I don't know much about the jury selection process in the US, especially in the 1950s when this film was made, but it seems strange and extremely biased that the entire jury were white men, and all except the old man were middle-aged. There were no women, no black or Asian people, and certainly nobody was under the age of 40. Was there simply a much narrower selection of society selected for jury service at that time?
shareI've found discussing FACTS a waste of time at IMDB but I'll try it one more time.
The movie is set in Manhattan in the mid-1950s. There were almost no Asians, Hispanics, etc. etc.
Blacks probably made up less than 10% of NYC population at that time. Puerto Ricans probably 5%. You had to meet certain education and voting requirements to serve on a jury.
The choice of having an all male Jury was a dramatic one. Given the culture there's no way you would have had all those "angry men" if 2 or 3 women had been on the jury. They would've toned it down for the Ladies. Result: A realistic but boring snooze fest.
Women served on juries all over the country in the 1950s. The infamous Caryl Chessman (executed in 1960) was convicted by a jury with 11 women and 1 man.
But anyway, feel free to ignore this and go on babbling about the 1950s and racism.
Thank you.
Was there simply a much narrower selection of society selected for jury service at that time?
I think it says more about Hollywood at that time than the judicial system. That's why it should be remade with a more diverse cast.
shareTwelve white men's names came up on the prospective juror list, and they all met the qualifications so were assigned to that case. Nobody excluded minorities or women, and they were in the juror pools at that time. It's just that none happened to come up for selection on the day that jury was appointed. Today they would make sure they manipulated it so they came out with a mixed sex and race jury. The only thing different back then that wouldn't happen now is that they just went with whoever's name came up and didn't worry about it if they all happened to be white guys.
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