FULL WATCHALONG: 12 Angry Men (1957)
Added 2025-05-31 19:14:06 +0000 UTCHi friends! Here is my reaction to 12 Angry Men, another entry into Cristy's Classics!
This was a Cristy's Crew Member of the Month pick, by Marty McKelvey! Thanks Marty for selecting this great movie!
Here's the YouTube link in case you prefer to watch along that way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUcpNadsB3w
Comments
12 Angry Men! One of my favorite movies! I knew that you would get around to it one day for your channel, and I'm glad that day is here! Ok, Cristy, I've got a few notes here to go over. The history of women serving on juries and when/where/how they were allowed to is complicated, as you can imagine. It was a very gradual state-by-state process. And even when it was made lawful that women could serve on juries in certain areas, it doesn't necessarily mean that they were selected very much. Basically, it wasn't until the late 60s that women could serve on juries in all 50 states. If you want a more in-depth read, there is a Wikipedia page on the subject- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_United_States_juries It wasn't explicitly spelled out for the audience, but it can be assumed that juror #10 (the one with the cold) was talking about Hispanic people in his rants. That's "those people" that he was making racist remarks about. That why juror #8 shuts him down (for a moment) by saying, "Let me ask you something. You didn't believe the boy's story, why do you believe the woman's? She's one of 'them' too, isn't she?" There are a LOT of people who see this movie for the first time who are perplexed about those towels in the men's bathroom. The good news is that the set-up isn't as unsanitary and gross as it initially appears. That's a rotating cloth hand towel. It's basically a really looooong towel that is initially all rolled up on one spool. As different people use it, they are supposed to pull it down so that they get a clean portion, while the used dirty portion gets rolled up onto a separate spool. Once the towel is all used up, the janitor/cleaning service is supposed to launder it and replace it once it has been cleaned, to start the process all over again. It's natural that this movie seems almost like a play, as you said, because it was initially written for the stage. If you're into the theater at all, you probably won't have to look too far for some community theater or high school that is performing it. When I was a special-order clerk at a bookstore in the late 90s, I had to constantly keep "12 Angry Men" in stock because, even if they weren't performing it, there were a ton of local high schools that were studying it. Cristy, you made me laugh big time when you said of juror #7, "I'm hot for you.... well, not hot for you.... but I'm hot... because you're hot.... you're warm..." Finally, something interesting that you may or may not have noticed. As you saw, we only learned the names of two of the jurors at the very end of the movie, juror #8 (Davis) and juror #9 (McCardle). But beyond that, we never even learn the name of anybody involved with the actual case. The defendant is simply "the boy", or "the kid". The victim is just "the father" or "the dad". And the eyewitness and earwitness are simply "the woman" and "the old man". Amazing that so much discussion goes on with anyone getting their own character name. I'm really glad that you enjoyed this movie, Cristy! It will make a great addition to "Cristy's Classics"!
Bradley Bradley
2025-06-10 03:49:17 +0000 UTCGreat pick Marty
Roger Freeman
2025-06-02 13:57:03 +0000 UTC
