Film: 12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men was the first film directed by Sidney Lumet, whose courtroom drama "The Verdict" has already been honored on this list. Uploaded by prodeoetpatria.wordpress.com.

It’s not a good thing to feel claustrophobic during a movie. And except for a couple of brief scenes at beginning and end, the “action” in 12 Angry Men (1957) takes place in a closed jury room. As they say, in the hands of a lesser director this would have been a problem. But the great Sidney Lumet (Network, The Verdict, et. al.) took this on as his very first production, and showed why he would be a directorial force for decades to come.

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If you haven’t seen 12 Angry Men, I don’t want to spoil the plot. Suffice it to say that a jury of all men debate the fate of a defendant who’s one of “those people,” and most initially consider him guilty. Henry Fonda is the lone dissenter, and he uses his powers of logic and persuasion to try to convince the others that they may be convicting an innocent man.

The film wouldn’t have worked without a terrific cast, and it had one. Among the jurors were E.G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, and Jack Klugman – a who’s who of great 1950s era character actors. Most forceful of all was Lee J. Cobb, leading those who believed in the defendant’s guilt. 12 Angry Men is considered one of the top courtroom dramas of all time (AFI considered it number two), and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars. And if it hadn’t come out in the same year as Bridge on the River Kwai, it might have won them.

Music: Quincy Jones

 

An arranger, record producer, performer, film score composer, and television producer, Quincy Jones is one of the most influential musicians of the last century. Uploaded by urbanascore.com.

You could probably win a few bar bets with this question: What individual has the most Grammy Nominations? Yes, the answer is Quincy Jones – with a whopping 79 (and 27 wins, all as a record producer). “Q,” as he’s often called, is not only a record producer but also an arranger, a film composer, and a television producer.

Jones earned a scholarship to a music conservatory in Boston, but dropped out to travel with Lionel Hampton. That experience led to the opportunity to arrange songs for Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Ray Charles. Not long after, director Sidney Lumet chose

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Jones to compose the music for his film The Pawnbroker. It was the first of 33 movies for which he wrote the score. Among his other films are In the Heat of the Night and The Color Purple.

As he turned his attention to record producing, he maintained his high standards. Among the records he produced are “We Are The World,” Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Frank Sinatra’s It Might As Well Be Spring, and Ella Fitzgerald/Count Basie’s Ella and Basie!

In 1995, Jones became the first African-American to win the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award presented at that year’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Film: The Verdict

In my opinion, Paul Newman's best performance. Uploaded by kartiksingh.wordpress.com.

Movie fans, and Paul Newman fans in particular, can debate his most outstanding role. For me, it’s his portrayal of recovering alcoholic Frank Galvin in The Verdict.

I’d watch anything directed by Sidney Lumet, written by David Mamet, and starring Paul Newman. In The Verdict, they created a film that’s compelling as both a legal drama and as a character study.

Paul Newman as lawyer Frank Galvin. Uploaded by videodetective.com.

Galvin, a shell of a lawyer and man, is given a medical malpractice case by a former associate (Jack Warden) so he can settle and have money to sustain himself. But Galvin realizes that if he settles the case, he’s lost – so he takes the case to court.

The film has great supporting performances by Warden, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, and Milo O’Shea. Newman, Mason, Lumet, and Mamet all received Academy Award nominations, and the movie was nominated for Best Picture. The video is of Galvin’s summation, and you realize he’s not just talking about his case, but about his life. Notice how Lumet has every spectator remain completely still so all the focus is on Newman.