History of the Play

Reginald Rose, author of the original teleplay in 1954, wrote an adaptation for the stage in 1955. He also wrote and recruited Sidney Lumet to direct the film adaptation In 1957.

The made-for-tv movie starred Jack Lemmon (#8), George C Scott (#3) and Hume Cronyn (#9), and had a female judge.

Another courtroom drama based on Twelve In a Box, though the plot centers a bit more on the romance between the two jurors (one a handsome married fellow, and one a divorced woman.) Another tagline for this film: "They met by chance, and once they kissed, they knew they never should have."

Ladies and Gentlemen by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, ran for 100 performances on Broadway in 1939. It was based on the play, Twelve in a Box, by Hungarian playwright Ladislaus Bush-Fekete