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Courtroom Dramas

12 Angry Men

1h 36m

Directed by Sidney Lumet • 1957 • United States
Starring Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb

12 ANGRY MEN, by Sidney Lumet, may be the most radical courtroom drama in cinema history. A behind-closed-doors look at the American legal system that is as riveting as it is spare, this iconic adaptation of Reginald Rose’s teleplay stars Henry Fonda as the dissenting member on a jury of white men ready to pass judgment on a Puerto Rican teenager charged with murdering his father. The result is a saga of epic proportions that plays out over a tense afternoon in one sweltering room. Lumet’s electrifying snapshot of 1950s America on the verge of change is one of the great feature film debuts.

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    Philadelphia

    Philadelphia

    Directed by Jonathan Demme • 1993 • United States
    Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas

    The first major Hollywood film to address the AIDS crisis and homophobia is a groundbreaking, empathetic social drama directed with a humanist touch by Jonathan Demme. Tom Hanks won the Acad...

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