30 Twelve Angry Men Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Jurors 5 and 9

Apparently Juror 5 is a health care worker of sorts but it is not mentioned in this film. There is no mention of Juror 9's occupation, but we can assume he is retired.

Answer: Architect

Juror #8 was played by Henry Fonda. Fonda also produced the film.

Answer: His wife

After Juror 4 explains his occupation, unprompted, Juror 3 pulls out his business card and explains the name of his company was his wife's idea.

Answer: He felt that Juror #8 deserved to be heard.

After the discussion about the murder weapon fizzled out, no further progress was made so Juror #8 made a proposition to end the deadlock they were in. He suggested calling for another vote, this time by secret written ballot with him abstaining, and promised not to stand in their way if all eleven were in favor of convicting. However, if anyone voted "not guilty", he wanted everyone to stay and "talk it out". When the anonymous votes were tallied, the count was ten to one in favor of conviction, which meant that one juror had changed his vote. This led to a tense moment when Juror #3, a volatile messenger service owner, accused Juror #5 of changing his vote because of his background. Like the defendant, Juror #5 had grown up in a violent slum, and Juror #3 wrongly assumed that he had changed his vote out of some kind of loyalty to a fellow "slum kid". The false accusation prompted Juror #9 to admit that he was the one who had changed his vote. "This gentleman has been standing alone against us," explained Juror #9. "Now he doesn't say that the boy is not guilty, he just isn't sure. Well it's not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others, so he gambled for support and I gave it to him. I respect his motives. The boy is probably guilty, but... I want to hear more."

Answer: He had a bad leg and dragged his foot as he walked.

The old man claimed to have got to the door of his apartment in time to see the accused boy running away down the flight of stairs. Juror number 8 calls this into question and simulates walking around the jury room with a limp, whilst Juror number 2 times his journey with his watch.

Answer: 15 seconds

Juror #8 (Fonda) was able to demonstrate that it took longer than 15 seconds for the old man to get out of bed and see the murderer running downstairs...thus creating a reasonable doubt about the old man's testimony.

Answer: Edward Binns

Edward Binns showed up in three other Sidney Lumet films, "The Verdict", "Lovin' Molly", and "Fail Safe". Binns does a great job portraying Juror 6, who I see as a man of great integrity, which is evident when he sticks up for Juror 9 who is talked down to by Juror 3.

Answer: A switch-blade knife.

The prosecuting attorney had made much of the fact that the knife used for the murder was one of a kind. Juror Number 8, Henry Fonda, had gone to the same district and bought a similar looking knife from a pawnshop. It was cheap and easily available. At one point Lee J.Cobb's character mistakenly picks it up and says that this is what he did it with. His mistake proves the point that the murder weapon was not so distinctively unique.

Answer: Cleveland

Juror #7 was played by Jack Warden. A WWII veteran turned actor.

Answer: The defendant's decision to return to the scene of the crime.

Juror #11 was troubled by the defendant's act of returning to the apartment where his father had been killed. "Let us assume that the boy really did commit the murder," he said. "He came back home at three o'clock or so, and he was captured by two detectives in the hallway of his house. Now my question is, if he really had killed his father, why would he come back home three hours later? Wouldn't he be afraid of being caught?" Juror #4, a methodical stockbroker, offered a plausible explanation. "The boy knew the knife could be identified as the one that he just bought. He had to get it before the police did." This didn't satisfy Juror #11, who asked why the boy would leave the knife behind in the first place if he knew it could be linked to him. "I think we can assume the boy ran out in a state of panic, after having just killed his father," offered Juror #4. "When he finally calmed down, he realized he left his knife there." "Ah," replied Juror #11, "this then depends on your definition of panic. He would have to be calm enough to see to it that there were no fingerprints left on the knife. Now, when did this panic start and when did it end?" It was clear to Juror #11 that there wasn't a good explanation for the defendant's behavior, unless the boy didn't actually kill his father. At the next show of hands, Juror #11 changed his vote to "not guilty", explaining that he now had a reasonable doubt as to the defendant's guilt.

Answer: It had been stabbed downwards and into the chest.

The downward wound was unusual, for the accused was a good deal shorter than the man he was supposed to have stabbed. Another juror, played by Jack Klugman, points out that people who fight with switch-blade knives never hold them overhanded and stab downwards when they are fighting. The point of the switchblade is that you can change it rapidly from hand to hand to get an advantage. If the accused had committed the murder you would expect him to have stabbed upwards into the lower chest and stomach.

Answer: Racial Prejudice

Juror #10 was played by Ed Begley.

Answer: John Fiedler

"I remember I was arguing with the guy I work next to at the bank a couple of weeks ago. He called me an idiot, so I yelled at him."

John Fielder, who also voiced Piglet in "Winnie the Pooh", played the soft-spoken Juror 2 perfectly.

Answer: He said he had probably lost it through a hole in his pocket.

The accused's statement is very weak. He had actually shown a knife very like the murder weapon to some of his friends earlier in the day. Henry Fonda, Juror Number 8, had earlier demonstrated that there were likely to be many knives like it in the neighbourhood. However, this "hole in the pocket" story still counts against the accused throughout the discussion. It is the balance of the other evidence that creates the reasonable doubt.

Answer: Her eyesight

The old woman had marks on the sides of her nose, indicating most likely she wore glasses. She testified she was in bed and looked out the window exactly when the murder occured. It was argued that she couldn't have possibly put her glasses on that quickly. It cast reasonable doubt about her eyesight.

Answer: Lee J Cobb

The volatile Juror 3, who is described as a "public avenger" and a "sadist", is portrayed by Lee J Cobb. Cobb acted in two of the best films ever made, "On the Waterfront" and "The Exorcist".

Answer: He called him a self-appointed public avenger and a sadist.

Juror #3 was upset that some of the other jurors seemed to be listening to Juror #8. "What's the matter with you guys?" he cried, "You all know he's guilty. He's got to burn. You're letting him slip through our fingers." This made him sound more like an executioner than a juror, so Juror #8 asked him if he would like to "pull the switch", to which Juror #3 replied affirmatively. "I feel sorry for you," said Juror #8. "What it must feel like to want to pull the switch. Ever since you walked into this room, you've been acting like a self-appointed public avenger. You want to see this boy die because you personally want it - not because of the facts. You're a sadist!" This proved to be too much for Juror #3, who lunged at Juror #8 while yelling, "I'll kill him!" Unfortunately for Juror #3, this only undermined a point that he had previously made. Earlier, Juror #8 had argued that the phrase "I'm gonna kill you" was used by people thousands of times every day, so even if the defendant had said it to his father, it didn't necessarily mean that he killed him. Juror #3 disagreed. "The kid yelled it at the top of his lungs. Don't tell me he didn't mean it. Anybody says a thing like that the way he said it, they mean it," he said. With his outburst, Juror #3 had just contradicted himself. "You don't really mean you'll kill me, do you?" said Juror #8, driving home the point. The next vote resulted in the twelve jurors being split down the middle, after Jurors #2 and 6 changed their votes to "not guilty".

Answer: He had been hit too many times and finally snapped.

Again this point about the accused's motive remains in the balance. Some jurors argue that the boy was used to violence and therefore would not respond to being hit one more time. Others suggest that everyone has a breaking point. Two or three jurors point out that the prosecuting attorney did not spend very much time trying to build evidence about the accused's motive.

Answer: 8 o'clock

This was one of the most damning pieces of evidence in the movie, as it established a motive of the defendant.

Answer: Modjelewski

Only one of these is a made-up baseball player, and that would be Modjelewski. Tom Sturdivant, Al Cicotte, and Sal Maglie were all pitchers on the 1957 New York Yankees roster.

Answer: The defendant couldn't remember the names of the films he saw.

Juror #4, a composed stockbroker, didn't believe the defendant's alibi for one second. "It was obvious to me anyway that the boy's entire story was flimsy," he said. "He claimed that he was at the movies at the time of the killing and yet one hour later he couldn't remember the names of the films he saw or who played in them." Juror #8 suggested that it wasn't surprising that the defendant couldn't remember the details of the films - he was questioned about them by the police while the body of his father lay in the room next door, and was undoubtedly under "great emotional stress" at the time. Upon being questioned by Juror #8, it transpired that Juror #4 had gone to the movies with his wife earlier that week, but he couldn't correctly recall the name of the inexpensive second feature he had seen, or the stars who appeared in it. "And you weren't under emotional stress were you?" asked Juror #8, stating the obvious. Although it wasn't enough to make Juror #4 change his vote at this point, he never brought up the point about the defendant's alibi again.

Answer: He says he was at a late night double bill at the cinema.

Much is made of the fact that the accused couldn't remember the names of the movies nor the people who starred in them, when he was first questioned by the police. Juror number 8 points out that the questions were put to him in the apartment with his father's body lying dead in the next room. He would be in shock and probably unable to remember any details. He demonstrates this idea by cross questioning the juror played by E.G. Marshall about movies he had seen quite recently. The juror falters over names and identities even though not under any emotional pressure.

Answer: Messenger service owner

Juror #3 was played by Lee J. Cobb who was also famous for his role in "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway.

Answer: They got up and left the jury table.

Juror #10, the garage owner, had already made his bigoted views known early on in the film. "You're not telling me that we're supposed to believe this kid, knowing what he is?" he said. "Listen, I've lived among them all my life. You can't believe a word they say, you know that. I mean they're born liars." When Juror #10 was one of only three jurors left still voting "guilty", he completely lost control. "Look," he pleaded, getting up on his feet. "You know how these people lie. It's born in them." He claimed that "these people" were violent by nature and often intoxicated, and that they didn't value human life the way other people did. Even his concessions about the defendant's ethnic group came out as condescending and mean-spirited. "Oh sure, there are some good things about 'em, too," he said. "Look, I'm the first one to say that. I've known a couple who are okay, but that's the exception, you know what I mean?" He went on in this manner while all the other jurors simply got up from the table one by one and turned their backs on Juror #10, leaving only Jurors #7 and 4 still sitting with him. When he finally stopped, Juror #4 was the first to address Juror #10 by telling him to sit down and not open his mouth again.

Answer: The accused say, "I'm going to kill you", and the body hitting the floor.

Henry Fonda tries to demonstrate that, if all the witnesses are telling the truth, it would be impossible for the old man to have heard anything but the sound of the passing elevated railway. The female eye-witness claims to have seen the murder through the last carriage as it passed the window of the apartment. It had already been roaring past for several seconds thus obliterating all other sound.