Term paper on 12 Angry Men

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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Lincoln entered office at a critical period in U. S. history, just before the Civil War, and died from an assassin's bullet at the war's end, but before the greater implications of the conflict could be resolved. He brought to the off

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was a man who was best known for bolding standing against the difficult problems of his day. Issues such as slavery, negro social and political rights, and saving the Union in a nation based on the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln had many strength as well as flaws. He considered

Many movies start with promising premises that end up only partially fulfilled, but 12 ANGRY MEN never disappoints. The rich drama with minimalist sets occurs almost completely within the confines of a jury room. The incredibly strong ensemble cast for the jury includes: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, Martin Balsam, George Voskovec, John Fiedler and Robert Webber. To further minimize distractions, we never learn most of the jurors' names. We know them by their opinions, backgrounds and weaknesses. They have their juror numbers, and that is considered sufficient labeling. As the story opens, a bored judge in a capital murder case is reading his charge to the jury. When he comes to the part about a reasonable doubt, he repeats it with such an emphasis that he seems to be suggesting that any doubt they may have in their minds about the defendant's guilt is probably not reasonable. Indeed everyone, including the defendant, seems to think the case is hopeless. The accused, played with big, soulful eyes by John Savoca, never speaks, but his sunken, pessimistic demeanor says it all. The evidence in the case is clear, and as we find out later, his attorney apparently was pretty incompetent. Before the jurors start their deliberation, they idle away their time arguing over whether the case was dull or not and over how well the attorneys performed. If you didn't know better, you could assume they were reviewing some movie they had seen. None of them seems to be concerned in the least that the defendant's life is at stake. Into this sure and certain world comes a voice of caution, someone who is willing to demand that the jurors put a halt to their headlong rush to judgment. This voice of reason comes from a juror played by Henry Fonda, giving a resolute and perfect performance that should have at least gotten him an Academy Award nomination for best actor, but didn't. Fonda's character votes not guilty on the first ballot, not because he's sure the defendant is innocent, but because he wants to get his fellow jurors to stop and reconsider the merits of the case. The other jurors are aghast that he seems to have forgotten the sure and certain "facts" of the case that prove the defendant's guilt. "Now these are facts," barks an angry juror played by Lee J. Cobb. "You can't refute facts." Everyone brings their differing lifestyles into...