius, David. "Studio One – Twelve Angry Men" (DVD Talk, February 9, 2010)
3. ^ Douglas, Judge Clark. "Twelve Angry Men" (DVD Verdict, February 9, 2010)
4. ^ a b c d Credits are as listed on screen from the broadcast, as captured by the 16 mm film that has been preserved.
5. ^ Vagg, Stephen (October 29, 2024). "Movie Star Cold Streaks: Robert Cummings". Filmink. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
6. ^ Rhodes, Steve (August 18, 1997). "Steve Rhodes Reviews: Twelve Angry Men (Studio One, 1957)". Silicon Valley Today. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2015.

## Sources

[edit]

* Cynthia Littleton (April 17, 2003). "Mt&r Finds '54 'Angry Men'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 4, 2008. Revised link to article retrieved April 23, 2017.
* Rose, Reginald, Twelve Angry Men, teleplay

## External links

[edit]

* "Twelve Angry Men" at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

Films|

* 12 Angry Men (1957)
* Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986)
* 12 (2007)
* 12 Citizens (2014)
* Vaaimai (2016)

Television|

* "Twelve Angry Men" (Studio One) (1954)
* 12 Angry Men (1997)

Theatre|

* Twelve Angry Men

Documentaries|

* 12 Angry Lebanese

Spoofs|

* "Twelve Angry Men"
* "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty"
* "12 and a Half Angry Men"

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Features|

* The Stripper (1963)
* The Best Man (1964)
* The War Lord (1965)
* The Double Man (1967)
* Planet of the Apes (1968)
* Patton (1970)
* Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
* Papillon (1973)
* Islands in the Stream (1977)
* The Boys from Brazil (1978)
* Sphinx (1981)
* Yes, Giorgio (1982)
* Lionheart (1987)
* Welcome Home (1989)

TV|

* Jane Eyre (1949)
* Miss Hargreaves (1952)
* The Strike (1954)
* Twelve Angry Men (1954)
* Seven Against the Wall (1958)
* The Right Hand Man (1958)
* Cry Vengeance! (1961)
* A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy (1962)
* Legend of Lylah Clare (1963)

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

1950s|

* Reginald Rose for "Twelve Angry Men" (1955)

1960s|

* Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1960)
* Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1961)
* Reginald Rose for The Defenders (1962)
* Robert Thom & Reginald Rose for "The Madman" (1963)
* Ernest Kinoy for "Blacklist" / Rod Serling for "It's Mental Work" (1964)
* David Karp for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965)
* Millard Lampell for "Eagle in a Cage" (1966)
* Bruce Geller for "Mission: Impossible" (1967)
* Loring Mandel for "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (1968)
* JP Miller for "The People Next Door" (1969)

1970s|

* Richard Levinson & William Link for "My Sweet Charlie" (1970)
* Joel Oliansky for "To Taste of Death But Once" (1971)
* Richard Levinson & William Link for "Death Lends a Hand" (1972)
* John McGreevey for "The Scholar" (1973)
* Joanna Lee for "The Thanksgiving Story" (1974)
* Howard Fast for "Benjamin Franklin: The Ambassador" (1975)
* Sherman Yellen for "John Adams: Lawyer" (1976)
* William Blinn & Ernest Kinoy for "Show #2" (1977)
* Gerald Green for "Holocaust" (1978)
* Michele Gallery for "Dying" (1979)

1980s|

* Seth Freeman for "Cop" (1980)
* Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco for "Hill Street Station" (1981)
* Steven Bochco & Michael Kozoll & Jeff Lewis & Michael Wagner & Anthony Yerkovich for "Freedom's Last Stand" (1982)
* David Milch for "Trial by Fury" (1983)
* John Ford Noonan, John Masius & Tom Fontana for "The Women" (1984)
* Patricia Green for "Who Said It's Fair, Part 2" (1985)
* Tom Fontana, John Masius & Joe Tinker for "Time Heals, Parts I & II" (1986)
* Steven Bochco & Terry Louise Fisher for "The Venus Butterfly" (1987)
* Paul Haggis & Marshall Herskovitz for "Business as Usual" (1988)
* Joseph Dougherty for "First Day/Last Day" (1989)

1990s|

* David E. Kelley for "Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (1990)
* David E. Kelley for "On the Toad Again" (1991)
* Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider for "Seoul Mates" (1992)
* Tom Fontana for "Three Men and Adena" (1993)
* Ann Biderman for "Steroid Roy" (1994)
* Lance A. Gentile for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995)
* Darin Morgan for "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (1996)
* David Milch, Stephen Gaghan and Michael R. Perry for "Where's Swaldo?" (1997)
* David Milch, Nicholas Wootton and Bill Clark for "Lost Israel: Part II" (1998)
* James Manos Jr. and David Chase for "College" (1999)

2000s|

* Rick Cleveland & Aaron Sorkin for "In Excelsis Deo" (2000)
* Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green for "Employee of the Month" (2001)
* Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." (2002)
* Mitchell Burgess & David Chase & Robin Green for "Whitecaps" (2003)
* Terence Winter for "Long Term Parking" (2004)
* David Shore for "Three Stories" (2005)
* Terence Winter for "Members Only" (2006)
* David Chase for "Made in America" (2007)
* Matthew Weiner for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (2008)
* Kater Gordon & Matthew Weiner for "Meditations in an Emergency" (2009)

2010s|

* Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner for "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." (2010)
* Jason Katims for "Always" (2011)
* Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff for "Pilot" (Homeland) (2012)
* Henry Bromell for "Q&A" (2013)
* Moira Walley-Beckett for "Ozymandias" (2014)
* David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Mother's Mercy" (2015)
* David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016)
* Bruce Miller for "Offred" (2017)
* Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for "START" (2018)
* Jesse Armstrong for "Nobody Is Ever Missing" (2019)

2020s|

* Jesse Armstrong for "This Is Not for Tears" (2020)
* Peter Morgan for "War" (2021)
* Jesse Armstrong for "All the Bells Say" (2022)
* Jesse Armstrong for "Connor's Wedding" (2023)
* Will Smith for "Negotiating with Tigers" (2024)

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