“It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite!” screamed the ads when the film arrived, ushering Lumet’s transition from live TV to filmmaking. Writer Reginald Rose based the original television play on his own jury experiences and Lumet took his already impressive character studies and made one of the most compelling first films in cinema history. Featuring solid, sweaty, nervy performances from the likes of Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb, it ratchets up the tension without needing special effects, unnatural sounds or artificial trappings. Racial issues come frothing to the forefront, and the cinematography keeps you gripped.

Lu-memories: “Henry Fonda didn't like to watch himself in dailies. But he sort of had to, since he was the producer,” Lumet told EW in 2008. “So, on the first day of dailies, after about 20 minutes, he leaned forward, squeezed my shoulder, and said, 'It's brilliant,' and never came back again...”