Sidney Lumet Movies
American director Sidney Lumet originally planned to follow in the footsteps of his father, Yiddish Art Theatre actor Baruch Lumet. On-stage from the age of five, the younger Lumet studied at New York's Professional Children's School and acted in numerous Broadway productions, most notably Dead End. With several other New York-based actors, Lumet was featured in the agitprop film drama One Third of a Nation (1939); he played Sylvia Sidney's crippled kid brother, sparking the film's climax by setting fire to a disease-ridden tenement house and perishing in the conflagration.After wartime service, Lumet decided he'd had enough of acting and started to focus on the production end of the business. Working his way up the summer stock ladder, Lumet began directing for live television in 1950, working on such distinguished series as Omnibus and Studio One, and filmed anthologies like Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre. He directed his first film, Twelve Angry Men (1957), at the request of producer/star Henry Fonda; the director later confessed that it was a grueling learning experience for both himself and novice producer Fonda, though he took pride in finishing the film in 19 days and under budget. For his efforts, he garnered a Best Director Oscar nomination. Lumet directed a few more films, but drew more satisfaction out of stage and TV work. In 1960, he gained notoriety for directing The Sacco-Vanzetti Story on NBC; the drama drew flack from the state of Massachusetts (where Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were tried and executed) because it was thought to postulate that the condemned murderers were, in fact, wholly innocent. But the brouhaha actually did Lumet more good than harm, sending several prestigious film assignments his way, including his 1962 artistic triumph Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Proponents of the "auteur" theory, who insist that a director should leave his personal signature on each film, have long been confounded by Lumet, who has refused to do anything twice in his movie work. After directing the Cold War suspense dramaFail-Safe (1964) and the tense war-guilt character study The Pawnbroker (1965), he went on to explore Jewish middle-aged angst in Bye Bye Braverman (1969); tried his hand at a roller coaster police-thriller with Serpico (1973); made the shaggy-dog bank robbery account Dog Day Afternoon (1974); ventured into mystery with the slick, stylish Murder on the Orient Express (1974); won awards for his media satire Network (1976); explored the battle between the sexes in the hilarious Just Tell Me What You Want (1980); and looked at the grim arena of underworld crime in The Family Business (1989).
Lumet handled these diverse projects with considerable skill, managing to turn out a body of remarkably diverse work. In 1993, the director, as full of surprises as ever, delivered a nail-biting whodunit, Guilty As Sin. Plagued with numerous plot holes and illogical character behavior, it was not his best, but after a couple of years of inactivity, Lumet was back at work, producing and directing 1997's Critical Care, and writing and directing Night Falls on Manhattan the same year. The former, a hospital satire starring Albert Brooks, James Spader, and Helen Mirren, failed to make much of a critical or commercial impression, but the latter, a crime thriller featuring Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, and Ian Holm, enjoyed some measure of critical acclaim. Lumet's next effort was a 1999 remake of John Cassavetes' 1980 film Gloria. Starring Sharon Stone in the title role that was originally played by Gena Rowlands, the film met an unfortunate critical and commercial fate, netting bad reviews and audience indifference. However, Lumet -- who had, by this point, been nominated for five Oscars (four for Best Director and one for Best Adapted Screenplay) over the course of his career -- managed to survive this relative failure with his reputation pretty much intact; in fact, many acknowledged that even a second-rate Lumet was better than the first-rate work of many other directors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2009
His mind locked into a perpetual state of confusion thanks to both the prison psychiatrist and the woman he loves, a desperate convict vows to regain his freedom before events take a deadly turn in this psychological thriller from writer/director Sidney Lumet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2004
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The American film industry took it upon itself to act as a cheerleader for United States and Allied military interests during World War II, but Hollywood was initially reluctant to directly condemn Nazi anti-Semitism, and it wasn't until years after the war ended that American filmmakers began offering a realistic, dramatic look at the horrible toll of Hitler's "final solution." Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust is a documentary which examines how filmmakers reacted to German scapegoating of Jews before, during, and after the war, ranging from the boldness of Confessions of a Nazi Spy and The Mortal Storm (both of which were produced before America entered the war) to more oblique statements during the war itself, and then finally leading to an honest portrayal of the full consequences of the Holocaust beginning in the '50s. Produced for the cable television network American Movie Classics, Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust was premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Sidney Lumet, (more)
In the late '60s, American culture experienced a period of change as the youth movement challenged conventional attitudes about politics, sex, drugs, and gender issues, while the advancement of the Vietnam War found many citizens questioning the actions and wisdom of their government for the first time. As American attitudes continued to evolve, so did the American film industry; as costly big-budget blockbusters nearly brought the major studios to the brink of collapse, smaller and more personal films such as Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, and Five Easy Pieces demonstrated there was a ready audience for bold and challenging entertainment. As the '60s faded into the 1970s, American cinema moved into an exciting period of creativity and stylistic innovation, which led to such landmark films as The Godfather, MASH, The Last Picture Show, Shampoo, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chinatown, and Taxi Driver, and new freedom for directors and screenwriters. Ironically, however, it was another pair of big-budget blockbusters directed by students of the new wave of filmmaking -- Jaws and Star Wars -- which brought the studios back to power and put an end to Hollywood's flirtation with offbeat creativity. A Decade Under the Influence is a documentary which explores the rise and fall of new American filmmaking in the 1970s, and features interviews with many of the key directors, screenwriters, and actors whose work typified the movement, including Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Roger Corman, Dennis Hopper, Jon Voight, and Julie Christie. A Decade Under the Influence received its world premier at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and an expanded version of the film was later shown on the premium cable outlet The Independent Film Channel; the documentary was the final work of co-director Ted Demme, who died shortly before the film was completed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, (more)
- 2002
One of the most compelling strokes of fate in the past millenium is the fact that the 20th century's most hated dictator and most beloved film comedian were born within four days of each other in 1889. Although Adolf Hitler probably never gave Charlie Chaplin a second thought during his rise to power, Chaplin was obsessed with the notion that there was a larger and more profound meaning to the coincidence of his age proximity to Hitler--not to mention the fact that both men became famous by sporting postage-stamp moustaches. In 1939, Chaplin inaugurated production of his first 100% all-talking picture, in which he would abandon his familiar "Little Tramp" character in favor of two new screen alter-egos: A Jewish barber in the fictional European country of Tomania, and the barber's exact lookalike, the infamous dictator Adenoid Hynkel, aka "Der Phooey." Utilizing rare color behind the scenes footage discovered by Chaplin's daughter Victoria, and complemented with commentary from Charlie's coworkers, contemporary filmmakers and movie historians, this one-hour documentary detailed the making of The Great Dictator, Chaplin's devastating (and often devastatingly funny) satire of the Nazis. Among the many topics covered in the film is Hollywood's frightened reaction to Chaplin's daring move (at a time when appeasing rather than openly opposing Hitler was the order of the day), and Hitler's own reaction upon seeing the completed film himself. Assembled by the brilliant historian and silent-movie preservationist Kevin Brownlow, The Tramp and the Dictator represented a collaboration between Britain's Photoplay Productions and Germany's Spiegel TV. In America, the film was first broadcast on October 1, 2002, as the vanguard of a TCM cable network retrospective of Hitler-related films and cartoons, beginning with the new, digitally restored version of 1940's The Great Dictator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Bradbury
- 2001
Oscar-winning director Sidney Lumet, who began his career during the "golden age" of live television, returned to his TV roots as creator, writer, and director of the gritty, one-hour drama series 100 Centre Street. The title refers to the address of New York's Criminal Court, presided over by such distinguished jurists as Judge Joe Rifkind (Alan Arkin and Judge Atallah Sims (LaTanya Richardson). Though diametrical opposites in terms of philosophy -- Rifkind tends towards lenient liberalism, while the by-the-book Sims is known far and wide as "Atallah the Hun" -- the two judges remain close friends. Many of the episodes deal with the ramifications of the judges' decisions: In the opener, for example, Rifkind had to wrestle with the fact that a defendant he set free immediately went out and committed a savage murder -- and the victim was the daughter of Rifkind's former law partner. Others in the cast are Joseph Lyle Taylor and Paula Devicq as Assistant DAs Bobby Esposito and Cynthia Bennington, Larry Pine as Cynthia's father Frank, Manny Perez as womanizing legal aide Ramon Rodriguez, Val Avery as Sal Gentile, and Armando Williams as Al Thompson. As realistic as possible within the strictures of basic cable, and doggedly refusing to take dramatic easy-outs or provide pat endings, 100 Centre Street is worthy of all the "hype" attending its January 15, 2001, debut on the A&E network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, La Tanya Richardson, (more)
- 1992
Fonda on Fonda offers an intimate look at one of America's most highly regarded megastars, the Academy and Tony award-winning film and stage actor, Henry Fonda. Daughter Jane Fonda hosts this account of the elder Fonda's life and career. Fonda's work spanned the golden years of Hollywood in which he appeared in 90 films. Fonda on Fonda traces the actor's stellar career using interviews and clips from his best-known films, including The Grapes of Wrath, Young Mr. Lincoln, Mister Roberts, and On Golden Pond, in which he shared the screen with Jane. The video offers rare insight into the world of one of Hollywood's most important performing families.
~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide
~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda
- 1991
Hollywood Collection: William Holden - The Golden Boy takes a comprehensive look at an unconventional actor, who frequently chose untraditional projects. William Holden appeared in more than 70 films, generally as the leading man, including Love in the Afternoon, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Golden Boy, and The Country Girl. This biographical video features one-on-one interviews with actors Stefanie Powers, Robert Wagner, Robert Mitchum, and Cliff Robertson. The interview footage, alongside clips from some of Holden's more memorable film performances, offers an insider's look at a legendary celebrity. Featured film footage is in technicolor and black-and-white. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
Sidney Lumet's The Wiz is the film version of the popular Broadway musical that retells the events of L. Frank Baum's classic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz through the eyes of a young African-American kindergarten teacher who's "never been below 125th Street." Leaving a large family dinner to chase her dog into a snowstorm, Dorothy (Diana Ross) is swept up by a cyclone and transplanted to the land of Oz -- which looks suspiciously like a skewed version of the run-down Manhattan of the late '70s. Landing on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, the puzzled Dorothy is greeted by munchkins who peel themselves from a graffiti mural and sing to her about the Wiz (Richard Pryor), a powerful wizard living in Emerald City who can help her get home. On her journey down the yellow brick road, she encounters a garbage-stuffed scarecrow (Michael Jackson) in a junkyard, a broken-down tin man (Nipsey Russell) caught in the decay of an old amusement park, and a cowardly lion (Ted Ross) posing as a stone statue outside a museum. The quartet tangles with a subway station that comes to life, a poppy den, and a gaggle of motorcycle henchman on their way to the Wiz -- who orders them to kill the Wicked Witch of the West (a sweatshop tyrant) before he will grant them their wishes. The Wiz has about double the large-scale production numbers of The Wizard of Oz (1939), with songs written and composed by Charlie Smalls. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, (more)
- 1970
Having tackled every known film subject in his long career, from musicals to murder mysteries, Sidney Lumet tries his hand at documentary in King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis. Lumet co-directed and co-produced the film with another Hollywood luminary, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Beyond selecting appropriate filmclips, Lumet and Mankiewicz directed the bridging sequences, narrated by such friends and admirers of Dr. Martin Luther King as Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and James Earl Jones. Though well-intentioned, these bridges are unnecessary: the clips, which trace King's life and accomplishments from the 1955 bus boycott to his 1968 assassination, speak for themselves most eloquently. Though its full runtime is 185 minutes, King: A Filmed Record is also available in a 90-minute TV and cassette version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Sidney Lumet directed this romantic melodrama involving deceit and marital secrets. The film takes place in Rome where lawyer Federico Fendi (Omar Sharif) falls in love with his colleague Renzo's (Fausto Tozzi) fiancee Carla (Anouk Aimee). Renzo warns Federico that Carla is actually a high-priced call girl, but Federico refuses to believe it. Instead, Carla and Federico marry. After the wedding however, Federico notices that Carla has been making curious disappearances from her domestic home. Recalling Renzo's warning, Federico begins the secretly follow her to find out the truth. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1968
Bye Bye Braverman is a bittersweet adaptation of Wallace Markfield's coldly cynical novel To an Early Grave. Braverman, an idealistic minor author, dies; his four best friends, writers who in one way or another have all sold out, decide to attend his funeral. The foursome includes a disenchanted magazine writer (George Segal), a poet (Jack Warden), a book reviewer (Sorrell Booke), and an embittered bellyacher (Joseph Wiseman). Taking a picaresque journey from Greenwich Village to Brooklyn, the quartet never quite gets to the funeral, but their odyssey unearths many a self-revelation and previously unspoken truth. Like its four leading characters, Bye Bye Braverman loses its way towards the end, bringing this otherwise insightful comedy/drama to a muddied conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Segal, Jack Warden, (more)
- 1968
This is one of several film versions of the classic play by Anton Chekhov. The depressing tale of unrequited love begins when an aging actress Arkadina (Simone Signoret) and her arrogant writer companion Trigorin (James Mason) travel to a small Russian town to visit her brother, an ailing public official in retirement. Nina (Vanessa Redgrave) is the neighbor girl who falls for Trigorin. The simple country girl is degraded by the older, more worldly author as she follows him to the big city and falls victim to the debauchery of urban life. Arkadina also deals with a hateful son who is driven to suicide in this somber and depressing film. Although there are some moments of comedy in the play, this film version is decidedly more downbeat. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
- 1967
John LeCarre's Call for the Dead was the basis for this gloomy, complex spy story. James Mason plays a British secret agent puzzled by the sudden suicide of Foreign Office higher-up Robert Flemyng. Mason had worked on Flemyng's security clearance himself, and can't fathom what personality quirk he might have missed. The agent suspects that the dead man's wife (Simone Signoret), a concentration camp survivor, may hold the answer to Flemyng's despair, but the Foreign Office wants Mason to drop the case. Mason hires retiring Inspector Harry Andrews to do some private detective work. What Mason and Andrews find out is more insidious than they've imagined; worse, Mason is saddled with a new dilemma--his wife (Harriet Andersson) has been unfaithful with a colleague (Maximillian Schell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Simone Signoret, (more)
- 1966
Based on the novel by Mary McCarthy, The Group was one of the slickest, and most highly publicized, cinematic soap operas of the 1960s. Filmed largely in New York, the story charts the exploits of eight young women, all of whom graduate from an exclusive Vassar-ish college in the middle of the Depression. Among the talented young actresses making their screen debuts herein are Candice Bergen as Lakey, the group's resident Lesbian; Joan Hackett as Dottie, a repressed socialite who takes up with bohemian artist Dick Brown (Richard Mulligan); Joanna Pettet as Kay, who marries philandering playwright Harald Peterson (Larry Hagman); and Kathleen Widdoes as Helena, the wealthiest of the girls who insists upon proving her value in the workplace. The other girls are Pokey (Marin-Robin Redd), who seems happiest when pregnant; Jessica Walter as Libby, the group's viper-tongued gossip and the darling of the Manhattan literary set (some have suggested that McCarthy based this character on herself); Elizabeth Hartman as Priss, the requisite heart-on-sleeve liberal; and Shirley Knight as Polly, whose bumpy love life culminates in a very colorful engagement party. Hal Holbrook, likewise making his first screen appearance, plays Gus LeRoy. Sumptuously produced, The Group is a bit empty dramatically, though the sheer volume of continuing characters manages to sustain audience interest. (Incidentally, here's a note for "blooper" spotters: wasn't the Pan Am building constructed in the 1950s? ) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, (more)
Critically acclaimed Rod Steiger plays Sol Nazerman, a Jewish pawnbroker who survived imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp, even though his wife and family did not. The devastating experience and unrelenting memories inhibit Sol from emotional involvement with life. He has no faith in religion and less in mankind. Though he carries on an affair with a woman who was also a victim of the Nazi camps, it is without emotion and Sol grows increasingly bitter and callous, withdrawing still further from the world around him. As his small shop in Harlem is run with little care or attention, it becomes a convenient cover for a local racketeer. Finally, a caring social worker tries to appeal to his humanity, but Sol's emotional wounds may prove to be too great to overcome. Based on a book by Edward Lewis Wallant, The Pawnbroker features the skilled camera work of Boris Kaufman, who had previously worked with director Sidney Lumet on films such as 12 Angry Men (1957) and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962). The score is composed by Quincy Jones, who would contribute to Lumet's 1978 musical, The Wiz. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, (more)
- 1962
Playwright Eugene O'Neill sold Random House the text of his intensely autobiographical 1941 play on the proviso that the play not be produced during O'Neill's lifetime. Two years after the playwright's death in 1953, the play was given its first Broadway staging and won a Pulitzer Prize. Set in 1912 New England, the story takes place in the summer home of aging actor James Tyrone (Ralph Richardson) and his family. Tyrone, patterned after Eugene O'Neill's father James O'Neill, has long abandoned any aspirations to be a truly great actor, choosing instead to tour in the same weary stage vehicle year after year. Thanks to an earlier act of stinginess on Tyrone's part, his wife Mary has turned into a rambling morphine addict, with little or no contact with reality. Oldest son Jamie is a troublemaking alcoholic, envious of the writing talent of sickly younger brother Edmund (the Eugene O'Neill counterpart). The long's day journey concludes with a hellish night in which the three Tyrone men sit about drunkenly as Mary Tyrone hallucinates about her younger, happier days. Katharine Hepburn emerged from a three-year retirement to essay the back-breaking role of Mary Tyrone; Ralph Richardson exhumed all the "ham" of his student-actor days to portray the pathetic James Tyrone; Jason Robards Jr., a man seemingly put on this earth to interpret O'Neill, repeats his Broadway role as Jamey; and Dean Stockwell adds one more superb characterization to his gallery of portrayals as the tubercular Edmund. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, (more)
- 1962
A View from the Bridge is set in New York, but the alleged political undesirability of playwright Arthur Miller dictated that this film be lensed in France. Director Sidney Lumet shot the film in both English and French, with the English version sounding more recited than acted at times. Raf Vallone plays Eddie Carbone, a tough Italian-American longshoreman living in Brooklyn with his wife Beatrice Carbone (Maureen Stapleton), and her comely niece, Catherine (Carol Lawrence) -- to whom he feels an overwhelming yet undeclared attraction. Then two illegal immigrants, Rodolpho and Marco (Jean Sorel and Raymond Pellegrin), turn up, and rage builds in Eddie when he senses a burgeoning, mutual attraction between Rodolpho and Catherine. To divert suspicions of his own incestuous desires, he first declares Rodolpho a homosexual, then does everything in his power to ensure that Rodolpho and Marco are deported - thus setting the film up for a surprisingly grisly and shocking climax. The film is more commonly remembered today for a "shocking" set piece, in which Eddie kisses Rodolpho full on the lips to "prove" that the boy is gay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raf Vallone, Jean Sorel, (more)
Fugitive Kind began life as Battle of Angels, a never-produced 1939 play by a young Tennessee Williams. Nearly 20 years later, Williams refined this rough-hewn theatrical effort into Orpheus Descending, which enjoyed a respectable Broadway run. The renamed film version stars Marlon Brando as Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier, a trouble-prone drifter who wanders into a deliciously Williamsesque Mississippi town. Here he becomes involved in the problems of alcoholic Carole Cutrere (Joanne Woodward) and unhappily married Lady Torrence (Anna Magnani) and also runs afoul of Torrence's vicious husband (Victor Jory). Sexual symbolism abounds in this tempestuous drama, which offers Brando at his most inscrutable and Magnani at her earthiest. Maureen Stapleton, in real life one of Brando's best friends and severest critics, plays an avant-garde artist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, (more)
Sidney Lumet's made-for-television adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh tells the tale of Hickey (Jason Robards), a fun-loving drunk who has had a drastic change in his life. Now sober -- and cynical -- Hickey arrives at a familiar pub and attempts to convince the other patrons in the bar to give up hope. The stellar supporting cast includes Robert Redford and James Broderick. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr.
- 1959
That Kind of Woman stars Sophia Loren as an Italian girl, Kay, who enjoys a brief wartime romance with American paratrooper Red (Tab Hunter). But Kay is already the property of a suave millionaire (George Sanders) known only as "The Man." When next we see her, Kay is living Hollywood's concept of the life of a kept woman: luxurious apartment, limitless wardrobe, and an ever-so-slightly repentant facial expression. When Red reenters her life, she forsakes her wanton lifestyle -- only to lose her newfound love to enemy bullets. Essentially a remake of the World War I war-horse The Shopworn Angel, That Kind of Woman relies solely on Sophia Loren for its emotional punch; Tab Hunter is, after all, Tab Hunter. Watch for fleeting appearances by John Fiedler as a GI and Bea Arthur as a WAC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Tab Hunter, (more)
- 1958
Adapted by Sally Benson (Meet Me in St. Louis) from the novel by Mary Mapes Dodge, this dazzling musical version of Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates) stars 1950s Hollywood heartthrob Tab Hunter in the title role (as Hans, not the Skates). Living in a small Dutch village, Hans yearns to compete in an upcoming ice-skating competition, for a grand prize of 500 guilders and a gleaming new pair of silver skates. Also, all poor Hans and his sister Trinka (Ellie Sommers) have to their name is two pair of crude wooden skates. Making matters worse, the Brinker family has been living in poverty ever since Hans' father (Ralph Roberts lost his mind while trying to save the local population from a burst dyke. But though Hans is certain that things will never get better, his erstwhile sweetheart, the wealthy Rychie Van Gleck (Peggy King), has faith in both Hans and his future. While the songs in this production, written by Hugh Martin, are rather unremarkable and a bit silly at times (notably the production number "Clop, Clop, Clop", wherein the chorus does a dance in wooden shoes), Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates" is redeemed by a talented supporting cast, including Basil Rathbone (complete with German accent) as the crusty-but-lovable Dr. Boekman, opera diva Jarmila Novotna as Hans' mother, and Olympic skating champ Dick Button as Rychie's brother Peter (in fact, it is Button who steals the show with some astonishing figure skating). Originally telecast live and in color, this 90-minute extravaganza was presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tab Hunter, Peggy King, (more)
- 1957
This remake of Zoe Akins' Morning Glory stars Susan Strasberg as Eva Lovelace, the role that won Katharine Hepburn her first Oscar back in 1933. Fresh from the midwest, the starry-eyed Eva arrives in New York, convinced that she has what it takes to be Broadway's greatest actress. Armed with more chutzpah than talent, Eva proves fascinating to big-time producer Lewis Easton (Henry Fonda) and playwright Joe Sheridan (Christopher Plummer, in his film debut). But the realization of her girl remains just outside of Eva's reach until she replaces temperamental star Rita Vernon (Joan Greenwood) on the opening night of Sheridan's newest play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Susan Strasberg, (more)
A Puerto Rican youth is on trial for murder, accused of knifing his father to death. The twelve jurors retire to the jury room, having been admonished that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Eleven of the jurors vote for conviction, each for reasons of his own. The sole holdout is Juror #8, played by Henry Fonda. As Fonda persuades the weary jurors to re-examine the evidence, we learn the backstory of each man. Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb), a bullying self-made man, has estranged himself from his own son. Juror #7 (Jack Warden) has an ingrained mistrust of foreigners; so, to a lesser extent, does Juror #6 (Edward Binns). Jurors #10 (Ed Begley) and #11 (George Voskovec), so certain of the infallibility of the Law, assume that if the boy was arrested, he must be guilty. Juror #4 (E.G. Marshall) is an advocate of dispassionate deductive reasoning. Juror #5 (Jack Klugman), like the defendant a product of "the streets," hopes that his guilty vote will distance himself from his past. Juror #12 (Robert Webber), an advertising man, doesn't understand anything that he can't package and market. And Jurors #1 (Martin Balsam), #2 (John Fiedler) and #9 (Joseph Sweeney), anxious not to make waves, "go with the flow." The excruciatingly hot day drags into an even hotter night; still, Fonda chips away at the guilty verdict, insisting that his fellow jurors bear in mind those words "reasonable doubt." A pet project of Henry Fonda's, Twelve Angry Men was his only foray into film production; the actor's partner in this venture was Reginald Rose, who wrote the 1954 television play on which the film was based. Carried over from the TV version was director Sidney Lumet, here making his feature-film debut. A flop when it first came out (surprisingly, since it cost almost nothing to make), Twelve Angry Men holds up beautifully when seen today. It was remade for television in 1997 by director William Friedkin with Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, (more)
- 1952
This Trilogy, Danger originally created for television by Sidney Lumet consists of three individual episodes, all in the film noir thriller style The Lady on the Rock, Death Among the Relics, and The System. The cast includes Kim Stanley and Eli Wallach. Director Lumet began his filmmaking career in television, directing episodes for Omnibus, Alcoa Theater, and Goodyear Playhouse. Despite several blacklisting attempts, his career, based on his excellent television work, thrived and he went on to make feature films. This fine trilogy includes the some of the best of his early work. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
