Iconic actors are usually remembered for one specific performance. Leonardo DiCaprio cannot swim far enough away from Titanic, Audrey Hepburn's signature shades and cigarettes popularized little blue boxes in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Judy Garland's ruby-red slippers couldn't let her escape The Wizard of Oz, Lucille Ball made me want to spoon my way to health with "Vitameatavegamin", and Henry Fonda's performance in 12 Angry Men gave the phrase "holding someone's life in your hands" a whole new meaning. I couldn't bear to exclude Henry Fonda from the countdown, so 12 Angry Men elbows into the 13th spot on the countdown.
13. 12 Angry Men
14. Secondhand Lions
15. The Italian Job
19. Roman Holiday
20. Fight Club
21. The Prestige
22. Once
24. V For Vendetta
25. Dear Frankie
Released in 1957, 12 Angry Men was a 95-minute film in which 92 of those minutes were shot inside the bare and confining, 16x24 foot "Jury Room". A young, Spanish-American man is on trial for murder. His father is the victim, he is the suspect, and the case is of life and death proportions. What begins as an open-and-shut murder trial turns into an investigation of the defendant and the jurors themselves. Prejudices, misconceptions, and pride hardly fit in the claustrophobically tiny space.
Favorite Scene: Trying to prove that there is not enough evidence to convict the young man to death, Henry Fonda's character engages the jurors in reenactments of that dreadful night. Time and time again, he proves that the evidence has too many holes to hold weight worthy of a death sentence. During a heavy scene, the film's antagonist (Juror #3) grows increasingly hostile towards Henry Fonda's character (Juror #8). He yells, "I'll kill him! I'LL KILL HIM!"
Henry Fonda calmly replies, "You don't really mean you'll kill me, do you?"
Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)
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