12 Angry Men (1957 film) Quotes

12 Angry Men (1957 film) is a television show that was first aired in 1970 . 12 Angry Men ended its run in 1970.

It features Henry Fonda; Reginald Rose as producer, Kenyon Hopkins in charge of musical score, and Boris Kaufman as head of cinematography.

12 Angry Men (1957 film) is distributed by United Artists.

The cast includes: Martin Balsam as Juror #8, Martin Balsam as Juror #10, Martin Balsam as Juror #11, Martin Balsam as Juror #6, Martin Balsam as Juror #3, Martin Balsam as Juror #7, Martin Balsam as Juror #9, Martin Balsam as Juror #4, Martin Balsam as Juror #2, Martin Balsam as Juror #5, Martin Balsam as Juror #1, and Martin Balsam as Juror #12.

12 Angry Men (1957 film) Quotes

Martin Balsam as Juror #7

• (Martin Balsam) "Six to six -- I'm telling you, some of you people in here must be out of your minds. A kid like that --"
• (Martin Balsam) "I don't think the kind of boy he is has anything to do with it. The facts are supposed to determine the case."
• (Martin Balsam) "Don't give me that. I'm sick and tired of facts. You can twist 'em anyway you like, you know what I mean?"
• (Martin Balsam) "That's exactly the point this gentleman has been making."

• (Martin Balsam) "Has anyone have any idea how long it would take an el-"
• (Martin Balsam) "Hey."
• (Martin Balsam) "This isn't a game."

• (Martin Balsam) "There's something else I'd like to talk about for a minute. Thanks. I think we've proved that the old man couldn't have heard the boy say "I'm gonna kill you", but supposing he did --"
• (Martin Balsam) "You didn't prove it at all. What're you talking about?"
• (Martin Balsam) "But supposing he really did hear it. This phrase, how many times have all of us used it? Probably thousands. "I could kill you for that, darling." "Junior, you do that once more and I'm gonna kill you." "Get in there, Rocky, and kill him." -- See, we say it every day. That doesn't mean we're gonna kill anyone."
• (Martin Balsam) "Wait a minute, what are you trying to give us here? The phrase was "I'm gonna kill you"; 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."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, gee now, I don't know."
• (Martin Balsam) "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."
• (Martin Balsam) "Now listen, this guy's tryin' to make you believe things that aren't so. The kid said he was gonna kill him, and he did kill him."
• (Martin Balsam) "Let me ask you this: do you really think the kid would shout out a thing like that so the whole neighborhood could hear him? I don't think so; he's much to bright for that."
• (Martin Balsam) "Bright? He's a common, ignorant slob. He don't even speak good English."
• (Martin Balsam) "He doesn't even speak good English."

• (Martin Balsam) "You a Yankee fan?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No, Baltimore."
• (Martin Balsam) "Baltimore? That's like being hit in the head with a crowbar once a day."

• (Martin Balsam) "Has anyone have any idea hwo long it would take an el-"
• (Martin Balsam) "Hey."
• (Martin Balsam) "This isn't a game."

• (Martin Balsam) "Gentlemen, that's a very sad thing -- to be nothing."

• (Martin Balsam) "I don't know about the rest of 'em but I'm gettin' a little tired of this yakity-yack and back-and-forth, it's gettin' us nowhere. So I guess I'll have to break it up; I change my vote to "not guilty.""
• (Martin Balsam) "You what?"
• (Martin Balsam) "You heard me, I've -- had enough."
• (Martin Balsam) "Whaddaya mean, you've had enough? That's no answer."
• (Martin Balsam) "Hey, listen, you just uh -- take care of yourself, 'uh? You know?"
• (Martin Balsam) "He's right. That's not an answer. What kind of a man are you? You have sat here and voted "guilty" with everyone else because there are some baseball tickets burning a hole in your pocket? And now you've changed your vote because you say you're sick of all the talking here?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Now listen, buddy;."
• (Martin Balsam) "Who tells you that you have the right like this to play with a man's life? Don't you care --"
• (Martin Balsam) "Now wait a minute. You can't talk like that to me;."
• (Martin Balsam) "I can talk like that to you. If you want to vote "not guilty", then do it because you are convinced the man is not guilty, not because you've "had enough". And if you think he is guilty, then vote that way. Or don't you have the guts to do what you think is right?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Now listen --"
• (Martin Balsam) "Guilty or not guilty?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I told ya. Not guilty."
• (Martin Balsam) "Why?"
• (Martin Balsam) "-- Look, I don't have tuh --"
• (Martin Balsam) "You do have to. Say it. Why?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Uhh -- I don't, uh -- think he's guilty."

• (Martin Balsam) "You think he's not guilty, huh?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I don't know. It's possible."

• (Martin Balsam) "Look, you voted guilty. What side are ya on?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I don't believe I have to be loyal to one side or the other. I'm simply asking questions."

• (Martin Balsam) "Here's what I think happened: the old man heard the fight between the boy and his father a few hours earlier. Then, when he's lying in his bed, he heard a body hit the floor in the boy's apartment, heard the woman scream from across the street, got to his front door as fast as he could, heard somebody racing down the stairs and assumed it was the boy."
• (Martin Balsam) "I think that's possible."
• (Martin Balsam) ""Assumed"?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Brother, I've seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day, but this little display takes the cake. Y'all come in here with your hearts bleedin' all over the floor about slum kids and injustice, you listen to some fairy tales -- Suddenly, you start gettin' through to some of these old ladies. Well, you're not getting through to me, I've had enough."
• (Martin Balsam) "What's the matter with you guys? You all know he's guilty. He's got to burn. You're letting him slip through our fingers."
• (Martin Balsam) ""Slip through our fingers"? Are you his executioner?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I'm one of 'em."
• (Martin Balsam) "-- Perhaps you'd like to pull the switch?"
• (Martin Balsam) "For this kid? You bet I would."
• (Martin Balsam) "I feel sorry for you. 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."
• (Martin Balsam) "I'll kill him. I'll; kill him."
• (Martin Balsam) "You don't really mean you'll kill me, do you?"

• (Martin Balsam) "I don't understand you people. I mean all these picky little points you keep bringing up. They don't mean nothing. You saw this kid just like I did. You're not gonna tell me you believe that phony story about losing the knife, and that business about being at the movies. Look, you know how these people lie. It's born in them. I mean, what the heck? I don't have to tell you. They don't know what the truth is. And lemme tell ya: they don't need any real big reason to kill someone, either. No sir."
• (Martin Balsam) "They get drunk. Oh, they're real big drinkers, all of 'em; you know that; and bang: someone's lyin' in the gutter. Oh, nobody's blaming them for it. That's the way they are, by nature. You know what I mean? Violent."
• (Martin Balsam) "Where're you going? Human life don't mean as much to them as it does to us."
• (Martin Balsam) "Look, they're lushing it up and fighting all the time and if somebody gets killed, so somebody gets killed. They don't care. Oh, sure, there are some good things about 'em, too. Look, I'm the first one to say that."
• (Martin Balsam) "I've known a couple who were OK, but that's the exception, y'know what I mean? Most of 'em, it's like they have no feelings. They can do anything."
• (Martin Balsam) "What's goin' on here? I'm trying to tell ya -- You're makin' a big mistake, you people. This kid is a liar. I know it, I know all about them. Listen to me -- They're no good. There's not a one of 'em who is any good. I mean, what's happening in here? I'm speaking my piece, and you --"
• (Martin Balsam) "Listen to me. We're -- This kid on trial here -- his type, well, don't you know about them? There's a, there's a danger here. These people are dangerous. They're wild. Listen to me. Listen."
• (Martin Balsam) "I have. Now sit down and don't open your mouth again."
• (Martin Balsam) "I'm jus' tryin'-a -- tell ya --"

• (Martin Balsam) "Oh, listen, I don't see what all this stuff about the knife has got to do with anything. Somebody saw the kid stab his father, what more do we need? You guys can talk the ears right off my head, you know what I mean? I got three garages of mine going to pot while you're talking. So let's get down and get out of here."

• (Martin Balsam) "Well, what do we do now?"
• (Martin Balsam) "You're alone."
• (Martin Balsam) "I don't care whether I'm alone or not. It's my right."
• (Martin Balsam) "It's your right."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, what do you want? I say he's guilty."
• (Martin Balsam) "We want to hear your arguments."
• (Martin Balsam) "I gave you my arguments."
• (Martin Balsam) "We're not convinced. We want to hear them again. We have as much time as it takes."
• (Martin Balsam) "Everything; every single thing that took place in that courtroom, but I mean everything; says he's guilty. What d'ya think, I'm an idiot or somethin'?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Why don'tcha take that stuff about the old man; the old man who lived there and heard every thing? Or this business about the knife. What, 'cause we found one exactly like it? The old man saw him. Right there on the stairs. What's the difference how many seconds it was? Every single thing -- The knife falling through a hole in his pocket -- You can't prove he didn't get to the door. Sure, you can take all the time, hobblin' around the room, but you can't prove it. And what about this business with the El? And the movies. There's a phony deal if I ever heard one. I betcha five thousand dollars I'd remember the movies I saw. I'm tellin' ya, every thing that's gone on has been twisted -- and turned."
• (Martin Balsam) "This business with the glasses? How do you know she didn't have 'em on? This woman testified in open court. And what about hearin' the kid yell? Huh? I'm tellin' ya, I've got all the facts here --"
• (Martin Balsam) "Here -- Ah."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, that's it; that's the whole case."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well? Say something."
• (Martin Balsam) "You lousy bunch of bleedin' 'earts -- You're not goin' to intimidate me; I'm entitled to my opinion."
• (Martin Balsam) "Rotten kids, you work your life out --."
• (Martin Balsam) "-- no. Not guilty. Not guilty."

• (Martin Balsam) "Let me ask you this: Do you really think the boy'd shout out a thing like that so the whole neighborhood could hear him? I don't think so; he's much too bright for that."
• (Martin Balsam) "Bright? He's a common ignorant slob. He don't even speak good English."
• (Martin Balsam) "He doesn't speak good English."

• (Martin Balsam) "What do you mean, you wanna try it? Why didn't his lawyer bring it up if it's so important?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, maybe he just didn't think about it, huh?"
• (Martin Balsam) "What do you mean didn't think of it? Do you think the man's an idiot or something? It's an obvious thing."
• (Martin Balsam) "Did you think of it?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Listen, smart guy, it don't matter whether I thought of it. He didn't bring it up because he knew it would hurt his case. What do you think of that?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Maybe he didn't bring it up because it would've meant bullying and badgering a helpless old man. You know that doesn't sit very well with a jury; most lawyers avoid it if they can."
• (Martin Balsam) "So what kind of a bum is he, then?"
• (Martin Balsam) "That's what I've been asking, buddy."

• (Martin Balsam) "I'd like to ask you something: you don't believe the boy's story. How come you believe the woman's? She's one of "them", too, isn't she?"
• (Martin Balsam) "You're a pretty smart fella, aren't you?"

• (Martin Balsam) "I beg pardon --"
• (Martin Balsam) ""I beg pardon?" What are you so polite about?"
• (Martin Balsam) "For the same reason you are not: it's the way I was brought up."

• (Martin Balsam) "It's hard to put into words. I just think he's guilty. I thought it was obvious from the word, 'Go'. Nobody proved otherwise."
• (Martin Balsam) "Nobody has to prove otherwise. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant doesn't even have to open his mouth. That's in the Constitution."

• (Martin Balsam) "Hey --. What's your name?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Davis."
• (Martin Balsam) "My name's McCardle."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, so long."
• (Martin Balsam) "So long."

• (Martin Balsam) "You what?"
• (Martin Balsam) "You heard me."

• (Martin Balsam) "We're not, unless somebody else wants to; but I'd like to find out if an old man who drags one foot when he walks, 'cause he had a stroke last year, could get from his bedroom to his front door in 15 seconds."
• (Martin Balsam) "He said 20 seconds."
• (Martin Balsam) "He said fifteen."
• (Martin Balsam) "He said twenty seconds. What are you tryin' to distort --"
• (Martin Balsam) "He said fifteen."
• (Martin Balsam) "How does he know how long fifteen seconds is? You can't judge a thing like that."
• (Martin Balsam) "He said fifteen seconds. He was very positive about it."
• (Martin Balsam) "He was an old man. Half the time he was confused. How could he be positive about anything?"

• (Martin Balsam) "It's these kids; the way they are nowadays. When I was a kid I used to call my father, "Sir". That's right. "Sir". You ever hear a kid call his father that anymore?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Fathers don't seem to think it's important anymore."
• (Martin Balsam) "You got any kids?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Three."
• (Martin Balsam) "I got one. Twenty-two years old."
• (Martin Balsam) "Aah. When he was nine years old he ran away from a fight. I saw it; I was so embarrassed I almost threw up. I said, "I'm gonna make a man outta you if I have to break you in two tryin'". And I made a man out of him. When he was sixteen, we had a fight. Hit me in the jaw; a big kid. Haven't seen him for two years. Kids -- work your heart out --"

• (Martin Balsam) "I'll take the testimony from right after the murder, when he couldn't remember a thing about the movies, great emotional stress or not."
• (Martin Balsam) "I'd like to ask you a personal question."
• (Martin Balsam) "Go ahead."
• (Martin Balsam) "Where were you last night?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I was home all night."
• (Martin Balsam) "How about the night before that?"
• (Martin Balsam) "What is this?"
• (Martin Balsam) "It's all right. I left the office at 8:30 and went straight home and to bed."
• (Martin Balsam) "And the night before that?"
• (Martin Balsam) "That was -- Tuesday night. The bridge tournament. I played bridge."
• (Martin Balsam) "Monday night?"
• (Martin Balsam) "When you get to New Year's Eve, 1954, let me know."
• (Martin Balsam) "Monday night? Monday night -- my wife and I went to the movies."
• (Martin Balsam) "What did you see?"
• (Martin Balsam) ""The Scarlet Circle". A whodunit."
• (Martin Balsam) "What was the second feature?"
• (Martin Balsam) ""The" -- I'll tell you in a minute -- "The -- Remarkable Mrs." something -- "Bainbridge". "The Remarkable Mrs. Bainbridge"."
• (Martin Balsam) "I saw that. It's called "The Amazing Mrs. Bainbridge"."
• (Martin Balsam) "Yes. "The Amazing Mrs. Bainbridge"."
• (Martin Balsam) "Who was in "The Amazing Mrs. Bainbridge"?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Barbara -- Long, I think it was. A dark, very pretty girl. Ling or -- Long, something like that."
• (Martin Balsam) "Who else?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I'd never heard of them before. It was a very inexpensive second feature, with unknown --"
• (Martin Balsam) "And you weren't under an emotional stress, were you?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No. I wasn't."

• (Martin Balsam) "Well, I'm not used to supposin'. I'm just a workin' man. My boss does all the supposin', but I'll try one. Supposin' you talk us all out of this, and, uh, the kid really did knife his father?"

• (Martin Balsam) "Do you wear glasses when you go to bed?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No. I don't. No one wears eyeglasses to bed."
• (Martin Balsam) "It's logical to assume that she wasn't wearing them when she was in bed; tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep."
• (Martin Balsam) "How do you know?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I don't know; I'm guessing. I'm also guessing that she probably didn't put her glasses on when she turned to look casually out of the window; and she herself testified the killing took place just as she looked out, the lights went off a split second later; she couldn't have had time to put them on then."
• (Martin Balsam) "Here's another guess: maybe she honestly thought she saw the boy kill his father; I say she only saw a blur."
• (Martin Balsam) "How do you know what she saw? How does he know all that? How do you know what kind of glasses she wore? Maybe they were sunglasses, maybe she was far-sighted. What do you know about her?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I only know the woman's eyesight is in question now."
• (Martin Balsam) "She had to be able to identify a person sixty feet away, at night, without glasses."
• (Martin Balsam) "You can't send someone off to die on evidence like that."
• (Martin Balsam) "Oh, don't give me that."
• (Martin Balsam) "Don't you think the woman might have made a mistake?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No."
• (Martin Balsam) "It's not possible?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No, it's not possible."
• (Martin Balsam) "Is it possible?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Not guilty."
• (Martin Balsam) "You think he's guilty?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I think he's guilty."
• (Martin Balsam) "How about you?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No -- I'm convinced. Not guilty."
• (Martin Balsam) "What's the matter with ya?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I have a reasonable doubt now."
• (Martin Balsam) "Eleven to one."

• (Martin Balsam) "Look, there was one alleged eye witness to this killing. Someone else claims he heard the killing, saw the boy run out afterwards and there was a lot of circumstantial evidence. But, actually, those two witnesses were the entire case for the prosecution. Supposing they're wrong?"
• (Martin Balsam) "What do you mean, supposing they're wrong? What's the point of having witnesses at all?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Could they be wrong?"
• (Martin Balsam) "What are you trying to say? Those people sat on the stand under oath."
• (Martin Balsam) "They're only people. People make mistakes. Could they be wrong?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, no, I don't think so."
• (Martin Balsam) "Do you 'know' so?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Oh, come on. Nobody can know a thing like that. This isn't an exact science."
• (Martin Balsam) "That's right, it isn't."

• (Martin Balsam) "All right, who was it? I wanna know."
• (Martin Balsam) "Excuse me, this was a secret ballot. We all agreed on that. Now, if the gentleman wants it to remain secret --"
• (Martin Balsam) ""Secret"? What do you mean, "secret"? There are no secrets in a jury room, I know who it was."
• (Martin Balsam) "Brother, you really are somethin'. you sit here vote guilty like the rest of us, then some golden-voiced preacher starts tearing your poor heart out about some underprivileged kid, just couldn't help becoming a murderer, and you change your vote. Well, if that isn't the most sickening; why don't you drop a quarter in his collection box?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Oh, now just wait a minute. Listen, you can't talk to me that. Who do you think you are?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Now calm down, calm down."
• (Martin Balsam) "No, now who do you think you are?"
• (Martin Balsam) "It doesn't matter. He's very excitable. Just sit down --"
• (Martin Balsam) ""Excitable"? You bet I'm excitable. We're trying to put a guilty man in the chair where he belongs, and then someone starts telling us fairy tales and we're listening."
• (Martin Balsam) "Heya, c'mon now."
• (Martin Balsam) "What made you change your vote?"
• (Martin Balsam) "He didn't change his vote; I did."
• (Martin Balsam) "Ohhh, fine."
• (Martin Balsam) "Would you like me to tell ya why?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No, I wouldn't like you to tell me why."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, I'd like to make it clear anyways, if you don't mind."
• (Martin Balsam) "Do we have to listen to this?"
• (Martin Balsam) "The man wants to talk."
• (Martin Balsam) "Thank you."
• (Martin Balsam) "This gentleman has been standing alone against us. 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; eh, I want to hear more. Right now the vote is 10 to 2 --"
• (Martin Balsam) "Now I'm talking here. You have no right to leave this room;."
• (Martin Balsam) "He can't hear you, and he never will. Let's sit down."

• (Martin Balsam) "Why should he lie? What's he got to gain?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Attention, maybe."
• (Martin Balsam) "You keep coming in with these bright sayings. Why don't you send 'em into a paper? They pay three dollars apiece."
• (Martin Balsam) "What are you talkin' to him like that for? Guy talks like that to an old man really oughta get stepped on, you know. You oughta have more respect, mister. If you say stuff like that to him again -- I'm gonna lay you out."

• (Martin Balsam) "It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth. I don't really know what the truth is. I don't suppose anybody will ever really know. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we're just gambling on probabilities; we may be wrong. We may be trying to let a guilty man go free, I don't know. Nobody really can. But we have a reasonable doubt, and that's something that's very valuable in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless it's sure."

• (Martin Balsam) "I just want to talk."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, what's there to talk about? Eleven men in here think he's guilty. No one had to think about it twice except you."
• (Martin Balsam) "I want to to ask you something: do you believe his story?"
• (Martin Balsam) "I don't know whether I believe it or not; maybe I don't."
• (Martin Balsam) "So how come you vote not guilty?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Well, there were eleven votes for guilty. It's not easy to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first."
• (Martin Balsam) "Well now, who says it's easy?"
• (Martin Balsam) "No one."
• (Martin Balsam) "What, just because I voted fast? I honestly think the guy's guilty. Couldn't change my mind if you talked for a hundred years."
• (Martin Balsam) "I'm not trying to change your mind. It's just that -- we're talking about somebody's life here. We can't decide it in five minutes. Supposing we're wrong?"
• (Martin Balsam) "Supposing we're wrong. Supposing this whole building should fall down on my head. You can suppose anything."
• (Martin Balsam) "That's right."

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