12 Angry Men switchblade knife

[mrcarkeys42]

I am not a knife collector and know very little about the subject, but 12 Angry Men is one of my favorite movies of all time and i would love a replica of the switchblade knife. I did a few searches but unfortunately i couldn't find anything about it, and i only saw it briefly mentioned on these forums. Does anybody have any information or a place i could start looking? thanks for any help!

Also, to clarify I am referring to the 1957 Sidney Lumet version. here are some pictures as well as a few scenes from the movie:

 

[Probe Droid]

I've wondered about this, too. The knives have kris blades. The pattern on the button side seems more pronounced than on the back. If you contacted guys at switchblade/automatic knife forums they might know immediately. Good luck.

 

[Mike J.]

Looks like dragons on the handles?

 

[ed-209]

Best of luck. Switchblade guys have sought this switchblade knife for years!!! It's one of the switchblade 'Holy Grails"

 

[breech]

it's a 7" stiletto switchblade with the guard acting as a lock. cheap version. opposed to the "swing guard" version with the guard swings over to the side when closed

you can find them in lockback - non spring assisted - on google pretty easy - without the kris blade

kris blade stilettos are sort of rare

 

[USS Endeav]

What a great film that was.

 

[Rik1138]

Using some Google-fu, it looks to be a vintage (well, vintage now) Armando Beltrame kris bladed switchblade. Similar to this:
http://www.switchbladekits.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1222
(There's several different color combinations on that site...)

The style, shape, etc look pretty close, and I believe this knife was made in the 50s (or maybe the AB one is a replica of a vintage 50s knife, not 100% sure).
Finding the dragon design might be hard though, I didn't see anything like that.

 

[mrcarkeys42]

Perhaps the handles were made specifically for the film? Maybe its the lighting but the two knives in the movie seem to be slightly different, as if not mass produced. Not sure how one would go about making custom grips though, perhaps a 3D print?

 

[Feraud]

I love seeing classic cinema props and this is a great one from an amazing film!
The knives see little screen time. I don't imagine the handles were custom made for the film. I'd guess like the prop dept acquired a couple of available switchblades. Would love to see this knife identified.

 

[Probe Droid]

I don't imagine the handles were custom made for the film. I'd guess like the prop dept acquired a couple of available switchblades.

Agreed. Undoubtedly the prop dept. tailored two standard knives to fit the need for a pair of distinctive but near identical pieces.

 

[mrcarkeys42]

Looks like dragons on the handles?

I think so, but not entirely sure. looks like there are black dragons on the white side of the handle (or button side) but i think the white details on the dark side are just ornate details, doesn't quite look like a dragon to me.

 

[mrcarkeys42]

Best of luck. Switchblade guys have sought this switchblade knife for years!!! It's one of the switchblade 'Holy Grails"

Are they sure its even a real knife? i wouldn't be surprised if the handles were made for the movie, as it was supposed to be a very unique knife.

 

[mrcarkeys42]

can anybody make a good guess on what the colors would be? i have been looking at kris blade stilettos and it seems the guard and pommel come in both silver and bronze colored variants. I think i would personally prefer the bronze colored, but if there is someway to tell from the black and white image i would like to know.

also I am not entirely sure of the handle color. the highlights on the back seem to be white (maybe gold?) and the highlights on the button side seem to be the same color as the rest of the handle but with a white area around them.

and i am not sure what color the base handle is. seems like black at first but for some reason i feel it might be like a dark red wood color, like something along the lines of this:



but i have no way to tell via a black and white photo, or if there is any way to do that at all.

 

[mrcarkeys42]

I also found this on the same site posted earlier:

http://www.switchbladekits.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=520

its way cheaper then the pre-made ones which are like $115 (this is only like $40) and it would probably be easier to work off of because i wont need to remove the handle scales, i will just add my own

only problem is that i have no experience with building a knife like that, but i am sure there is probably a step by step guide i could use

 

[Entropy]

I tried to get a few better DVD captures. It looks to me like the knife handle is black, with a dragon and additional embellishment on the back side. I can't decide if it's carved or just painted on the surface of the back side, perhaps in gold or silver metallic paint. The button side looks like the handle is black with white underneath (possibly bone), made to look like the dragon is carved in a very shallow bass relief. I suppose the dragon could be done in counter relief/intaglio similar to scrimshaw. It's hard to tell, but that wasn't my first impression. The knife is described as having a "very unusual carved handle" in the movie, so at least one of the sides is supposed to be carved somehow.

 

[LTsmash1200]

Also, to clarify I am referring to the 1957 Sidney Lumet version.

What? Do you have something against the classic remake, Pauly Shore's magnum opus, Jury Duty?


Haha, just kidding. I love 12 Angry Men, I've always thought it would be cool to find one of those knives. Good luck.

 

[mrcarkeys42]

I tried to get a few better DVD captures. It looks to me like the knife handle is black, with a dragon and additional embellishment on the back side. I can't decide if it's carved or just painted on the surface of the back side, perhaps in gold or silver metallic paint. The button side looks like the handle is black with white underneath (possibly bone), made to look like the dragon is carved in a very shallow bass relief. I suppose the dragon could be done in counter relief/intaglio similar to scrimshaw. It's hard to tell, but that wasn't my first impression. The knife is described as having a "very unusual carved handle" in the movie, so at least one of the sides is supposed to be carved somehow.

thanks for those screenshots, they are much better then the ones i was able to find online and i think you are right about the dragon on the back side, i was convinced the back side was just random detailing and there was only a dragon on the button side, but looking at your pictures its pretty clear that the "top" detail on the back side is also a dragon, this one seems to have wings though while the one on the button side seems to be wingless. However i am not sure if its just painted on there, to me it looks like the details on that side have depth, and they appear to be proud. it could just be an optical illusion of sorts but i am not sure. Maybe those details are inlaid in the handle? I will most likely paint them on as i am not very experienced with wood working, i am just not so sure that's what was done for the movie. I am also curious if those designs were custom designs made up by the art department or if they are real designs based on some sort of template, i am not sure where one would find such templates though.

also this isn't quite as important but does anyone know how to find an evidence tag of the same layout? it would be a nice extra detail to have, although its pretty hard to make out anything on the card so i may need to make a lot of it up.

- - - Updated - - -

I love 12 Angry Men, I've always thought it would be cool to find one of those knives. Good luck.

thanks

 

[Rik1138]

Here's some screenshots from the Criterion Blu-ray. Not going to get any clearer shots than these...

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Z_Imgs/12AngryMen/

 

[Probe Droid]

Those are top shelf.

I was looking at the catalog for the upcoming Profiles in History auction and among the items is a switchblade from Rebel Without a Cause. I wonder if the 12AM knife ever was sold?

 

[mrcarkeys42]

Thanks a ton! Those screenshots are great!

I was looking at the catalog for the upcoming Profiles in History auction and among the items is a switchblade from Rebel Without a Cause. I wonder if the 12AM knife ever was sold?

Not sure about the original. I know that the knife from the 90s remake was sold though, here is the pick:



and this was its page

http://www.thegoldencloset.com/merchant/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=c03fdd2f6c77de2724df63f1b3a31d2d&Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TGC&Product_Code=P01180&Category_Code=featured


I guess its no help for finding the 50s version though lol