Henry Fonda keeps the tension in this film palpable and ratchets it up to the end as the lone holdout juror who has doubts about a man’s guilt in a death penalty case. We’re let into the secret world of jury deliberations and all the ugliness and discord that occurs when people’s prejudices and preconceived notions emerge. The film was adapted from a stage play by Reginald Rose and produced by the movie’s star, Fonda. The play was first adapted for TV by Sidney Lumet, who also directed the movie version, his first feature film.

Trivia: Lumet sequestered the actors in the same room for several hours to practice their lines and get a sense of what it felt like to be real jurors stuck in a room together.

See our August 2018 cover story: “The 25 Greatest Legal Movies.”