One room. One verdict. Twelve men sweating through the American justice system LIVE.
Twelve Angry Men is a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series. Initially staged as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title and again for a feature film, 12 Angry Men (1957). The episode garnered three Emmy Awards for writer Rose, director Franklin Schaffner and Robert Cummings as Best Actor.
Acting
Cummings vs. Tone: two titans sweating through their suits.
Direction
Schaffner wrangles twelve men in one room—no escape, no mercy.
Production
Shot live in 1954. One mistake and twelve million viewers see it.
Director
Franklin J. Schaffner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot live with only two cameras. When an actor flubbed, they kept rolling—no second takes in 1954 television.
Rose wrote this after his own jury duty trauma. The 1957 film became required civics class viewing, but this original is rawer, messier, and somehow more electric.
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