Ladies of the Jury

Can someone tell me what the big deal was about 1957's Twelve Angry Men? It was a remake of a Playhouse 90 special, and in 1950 there was an extremely similar story about one juror pinned against eleven prejudiced ones: Perfect Strangers. Recently, I just discovered an even earlier version from 1932 with the same theme. In Ladies of the Jury, Edna May Oliver stars as an intelligent, intuitive juror who has the task of changing the other eleven people's minds when they're all set to vote the defendant guilty.

This movie is very dated, engaging in early 1930s tropes, like the overemotional judge, the long-winded stammerer, the gum-chewing floozy, and the low-class Greek. Edna usually took supporting parts in her career, so if you really like her you can rent this or her "Snoopy Withers" mysteries to see her in the lead. But I would really only recommend it if you want to see the original 12 Angry Men. There are times when it gets pretty silly, and it doesn't stand the test of time.

That first part is a real hoot. Society matron Oliver is used to having her own way. So when she enters the rule-bound courtroom as a juror, the judge is driven to distraction. Oliver's superb, amusing rather than dislikable as she disrupts the constrained proceedings with her constant remarks. Thus, it's a high society presumptions versus a frazzled judge and the court's rules. So did Mrs. Gordon (Esmond) murder her husband or not. With one exception, the jury thinks so, and we know who the exception is. But how long can Oliver hold out. Here the movie reminds me of that heavy 1957 courtroom melodrama 12 Angry Men. Except this is done for comedic effect with an array of jury characters—the blonde chippie and her glandular admirer, a wisecracking Ken Murray, a stuttering Roscoe Ates, et al. The script includes some snappy lines and an occasional pre-Code innuendo. Note too, the gender-bending woman in a man's suit who's also a prude. And even though the dialogue seldom pauses, there's little action, while events themselves are pretty much confined to two courtroom sets. All in all, it's an entertaining programmer with a lot of character color, but not much diversion for the eye.

Ladies of the Jury (1932)

*** (out of 4)

Interesting comedy with just a pinch of drama. A chorus girl is accused of murdering her much older husband so that she can get his money. Eleven people of the jury thinks she's guilty but one (Edna May Oliver) believes that there isn't a way she did the crime due to a questionable witness at the trial. Sound familiar to a certain Henry Fonda movie called 12 ANGRY MEN? This film was based on a Broadway play and there's no question that it has a lot of strong connections to the much more famous Fonda film. I can't go into any real detail as it would provide spoilers for both films but it was rather funny seeing how many characters shared some similarities as well as reasons why those thinking the woman is guilty switch sides and go for not guilty. Fans of 12 ANGRY MEN will certainly get an added kick out of this film but even on its own this thing isn't too bad. I think what's most interesting is that the first thirty-five minutes is pure comedy as we're in the court room as the evidence is given and all hell is constantly breaking loose. This includes the lawyers fighting each other, the suspect constantly screaming at the witness and of course there's Edna May Oliver who is constantly jumping up to ask her own questions of the witnesses. A lot of the comedy is very forced and over the top but most of it works. It even works when we get to the jury room where more craziness follows including jurors falling in love and of course more fighting. While there's a lot of over-the-top moments, the film actually takes the case rather serious and keeps the mystery going right up until the ending. I think it was a rather interesting move keeping the dramatic side of the case strong and it makes for a rather unique experience since most films would either go for all laughs or all drama. A big reason this film works are the performances with Oliver really delivering the goods in the main role. She's perfectly believable as the rich woman who gets her way and will let no one tell her how to do things. The supporting actors are quite strong as well with Jill Esmond (who was married to Laurence Olivier at the time), Ken Murray, Kitty Kelly, Cora Witherspoon and Robert McWade all doing fine work. We even get some very funny moments from stutterer Roscoe Ates who is best remembered for his role in FREAKS. At just 63-minutes this thing flies by and is certainly worth checking out when it shows up on TCM.

Probably not the ideal movie to educate someone on how the American jury system operates, "Ladies Of The Jury" is more of a wacky comic version of "12 Angry Men" - which it predates by 25 years! Edna May Oliver is fab, especially if you're already a fan, but what really makes this limited-set B-movie stand out from the rest is a wide array of colorful and distinct characters, acted with gusto by a largely - if not completely - unknown cast; I particularly liked one couple where the man has a flair for the poetic and the woman looks to be what you would call in modern terms a "nerd" (an unusual female portrayal for that time). If there is one flaw in this movie, it's the very abrupt ending - in fact, this may be the only movie in history where the resolution occurs over "The End" title card! **1/2 out of 4.

LADIES OF THE JURY is a little programmer boosted by the performance of leading player EDNA MAY OLIVER as a Bostonian aristocrat who is allowed to ask questions of the woman on trial for her life (JILL ESMOND), accused of murdering her husband.

Edna May is the only member of the jury who believes the woman "not guilty" on the first ballot. The balance of the courtroom scenes show how she turns everyone around to thinking differently.

Surprisingly, GUINN ("BIG BOY") WILLIAMS, who livens up the proceedings with some characteristic humor and facial expressions, is not even credited in the film's cast. Among the supporting players, he's the one that stands out.

Unfortunately, the script is uneven and the treatment is less than routine with the outcome assured. The abrupt ending makes no impact at all even though the last word goes to Miss Oliver.

The humor is scanty and it's surprising to see KEN MURRAY cast as a flippant juror whose attempt at comedy is not really successful.