Yesterday, I saw a movie that made me think about “12 Angry Men” and the problem with peer pressure. I’ve seen this 1957 movie and I’ve seen several versions of the play.

“Twelve Angry Men” began as a teleplay, written by Reginald Rose for the CBS dramatic anthology “Studio One.”  Rose was inspired by his own service on a jury for a murder trial and won an Emmy for the teleplay and was nominated for an Oscar for the movie adaptation.

In 2004, the Roundabout Theatre Company revived the play with Richard Thomas and George Wendt as Jurors No. 8 and 1 respectively on national tour.

The 12 men are on a jury of a criminal trial. In the U.S., the jury verdict must be unanimous. The trial concerns an 18-year-old Puerto Rican boy who lives in a New York slum. He has been accused of killing his father with a knife. A guilty verdict would result in a mandatory death sentence. The movie poster proclaims, “Life is in their hands; Death is on their minds! It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite.”

For 11 of the 12, the verdict is easy. Some of the jurors harbor prejudices and the unnamed boy is an easy target. While 11 jurors vote guilty, Juror number 8 (Henry Fonda) has reasonable doubt. His steadfast refusal to cave into the rest of the jurors angry impatience, is what sets up this drama. The jurors are never named, but only identified by numbers. For the movie, the cast included: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskkovec and Robert Webber.

Roger Ebert listed “12 Angry Men” among his “Great Movies,” but when it came out, the movie tanked. It found an audience when it was broadcast on TV. The film received three Oscar nominations.

In terms of reality, the jury deliberation depends too much on speculation and juror number 8 enters his own knife into “evidence.” As you know, now people aren’t permitted to bring weapons into the courthouse. The deliberations would have resulted in a mistrial being declared.

Rose’s screenplay shows the effects of peer pressure even among virtual strangers and the importance of standing up for what one believes. This should be shown to every citizen who gets the opportunity to serve on a jury and to every kid over and over until they can understand the consequences of following the crowd without thinking.

The movie that brought “12 Angry Men” to mind is “The Central Park Five” in which the only hold out, juror number 5, tried to point out the logical inconsistencies, but eventually gave in. As a result, innocent young men went to prison.

This movie is about anger, good and bad. We should be angry enough to see justice served because aren’t we angry when we’re dealt with unfairly? “12 Angry Men” is available on DVD at Netflix.com.