And so it begins in style with Sidney Lumet's debut feature.
Set in a jury room during a heatwave, it depicts Henry Fonda's Juror Number 8, trying to convince the rest of the jury of reasonable doubt in a murder case, after the defendant's lawyer has failed to.
The tension between characters, claustrophobic setting and the heat all work together to make a gripping drama as each piece of evidence is discussed and pulled apart.
There is a great balance of characters who are nameless (apart from 2 in the final scene), but far from featureless Reginald Rose's play demands theatrics from everyone whether calm and collected like Fonda and EG Marshall, uncomfortable with their roles like Jury Foreman Martin Balsam or ad man Robert Webber, to the belligerence of Lee J Cobb ad Ed Begley. The latter character's prejudices erupting in one scene brilliantly played out to his defeat.
The melodrama is never overplayed and the cinematography from Boris Kaufman superbly renders the heat and claustrophobia of the situation. The heat levels correlate with the tension cleverly as more jurors change their mind, so the fan starts working and a storm breaks.
In all, a great start to this epic marathon in both quality and (at 96 minutes) length.
Next up is Bernado Bertolucci's Novocento coming in at 320 minutes. Oy!
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