12 Angry Men (1957) quotes

View Quote #7: You a Yankee fan?
#5: No, Milwaukee.
#7: Milwaukee? That's like being hit in the head with a crow bar once a day.

View Quote #8: There were two witnesses to the murder. What if they're wrong?
#12: What do you mean, what if they're wrong? What's the point of having witnesses at all?
#8: Could they be wrong?
#12: Well no, I don't think so.
#8: Do you 'know' so?
#12: Come on. Nobody can know something like that. This isn't an exact science.
#8: That's right, it isn't.

View Quote #3: You're talking about a matter of seconds. Nobody can be that accurate.
#8: Well I think that testimony that can put a boy into the electric chair should be that accurate.

View Quote #8: I think this is what happened: the old man had heard the fight between the boy and his father a few hours earlier. Then, while lying in bed, he heard a body hit the floor in the boy's apartment, and he heard the woman scream from across the street. He got up, he tried to get to the door, heard someone racing down the stairs and *assumed* it was the boy.
#3: Assumed? Brother, I've seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day, but this little display takes the cake. Y'all come in here with your hearts bleedin' all over the floor about slum kids and injustice, you listen to some fairy tales, suddenly you start gettin' through to some of these old ladies... well, you're not getting through to me, I've had enough! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU GUYS? You all know he's guilty. He's got to burn! You're letting him slip through our fingers.
#8: Slip through our fingers? Are you his executioner?
#3: I'm one of 'em!
#8: Maybe you'd like to pull the switch?
#3: For this kid? You bet I would!
#8: I feel sorry for you.
#3: Don't start with me!
#8: What it must feel like to want to pull the switch!
#3: Listen, you shut up!
#8: Ever since we walked into this room, you've been behaving like a self-appointed public avenger!
#3: I'm tellin' you now! Shut up!
#8: You want to see this boy die because you personally want it, not because of the facts!
#3: Shut up!
#8: You're a sadist!
#3: SHUT UP!
[#3 lunges wildly at #8, who holds his ground. Several jurors hold #3 back]
#3: Let me go! I'll kill him! I'LL KILL HIM!
#8: You don't really mean you'll kill me, do you?

View Quote #3: That business before when that tall guy, what's-his-name, was trying to bait me? That doesn't prove anything. I'm a pretty excitable person. I mean, where does he come off calling me a public avenger, sadist and everything? Anyone in his right mind would blow his stack. He was just trying to bait me.
#4: He did an excellent job.

View Quote #9: It's eleven to one.
#7: So, what do we do now?
#8: You're alone.
#3: I don't care if I'm alone or not! It's my right.
#8: It's your right.
#3: Well, what do you want from me?
#8: We want your arguments.
#3: I gave ya my arguments!
#8: We're not convinced! We want to hear them again. We have as much time as it takes.
#3: Everything... every single thing that came out in that courtroom, but I mean everything... says he's guilty. What d'ya think? I'm an idiot or somethin'? Why don't cha take that stuff about the old man; the old man who lived there and heard everything? Or the business about the knife! What, just because he found one exactly like it? The old man saw him. Right there on the stairs. What's the difference how many seconds it was? Every single thing. The knife falling through a hole in his pocket... you can't prove that he didn't get to the door! Sure, you can hobble around the room and take all the time you want, but you can't prove it! And that stuff with the El! And the movies! Now there's a phony deal if I ever saw one. I'd betcha five thousand dollars I'd remember the names of the movies I saw! I'm tellin' ya: every single thing that has went on has been twisted... and turned. This business with the glasses. How do you know she didn't have 'em on? This woman testified in open court! And that thing about hearin' the kid yell... huh? Listen, I've got all the facts here... [He struggles with his notebook, throws it on the table] Ah! Well, there it is! That's the whole case! [He turns towards the window as the other jurors stare at him] Well, say something! You lousy bunch of bleedin' hearts. You're not goin' to intimidate me! I'm entitled to my own opinion! [Sees the picture of his son on the table] Rotten kids... you work your life out! [He lunges at the picture and tears it to pieces. He suddenly realizes what he's doing, stops, then breaks down] No. Not guilty. Not guilty!

View Quote [Last lines]
#9: Hey, what's your name?
#8: Davis.
#9: Mine's McCardle. [pause] Well, so long.