In director Sidney Lumet's excellent courtroom drama:
the dramatic debate scenes within a swelteringly-hot
New York City jury room among twelve jurors
the sequence of their preliminary vote on the fate
of a Puerto Rican boy charged with first degree murder - when rational
Juror # 8 (Henry Fonda) was the only one to vote not guilty and Juror
# 10 (Ed Begley) muttered: "Boy oh boy, there's always one"
the discussion about the switchblades when Juror
# 8 plunged a switchblade knife (identical to the murder weapon)
into the juror's long table to destroy the basis of the prosecution's
case and cast doubt in the jurors' minds
the angry outbursts toward the film's end by Juror
# 3 (Lee J. Cobb) and Juror # 8's questioning of his personal attitudes:
"Are you his executioner?"