12 Angry Men (1957) Fight It Out on the Criterion Collection!

The Criterion Collection released 12 Angry Men to Blu-ray on November 22, 2011. Sidney Lumet directed the film starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, and Martin Balsam.

’12 Angry Men’ Criterion Synopsis

12 Angry Men, by Sidney Lumet, may be the most radical courtroom drama in cinema history. A behind-closed-doors look at the American legal system that is as riveting as it is spare, this iconic adaptation of Reginald Rose’s teleplay stars Henry Fonda as the dissenting member on a jury of white men ready to pass judgment on a Puerto Rican teenager charged with murdering his father. The result is a saga of epic proportions that plays out over a tense afternoon in one sweltering room. Lumet’s electrifying snapshot of 1950s America on the verge of change is one of the great feature film debuts.

Read the full summary, and listen to our film review.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncom­pressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Frank Schaffner’s 1955 teleplay of 12 Angry Men, from the series Studio One, featuring an introduction by Ron Simon, curator at the Paley Center for Media
• Production history of 12 Angry Men, from teleplay to big-screen classic
• Archival interviews with director Sidney Lumet
• New interview with screenwriter Walter Bernstein about Lumet
• New interview with Simon about writer Reginald Rose
• Tragedy in a Temporary Town (1956), a teleplay directed by Lumet and written by Rose
• New interview with cinematographer John Bailey about director of photography Boris Kaufman
• Original theatrical trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by writer and law professor Thane Rosenbaum

New cover illustration by Sean Phillips, design by Eric Skillman

Also available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.