LGM Film Club, Part 390: 12 Angry Men

I decided to watch 12 Angry Men again last night. I was initially going just start it and then watch the rest later, but then I remembered that it is absolutely gripping and since there are no scene breaks anyway, you have to watch it all the way through, so I ended up staying up way too late. Oh well. I fully grant that the film is a complete liberal fantasy about the single individual standing on principle and defeating bullies, which meant a lot to a lot of people in 1957 since the nation was still fully in the McCarthy era, even if the bully himself had lost power by this time. I suppose it must have been nice to think that a principled good man (and who else to play that but Henry Fonda!) could reason with terrible people, slowly build people to his side, and eventually wear down the racism and fascism represented by Lee J. Cobb (outstanding) and some of the other actors. It’s a great film though. Just amazing.