Henry Fonda on TCM: 12 Angry Men, The Wrong Man

Henry Fonda, like James Stewart and Gary Cooper, was one of the prototypical “All-American” actors of the studio era. But if you believe that Fonda’s generally one-dimensional characters represented the average American male, then my guess is that you’ve just landed on planet Earth and you’ve never met an American – or any other human being.

Fonda was stuck playing those shy, naive, honest, courageous – and usually quite dull – characters in dozens of movies. But in a handful of his vehicles, e.g., John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and The Fugitive (1947), Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957), Franklin J. Schaffner’s The Best Man (1964), and even Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), you could sense a certain steeliness underneath the Nice Guy facade. Those were his best performances.

On Sunday, Aug. 29, Henry Fonda is Turner Classic Movies’ star of the day, as TCM’s “Summer Under the Stars” nears its conclusion. (Thelma Todd and Clint Eastwood are the last two.)

TCM will be showing 11 Henry Fonda features, in addition to David Heeley’s documentary Fonda on Fonda (1992), in which Jane Fonda remembers her father. (See Henry Fonda movie schedule below.)

Unfortunately, TCM won’t be showing any hard-to-find early Fonda vehicles such as The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) or The Moon’s Our Home (1936). But there are some goodies in store.

Here are three recommendations:

12 Angry Men, in which members of the jury must decide the fate of a young man accused of murder – eleven of them believe the accused is guilty, but one man sees things differently. Some of the psychological insights found in Reginald Rose’s screenplay (from his own teleplay) are a little heavy-handed, but the performances are almost uniformly brilliant.

Inspired by a true story, The Wrong Man (1956) stars Fonda as an innocent man accused of robbery. One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most serious-minded efforts, this psychological drama offers a layered depiction of people and relationships crumbling under relentless social oppression. Vera Miles is excellent as Fonda’s distraught wife.

Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve (1941) is one of the relatively few movie classics that deserve its prestige. Barbara Stanwyck is outstanding as the con artist who sets her eyes on mild-mannered Fonda, who in this instance plays his usually shy, naive, etc. characters to good effect. Also in the Lady Eve: Shameless scene-stealers Charles Coburn and Eric Blore.

The best things about John Ford’s classic “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” Western, My Darling Clementine (1946), are Joseph McDonald’s black-and-white cinematography and Linda Darnell’s fiery Chihuahua. (Not a dog.)

The best thing in Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) is Alice Brady’s performance; in Ford’s Fort Apache (1948) is that one gets to spot silent film veterans Irene Rich and Mae Marsh; and in the Oscar-nominated Western epic How the West Was Won (1963) is that it ends.

Henry Fonda movies: TCM schedule (PDT)

3:00 AM Fort Apache (1948)
Director: John Ford.
Cast: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, John Ireland, George O’Brien, Victor McLaglen, Irene Rich, Ward Bond, Anna Lee, Guy Kibbee, Mae Marsh, Dick Foran, Pedro Armendáriz, Grant Withers.
128m

5:15 AM Firecreek (1968)
Director: Vincent McEveety.
Cast: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Jacqueline Scott, Gary Lockwood, Dean Jagger, Ed Begley.
104m

7:00 AM How the West Was Won (1962)
Directors: John Ford, Henry Hathaway & George Marshall.
Cast: Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, Carroll Baker, George Peppard, Richard Widmark, Robert Preston, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Massey, Agnes Moorehead, Russ Tamblyn, Walter Brennan.
Narrator: Spencer Tracy.
165m

10:00 AM In Harm’s Way (1965)
Director: Otto Preminger.
Cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Dana Andrews.
167m

1:00 PM Midway (1976)
Director: Jack Smight.
Cast: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Edward Albert Jr.
131m

3:15 PM My Darling Clementine (1946)
Director: John Ford.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan.
97m

5:00 PM Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Director: John Ford.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver.
100m

7:00 PM 12 Angry Men (1957)
Director: Sidney Lumet.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Ed Begley.
96m

8:45 PM The Wrong Man (1956)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, Charles Cooper, John Heldabrand, Esther Minciotti, Doreen Lang, Nehemiah Persoff, Werner Klemperer.
105m

10:45 PM The Lady Eve (1941)
Director: Preston Sturges.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, Eric Blore, Melville Cooper, William Demarest, Janet Beecher, Martha O’Driscoll.
94m

12:30 AM The Big Street (1942)
Director: Irving Reis.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Barton MacLane, Eugene Pallette, Agnes Moorehead, Marion Martin, George Cleveland, William T. Orr, Ray Collins, Sam Levene, Vera Gordon, Hans Conried, Louise Beavers.
89m

2:00 AM Fonda on Fonda (1992)
Director: David Heeley.
Cast: Jane Fonda.
46m

“Henry Fonda on TCM” notes

Henry Fonda schedule via the TCM website.