12 Angry Men (1957)

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96 min – view video trailer

Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee Cobb, Martin Balsam

Genres: Drama

IMDB 8.9 / Amazon 4.7 / MRQE 89% / RottenTomatoes 100%

Oscars: nominated for 3, won 0

Ranked #14 Greatest Movies Through 1960, included in 10 of 37 lists of Greatest Movies, a Zagat Top Movie

A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court. IMDB rating 8.9 from over 192,956 users

Zagat summary snippet: Human nature at its best and worst in a brilliant courtroom drama with a taut script and an unforgettable Fonda. A study of American democracy that is suuspenseful and compelling.

Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It’s a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in “one of the best pictures ever made. Amazon 4.7 stars from over 322 users

Eleven of the jurors vote for conviction, each for reasons of his own. The sole holdout is Juror #8, played by Henry Fonda. As Fonda persuades the weary jurors to re-examine the evidence, we learn the backstory of each man.  Rotten Tomatoes 100% critics / 95% viewers

MRQE 89% rating from over 60 reviews.

Madison Public Library

The Lady Eve (1941)

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94 min – view video trailer

Director: Preston Sturges
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn

Genres: Comedy, Crime, Romance

IMDB 8.0 / Amazon 4.5 / Tomatometer 100%

Oscars: nominated for 1, won 0

Ranked #37 Greatest Movies Through 1960, a Zagat Top Movie

A trio of classy card sharks targets the socially awkward heir to brewery millions for his money, till one of them falls in love with him. IMDB 8.0 rating from over 9,463 users

In 1941, Barbara Stanwyck was offered two screwball roles equally suited to her tart intelligence, deft comic timing, and undeniable sex appeal, and it’s a photo finish as to which was funnier–showgirl-on-the-lam Sugarpuss O’Shea, the title character in Howard Hawks’s Ball of Fire, or con artist Jean Harrington a.k.a. Lady Eve Sidwich, the delirious fulcrum for this classic Preston Sturges comedy. Amazon 4.5 stars from over 76 users

(Preston Sturges) wrote and directed this classic romantic comedy starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, who are involved in a scintillating battle of the sexes, as Sturges points up the terrors of sexual passion and the unattainability of the romantic ideal. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 100% Audience 87%

MRQE links to over 42 reviews

Madison Public Library