Response 1 Henry Fonda 12 Angry Men PDF

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Essay Analyzing the movie 12 Angry men...

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Victoria Telhada Chris Maltezos THE2252 Twelve Angry Men Twelve Angry Men came out in 1957 and featured Henry Fonda as the calm and patient juror (whose name is Davis) who believes the boy on trial is not guilty due to reasonable doubt. Throughout the movie he is able to convince the other eleven jurors to revise their decisions and examine the evidence more closely. In the first scenes of the movie when the jurors are entering, Fonda’s body language is restrained and confidential as he stands by the window and looks out, with this you can quickly surmise that he will be the main character in the film. As the other jurors are making comments about the trial and already coming to an unthought verdict, Fonda is quiet and subdued. I personally think this ‘unreactive’ response fits the character perfectly because throughout the film Fonda never gets completely mad or riled up, unlike the juror played by Lee J Cobb. Fonda’s physical reaction while talking are very natural and credible. In fact, for the duration of the film Fonda’s facial expressions are soft and subdue, his reactions vary from a gentle smirk to remorse. This can be confirmed in the scene when Fonda is calmly explaining the boys’ life. His facial expression shows sympathy and pity while talking about how the boys’ mom died when he was 9, he was in an orphanage for a year and a half, then his father gets out of jail for forgery and takes him in. “He’s been hit on the head by somebody once a day, every day. I just think we owe him a few words.” (Twelve Angry Men) His words show that he has

some morals and that he can maybe even relate to the boy at some level, he’s also in no rush to make his final decision about an eighteen year olds death. As said in the beginning of this response, this film was released in 1957, about 30 years after the first ‘talkie’ was released, which made me think how much a voice makes a difference in a movie. Words, speeches, and volume can make a positive or negative impact in a character. In this example, it helps the jurors. Early in the film, the Forman asks Fonda to explain why he believes the boy is not guilty and they’ll help explain to him why he’s wrong. So it sounds like they (the other jurors) are patronizing him. Then, in another scene when Fonda speaks his turn his voice is stable, strong, and persuasive as he tries to set a scene where there is a possibility the lawyers could be wrong. Within this scene Fonda’s face is stern and hard but, he doesn’t try to act like he is above everyone or a know it all. Word choice is very important in a script. It can benefit the movie with its witty comebacks or destroy a movie with long boring monologues. Fonda’s word choices are quick smart comebacks which helped revel distinction between his character and the others. A great example would be when juror #10 (played by Ed Bugley) gets riled up and shouts that the woman’s testimony has to be true, Fonda responds with “You don't believe the boy's story, how can you believe the woman's? She's "one of them" too, isn't she?” (Twelve Angry Men) This quick response shows the personal prejudice that influences the jury’s decision. Previously in class the topic of improv came up, like when something in a scene happens that isn’t supposed too but the actor keeps rolling with it and creates a much better and different scene since it seems so natural. An example of this in the movie is when Fonda goes into the bathroom to wash his hands. He goes to dry them but the towel machine isn’t rotating which was most likely an accident in the scene and on the set however, Fonda just keeps rolling with it so he

stays calm and turns to the other machine and goes to dry his hands there. This shows Fonda’s commitment to creating this character. Twelve Angry Men. Dir. Sidney Lumet.Perfs. Henry Fonda, Lee J Cobb. Metro-GoldwynMayer.1957...