Boomerang! (1947) watch online HD

This is another fine Film Noir from the vaults of 20th Century Fox! Made in 1947 "Boomerang" was the brainchild of talented producer Louis deRochemont who began to bring a new semi-documentary style of picture making to cinema. He strove to give a more realistic look to films by shooting in actual locations and eschewing the phony indoor exteriors offered by the studios. "Boomerang" was such a project and was filmed in Connecticut where events in this true story took place.

Splendidly directed by Elia Kazan and sharply photographed in glorious black & white by Norbert Brodine "Boomerang" does indeed have a newsreel look about it especially with the fine voice of Reed Hadley (uncredited) doing the narration. Previously deRochemont had great success with this type of picture with his production "The House on 92nd Street" two years earlier. Richard Murphy's taut screenplay for "Boomerang", from an article in Reader's Digest, was based on an actual incident in Bridgeport, Connecticut where the murder of a kindly church pastor occurred. The film recounts the efforts of the town council to bring pressure to bear on the frustrated local police department to bring the killer to justice by any and every means possible. Dana Andrews gives his usual stalwart and likable performance as the local D.A. who suddenly finds himself going over to the side of the defense when the only and hapless suspect is coerced into signing a confession for the murder.

The movie has a wonderful all-involving style to it with beautifully lit and splendidly atmospheric courtroom scenes. And there are uniformly excellent performances throughout from Sam Levene, Robert Keith, Ed Begley, Karl Malden but especially from Arthur Kennedy as the suspected culprit and Lee J. Cobb as the police chief.

A great movie that every noir devotee will want in their collection. Extras include a commentary, a poster gallery and a Trailer. Good one Fox!

The names are changed and updated, the story takes place post World War II instead of World War I. But Boomerang is the story of how the man who eventually became United States Attorney General, Homer Cummings, used his prosecutorial office to prove the INNOCENCE of an arrested murder suspect. How often do you see that happen?

In fact Boomerang is a primer for those people who wonder how the Supreme Court under Earl Warren could render such decisions as Escobedo and Miranda which set a few ground rules about interrogating a suspect. Today poor Arthur Kennedy who plays the veteran accused of murdering a priest in cold blood might have lawyered up and never given the confession in the first place.

Under a different name Cummings is played by Dana Andrews with Jane Wyatt as his wife. Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden play the investigating police detectives who do a thorough job and apparently have gotten their man. What the crime consisted of was person unknown in the evening hours on one of the town's main streets firing a pistol into the back of the head of a popular clergyman in the town. Several witnesses do see it, but none are close enough to really be sure.

One witness nearly sinks Kennedy, but when Andrews questions Kennedy before the trial and he tells her that waitress Cara Williams is mad because he dumped her, that sets Andrews thinking about his case. His examination of her on the stand is devastating.

The film was directed by Elia Kazan who got the New York Film Critic's Award for this and his work on Gentleman's Agreement. This was a banner year obviously for Mr. Kazan. Boomerang got one Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay for Richard Murphy.

After over 60 years Boomerang holds up very well and should be required viewing for those attorneys who wish to become prosecutors. It ain't all about another notch in the belt.

'Boomerang!' is one of those thrillers based on real events, presenting a corrupt view of small town America, where politicians seek votes over justice, and might doesn't always equal right.

With a cast including Dana Andrews, Lee J Cobb, and Arthur Kennedy, the story unfolds when the local priest is shot dead in the street and a wandering hobo is arrested and then grilled for hours until he confesses. Politically he is groomed for conviction, but the DA (Andrews) wants to know more. Meanwhile, political officials seek to let the alleged killer off on account of his being someone who'd served his country.

Corruption is rife both in the courtroom and without, and the viewer is drawn into this complex web not really knowing what the truth is. An interesting twist at the end almost ties things up but leaves some questions still unanswered.

Good performances, tense construction of character and storyline and some fine black and white photography mark this out as a minor classic of its type.

This is a pretty good, taut, realistic, gritty film-noirish film from the camera lens of Elia Kazan. Kazan gives us the story of a Connetticut district attorney bumping the legal establishment in Hartford by NOT railroading a suspect who he knows to be innocent despite exhausting pressures to prosecute from local elected officials, businessmen, police, etc... The film, as previously noted, has a semi-documentary feel to it - all due to Kazan's expertise behind the camera. Whilst the story certainly is engaging, the acting is all high-level here with Dana Andrews doing a fine job as Henry L. Harvey the attorney faced with an ethical dilemma. Andrews acting range is not too wide but he delivers here and is more than ably assisted by men(and women) like Ed Begley as a businessman gone bad, Jane Wyatt as his lovely wife(Andrews's wife that is),Arthur Kennedy as the suspect with seemingly little to say, and a couple of Kazan would-be regulars - Lee J. Cobb doing a phenomenal job as a decent yet hard-headed police chief and Karl Malden as a police detective. Kazan shows us the story from many angles and has the benefit of having a real story as the basis of his film. We see the angles of different political opponents, a jealous/crazy girlfriend, local people who saw the crime of a priest being shot, and the journalists who try to scare up any angle they can. Some scenes are quite jarring like the confession scene. Arthur Miller, the great American playwright is seen briefly in a scene of suspects being lined-up. He was Kazan's close friend.

Elia Kazan's 1947 docudrama Boomerang dramatizes the courage and independence of a Connecticut States Attorney who stood up to political pressure and fought for dismissal of charges against a defendant accused of murder because he wasn't convinced of his guilt. The film (which I first saw as a boy) is based on an actual killing that took place in 1924 in which a popular parish priest was shot on a main street in Bridgeport, Connecticut in full public view. In spite of the public nature of the killing, the murderer escaped and no suspects were immediately apprehended. Using an unseen narrator to provide background information, the film achieves a hard-hitting realism, conveying the feeling that you are watching events as they unfold.

Produced by Louis de Rochemont, well known for films dramatizing real events such as "House on 92nd Street" and "13 Rue Madeline", performances are uniformly excellent, particularly those of Dana Andrews as Henry Harvey, the idealistic States Attorney, Lee J. Cobb as Police Chief Robbie Robinson, Arthur Kennedy as John Waldron, the ex-GI murder suspect, and Ed Begley as the corrupt Commissioner Paul Harris. The film stays fairly close to actual events with the exception that the States Attorney is shown as an unknown lawyer looking to make a name for himself not the nationally known former Mayor and candidate for US Senate.

Boomerang begins with a description of the crime and then in a flashback shows the priest asking his assistant to get help for his unstated problems and threatening to have him confined in a hospital. This thread is left hanging but Kazan tantalizes the viewer, suggesting without offering any evidence that the troubled assistant had a motive to kill the priest. When the investigation stalls, pressure is put on the police to come up with a suspect and Dave Woods (Sam Levene), a local newspaper reporter, runs a series of stories criticizing the City government for its inaction in hopes of achieving political power for the paper's owner.

After innocent people are arrested simply because they wore clothing that resembled what the killer is alleged to have worn the night of the murder, a disheveled veteran, John Waldron (Arthur Kennedy), is arrested in Ohio in possession of a handgun and returned to Connecticut. Several eyewitnesses pick out Waldron as the killer and the bullet is identified as coming from Waldron's gun. When Police Chief Robinson (Lee J. Cobb), finally extracts a confession after grilling Waldron for many hours, the case seems open and shut.

At the preliminary hearing, however, Harvey is guided by the legal code of ethics that the prosecutor's job is not to gain convictions but to see that justice is done and has doubts about the evidence, arguing against a conviction. Most of the film's dramatic moments take place in the courtroom but there is a back story involving municipal corruption, a theme that Kazan would visit again ten years later in "A Face in the Crowd".

The shocking turnaround by the States Attorney does not sit well with party official Paul Harris (Ed Begley) who invested his savings in a corrupt land deal and needs the present government to remain in power to buy that land from him. Fearing economic ruin, he threatens Harvey and insists the prosecutor try to convict Waldron whether or not he is innocent. The prosecutor remains steadfast, however, and the intense courtroom drama keeps us riveted until the surprising outcome is revealed.

It belongs to a category of movies popular during the last 1940s, semi-documentaries, with voice-overs, often, as here, Reed Hadley in his reassuring baritone. Henry Hathaway doted on the style for a while. Thematically the tension arises from a familiar bundle of oppositions: crime control vs. due process. It's a tension that has given us some of our most enjoyable trial movies, including "Young Mister Lincoln." Lately, that is, since Watergate, a third model of the justice system has appeared: namely one in which a secret, conspiratorial hand causes corruption and systemic disorganization -- "True Believer," "All the President's Men," and so on, almost without end. We are stuffed with paranoia like Strassbourg geese.

But "Boomerang" belongs to a different period, when a DA could take his mission seriously -- "not to prosecute, but to see that justice is done." It's kind of neat, too. Relaxing in its own fairly isometric way. We can bring ourselves to believe that Dana Andrews will do the right thing, even though he's misled into temptation at the beginning of the case. Isn't it nice to believe in the justice system?

I won't repeat the story here, just add a few comments. The acting, first of all, is up to professional par. Dana Andrews is convincing as the self-doubting and totally human DA. My only problem with his performance is that he pronounces "bullet," as "BOO-lit." (Stop it at once.) Jane Wyatt has an attractive open face and a voice that suggests good breeding. I'm glad to see that no one has jumped on her role as perpetuating a stereotype.

Yes, she loves her husband, cuddles up to him, brings him milk and a sandwich -- but she is also quite on top of things too. Before a brawl can erupt in her living room she interrupts the proceedings with a tray and a query -- "BEER, Gentlemen?" Andrews is tortured by his friends who urge him to win the case and run for governor, while other facts have led him to believe Arthur Kennedy's prisoner may be innocent. In other words, if he convicts, he may become governor. If he loses, he's a bum. Wyatt is massaging his shoulders and he glumly asks, "Remember those sandwiches we bought in the deli downstairs while I was in law school? It would be almost fun to do it again, wouldn't it?" But that's clearly not Wyatt's idea of a good time. She pauses in her massage, looks thoughtfully down at him, and replies, "We were both a little younger then, Henry." Of course she's speaking for him as well.

Ed Begley, a Connecticut native by the way, debuts here, I think. And he's great. A blustering greedy small-time bureaucrat who's going to lose his shirt if the case against Kennedy is dismissed or lost. Boy, can Begley sweat and act nervous. Arthur Kennedy provides an ambiguous character in his murder suspect. Everything seems stacked against him, but he doesn't play it easy. He's not merely a poor put-upon veteran who is a saint in real life. He's angry, bitter, has had an unpleasant meeting with the murder victim, and was packing a .32 revolver when picked up. He exclaims defiantly that he left town "when I wanted to and because I wanted to." In a moment of exhaustion he tells Andrews that he spent all those years in the army and he's not a kid anymore. He didn't want to drive a truck or deliver milk, he wanted to try something new and different. But this is as far as he goes in asking for understanding.

We watch his interrogation now, from our 21st-century perspective, see him deprived of sleep for days, harassed and threatened with beating by the police, and think, "Wow, it's a good thing we don't treat prisoners like that anymore." But we can if we want to, and we sometimes do. The so-called mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of 9/11 was captured in Afghanistan and, according to former FBI agents, was probably put through the same process as Kennedy in order to get information. Not torture. You don't need torture, as the Chinese taught us during the Korean war. Just keep the prisoner awake and handcuffed behind his back, so someone else has to unzip his trousers in order for him to use the toilet.

In supporting roles, Lee J. Cobb, as the cop who changes his mind, is excellent, and so is Karl Malden, who has less to do. I've always loved Sam Levene, no matter what part he's appeared in, and this one, the cynical wisecracking reporter was made for him. There's not a bad performance in the bunch, although I wish Ed Begley had gotten a few sympathetic scenes. Even the judge wears a suitably wry smile at one point as he directs Andrews, "Proceed." Incidentally, the playwright Arthur Miller and the director, Kazan, were friends at the time. Miller lived near where the film was being shot and was given the part of an atmosphere person. In the police line-up, he's the tall man in the dark coat on the far left.

This is a fascinating crime and legal drama, all the more surprising because it's true. Andrews takes what appears to be a water-tight case against a suspicious and friendless vagrant and dismisses it by reexamining the evidence against Kennedy. His plea, nulla prosequi, doesn't mean that Kennedy is innocent, just that the state does not plan to prosecute him now. (If the state did, and lost, double jeopardy would apply.) The fact is that Andrews doesn't show that Kennedy didn't do it. He just demonstrates that there is plenty of room for reasonable doubt, usually the defense's job. It took guts for him to do that, to play by the rules, to see that justice was done.

An admirable film bout an admirable character.

In Connecticut, a well-known priest is murdered by a man on the street and flees. The politicians and the police are pressed by the society to find the killer, but the Chief of Police Harold F. "Robbie" Robinson (Lee J. Cobb) has no clue despite the witnesses. When the former soldier John Waldron (Arthur Kennedy) that has fought in the World War II is captured in another town, the witnesses identify him as the killer and he is forced by Robbie and his men to sign the confession of murder. The he claims innocence, but everybody believes he is the killer. However the righteous State's Attorney Henry L. Harvey (Dana Andrews) finds inconsistent evidences and decides to investigate against the opposition of the politics and the society.

"Boomerang !" is a film based on a true story about the morality and honesty of a State Attorny that risks his career to prove that a man is innocent and scape goat of a political situation. The plot is engaging and holds the attention of the viewer. It is beautiful to see the story of men like the lead character that faces the Powers That Be to keep his ethic and principles. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Justiceiro" ("The Righteous Man")

Boomerang! (1947)

In some ways this is an intensely well made and satisfying film, and when you have Dana Andrews in the lead role combined with Elia Kazan directing, and throw in first rate character actor Lee J. Cobb, you have something worth watching.

It's nice early Kazan, but it stumbles at times, and never lifts off, never gels. Here's why.

First of all, it's based (very closely) on fact, and sometimes the facts are dramatic but not necessarily good drama. Hamlet, if it were straight documentary truth, would probably shock more and enchant less. And so here, we start with a horrifying crime which takes the viewer quite by surprise. Then, in a continuing voice-over documentary style, we are launched on a huge manhunt. Facts are gathered, suspects suspected, policework unleashed, all acted and congealed very intelligently. A large twist occurs (with something of a stutter, dramatically), and then we are in a different kind of drama, a courtroom battle, with Andrews playing the unlikely role of prosecutor looking for the actual truth in a case rather than a conviction.

And then the court battle ends, and the movie sort of drizzles to a stop. And you might well say (as I did), "How like life." Or something equally unexciting. It's not a like a neo-realist hyper real movie, using amateur actors and so on. No, it's just an adapted true life crime story that might have been something more. For two sides to this coin, I'd first mention Kazan's own "On the Waterfront" which uses a real life kind of scenario but turns it into a dramatic masterpiece. And then some harder hitting reality movie like "The Phenix City Story" (1955) shows what a dramatic version of the truth, unchanged, might look like.

Of course, Kazan and crew are experts, and this is no dud. Andrews, if he is your taste, is in great form, really, within his shifting role. And the supporting cast does wonders, as cops, and as regular people, which this movie is ultimately about. Recommended, yes, but with expectations in line with, uh, reality.

This film is one of Elia Kazan's early efforts as a director. He presented this story in the semi documentary style pioneered by producer Louis DeRochemont in his "March of Time" short subjects and brought to full length status in Henry Hathaway's "The House on 92nd Street".

In filming this true story, Kazan took his cast and crew to a small Connecticut town similar to the one that the story occurred in. This concept was very effective.

Dana Andrews plays Henry L. Harvey, a Connecticut States Attorney who is prosecuting a particularly sensitive case in which a local revered priest was murdered and a homeless drifter was arrested for the crime after an exhaustive search in which the local police was criticized by both the media and local politicians. When Harvey begins to have some doubts, his case "Boomerangs".

The story is riveting from start to finish and the style Kazan uses adds even more credibility to it. (Kazan used on location filming a few years later in making "Panic in the Streets" and it was just as effective even though the story was fictional).

The acting is first rate. Supporting Andrews is Arthur Kennedy as the suspect, Lee J Cobb as the chief of police, Sam Levine as a reporter who knows all, and Robert Keith as a political leader (his son Brian, who later became a bigger star than his father, has a bit).

"Boomerang!" is a film made during the time when Hollywood was growing up. It's a provocative story about our judicial system that even when viewed today makes you think. And it's done to perfection

Boy, this can be a frustrating story to watch, but the acting was great with a number of well-known people doing their usual excellent jobs. I'm speaking of actors like Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Dana Andrews, Ed Begley, Sam Lavene, Jane Wyatt, Robert Keith and more.

The story shows how people go about doing things for the wrong reasons. It's tragic when it involves a man's life. Here, an Episcopal priest gets shot in broad daylight in a New England town (Hartford, Conn., I think.) Amazingly, he runs away and is not caught. Soon, with no clues and no suspects, the public is demanding action. A lot of this looks like a bunch of clichés, but it's based on a true story.

It's an election year so you have one party which is desperate to hand over a killer and satisfy the public. You have the opposite party led by a defense team which doesn't care if their man's guilty or not; they just want the guy to go free and make the others look bad. The cops, meanwhile, don't want to keep looking bad so they're anxious to pin something on the first suspect that looks really guilty. This sort of thing goes back-and-forth throughout the film. You know the suspect "John Waldron" (Kennedy) is Innocent so it's frustrating watching him get in deeper and deeper.

You see two extremes. In the "old days" like when this was filmed, a guy could be brought into the police station and has harassed to the point of making a false confession. Where's the lawyer? "Ah, you'll get one later," says a cop. It looks ridiculous to us today. Now, we are used to the opposite where the accused doesn't go anywhere or say anything without a lawyer present. It seems too many guilty men go free today but - in this movie's era and previous to that - too many innocent people were sentenced. Wouldn't it be nice to have a middle ground where justice always prevails? Even more ridiculous is somebody allowed to bring a gun into the courtroom but, once again, it's life 60 years ago.

Also involved in the story is an overzealous press (what else is new?), promises of government posts, a scorned woman lying her butt off, a man who has put all his money into a business project and what happens in the case affects him, and the usual "good guy" who won't sell out his principles. Speaking of that, about at the one-hour remark, we see a quote from the "Lawyer's Code Of Ethics." I had to laugh; I don't know one lawyer who subscribes to that! From the above, you get the gist of the story. I won't say more for fear of spoilers. Suffice to say, it's a wonderfully-acted film with some good direction by some young director named Elia Kazan! If you watch, be prepared to have your blood pressure go up and down. It's a very manipulative movie, but that helps make it interesting.

Very good drama, employing documentary elements, about attorney Homer Cummings' pursuit of justice on behalf of a man wrongly accused of the murder of an episcopalian minister. Cummings went on to become Attorney General of the U.S.

Given the sloppy cases put on by prosecutors today with the only goal in mind being a win, given the intense political influences often in play in bringing cases to trial, Boomerang comes off like a fable about the way justice should work. Harvey, the prosecutor in this case (actually Cummings) refuses to bend to political pressure and rely on sloppy police work to win an indictment in the case of the accused man, beautifully portrayed by Arthur Kennedy.

The interrogation techniques shown in this film were pre-Miranda, but I believe interrogations like this still exist.

Elia Kazan did his usual great job of directing this stark drama and the cast is uniformly excellent: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Kennedy, Ed Begley, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Sam Levene.

Toward the end of the film, Dana Andrews opens a book and reads a quote stating in part that the role of the prosecutor is to see that justice is done. In my experience and observation, it appears that most prosecutors have never read this statement. Maybe that's why Homer Cummings became U.S. attorney general and they haven't.

The young ARTHUR KENNEDY was one of our best dramatic actors and proves it in BOOMERANG! by giving a realistic punch to his performance as an innocent man caught in a murder trap. The only man who can save him is attorney DANA ANDREWS, who does a fine job of pointing out weaknesses in the case and destroying the false witnesses.

One of the best of its kind, it's done in brisk, documentary style popular in the early forties. Well worth viewing, beautifully directed and acted by a fine cast.

Jane Wyatt does a nice job, as does Ed Begley and Sam Levene. Based on a true incident, the murder of a popular parish priest in Connecticut, the film is powerful in its demonstration of our justice system and how it sometimes works, but sometimes fails because of behind the scenes dishonesty related to political shenanigans.

***SPOILERS*** Based on a Richard Oursler article in Readers Digest about the real life murder of popular Catholic priest Father George A. Lambert, Wyrley Brich, Eli Kazan's "Boomerang!" doesn't go into who murdered Father Lambert, the killer was ever apprehended, but in the story of the Innocent man accused of killing him ex-GI and town drifter John Waldron, Arthur Kennedy. With the murder investigation of Father Lambert going nowhere the local Stamford political machine, run by power-broker T.M Wade( Taylor Holmes), goes full-blast in attacking the city administration of reform Mayor Swayze, Walter Greaza,in hopes of getting it's man elected mayor.

The murder of Father Lambert turns out to be a political football between the two warring political parties instead of a police affair and investigation. After Waldron is arrested in Ohio and sent back to Conn. to stand trial State Prosecutor Henry Harvey, Dana Andrews, is put on the case. Waldron mentally pounded for three straight days by the police not allowing him to sleep breaks down and confesses to the Lambart murder making his conviction a forgone conclusion.

As prosecutor Harvey looks closely at the evidence against Waldon he realizes that the man may very well be innocent. If convicted he'll, Harvey, have to live for the rest of his with the thought that he sent a innocent man to his death. Harvey later finds out that a lot is riding on Waldon's conviction and it has nothing to do with the murder of Father Lambart. A non-conviction will effect the re-election chances of Mayor Swayze. Harvey is also running the risk of destroying a promising political career in state politics, he's already being groomed to be the states governor, by getting Waldon off even if he's innocent.

Well paced and honest film about big city politics with a stellar performance by Dana Andrews who didn't let his career ambitions get in the way of his sense of justice. Also in "Boomerang!" is Jane Wyatt as Prosecutor Harvey's wife Madge. Madge was tricked into an under-the-table deal by the city's Commissioner of Public Works Mac McCreery, Ed Begley, McCreery was terrified that if Mayor Swayze didn't get re-elected and agree, as he promised him, to have the city of Stamford buy his real-estate property it would in the and financially ruin McCreery and possibly land Madge behind bars.

Powerful ending sequence in a Stamford courtroom that has all the drama and tension of that of a very good fictitious movie screenplay but in this case all that happened in the movie also happened in real life.

"Boomerang!" features an exceptional cast of actors who might not be pretty but who really knew their craft. Think about it...Dana Andrews, Ed Begley, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Arthur Kennedy and Robert Keith all in one film. You can't help but enjoy watching the film simply so you can get a chance to watch these wonderful but generally unheralded actors exercise their craft. And, with Elia Kazan directing, you can't help but expect excellence.

The film begins with a seemingly senseless murder. A beloved priest is shot in the back of the head, execution-style, on the street of a Connecticut town. The killer, dressed in a trench coat and hat, manages to get away and the town is clamoring for the police to catch him. In fact, the local paper pushes hard, very hard, for the police to act. And, as a result, it seems that the authorities try too hard to catch someone...anyone. The man they eventually catch (Arthur Kennedy) does give an inconsistent story but there really isn't much to connect him to the murder other than several eyewitnesses.

When the District Attorney (Dana Andrews) gets the case, something bothers him. While everyone around him seems pleased about the arrest, he can't get past the fact that the evidence is tenuous--very tenuous. In fact, instead of prosecuting the case as you'd expect, Andrews manages to systematically prove the eyewitnesses were not the least bit reliable. They, too, were in a rush to judgment or had personal reasons to say Kennedy was the killer. And, following his impeachment of the witnesses, he is able to tear apart his own case--proving the defendant could not have been the assailant.

While the idea of a prosecuting attorney working hard in court to DISPROVE his case sounds insane, it is supposedly based on a real case. And it also proves just how horrible eyewitness accounts can be--often VERY unreliable and subject to lots of human error. It has a great point to make AND is quite entertaining and well constructed. Well worth seeing.

Based on a true story, "Boomerang", a taut courtroom drama, directed by Elia Kazan, will not disappoint. The original crime happened in Connecticut and this film was shot in the area as well and adds veracity to it. In a way, "Boomerang" kept reminding us of "12 Angry Men", which came out much later, in that both deal with innocent men that will be punished for crimes they did not commit. It also tells volumes of men like this D.A. who went over to the other side because he strongly believed the man on trial was not guilty and does everything possible to save him from punishment.

The film surprises for the way Mr. Kazan got amazing acting from his cast. Dana Andrews is seen as the District Attorney who sees through the whole thing and realizes the man that is being accused could not have committed the crime he is accused of doing. Mr. Andrews gave one of the best performances of his career. The same could be said of Arthur Kennedy, who was one of the best actors of that era. Mr. Kennedy was at home, both in the theater and on the screen. His take on John Waldron, the man being judged, is one of his best on film.

The supporting cast is excellent. Lee J. Cobb, a prominent figure of his times, is effective as the chief of police totally convinced he's got the man who committed the murder and thinks Waldron must pay for it. Jane Wyatt plays Madge Harvey with conviction. Sam Levene and Ed Begley also do fine work in the film. Cara Williams has a pivotal role in the movie.

Highly recommended for fans of Mr. Kazan.

The real-life unsolved murder of a popular priest in Bridgeport, Connecticut, provides the factual basis for this intriguing crime drama in which political corruption, dubious police practices and outrageous abuses of power, figure strongly. In typical docu-noir style, most of the action is filmed on location with non-professional actors filling the supporting roles and an authoritative newsreel-style narration providing important background information. The overall mood of the piece is rather uneasy and becomes increasingly tense as the stakes get higher and the trial of the prime suspect approaches.

After the brutal murder of Bridgeport's local priest, State Attorney Henry L Harvey (Dana Andrews) and local Police Chief Robbie Robinson (Lee J Cobb) come under immediate pressure to find the culprit and bring him to justice. As the days pass and the police investigation fails to identify a suspect, the criticism from the local newspaper, the public and local politicians becomes increasingly intense. A breakthrough then seems to be made when a man, fitting the description of the killer, is located and brought in for questioning. The circumstantial evidence against unemployed ex-G.I. John Waldron (Arthur Kennedy) seems compelling and so when he provides a confession, the case appears to have been solved. A problem arises however, when Harvey starts to have doubts about Waldron's guilt and realises that if he doesn't forcefully pursue a conviction, he will have to face the opposition of everyone in Bridgeport and also risk his own career in the process.

What becomes most apparent from the situation is that everyone in the locality is so driven by self-interest or a need for revenge that they're totally unconcerned about the pursuit of justice or the fate of the World War 11 veteran who could possibly be innocent. The proprietor of the local newspaper (an opponent of the ruling Reform Party) had accused the police department of incompetence and added fuel to the public's sense of outrage in the early stages of the investigation because an election was looming. Similarly, in order to try to ensure victory at the upcoming election, the Mayor made it clear to Harvey that a conviction would make it a certainty that he'd achieve his long-held ambition to become the State Governor.

Another Reform Party official, Paul Harris (Ed Begley), is the owner of a company that owns some land which the current administration is due to purchase for the creation of a recreation area. If his party don't get re-elected, he knows the project will be abandoned and he will be financially ruined. He therefore puts pressure on Harvey to smooth the Party's way back into power by getting a conviction and adds that if Harvey doesn't comply, he will expose the fact that Harvey's wife Madge (Jane Wyatt) had lent him some money for the project and make her appear to be corrupt.

When the police interviewed Waldron, they denied him access to a lawyer and after considering beating a confession out of him went on to achieve their objective by using sleep deprivation instead. The public need for revenge had become so intense that they'd moved into lynch-mob mode and the various witnesses in the case also became willing to perjure themselves in order to ensure that someone paid heavily for the death of the priest.

The movie's opening narration emphasises how typical Bridgeport is of towns all over the United States and no doubt, this must've provided some food for thought amongst audiences at the time of the movie's original release. "Boomerang!" is an intelligent movie that's well made and contains an array of fine performances, most notably by Lee J Cobb, Arthur Kennedy and Dana Andrews who looks convincingly stoical as he tries to ensure that justice is done in extremely difficult circumstances.

Boomerang is directed by Elia Kazan, based on a story written by Fulton Oursler (Anthony Abbot), with the screenplay written by Richard Murphy. It stars Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Ed Begley & Karl Malden. Plot is based around a true story, a case that even today remains unsolved, where a priest was shot and murdered in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1924. A vagrant and ex-serviceman (here played by Kennedy) was indicted for the murder. The evidence at first glance seemed solid, but the state attorney (Andrews here) on prosecution duties wasn't convinced and set about deconstructing the evidence. Much to the shock of his superiors and others with vested interests.

Gripping melodrama told in semi-documentary style and filmed on location in Stamford, Connecticut (Kazan was refused permission to actually film in Bridgeport). As a crime story it's as solid as it gets, dripping with realism and filling out the plot with may notable points of reference. Political pressures, police procedural, corruption, unstable witnesses, bitter dames and of course an innocent man on trial for his life (we know the latter since it's based on facts and Kazan lets us in on it early on). It's all in there for a taut, suspenseful and noirishly well told story. The acting is top dollar, both from the leads and an impressive supporting cast. While even tho more time should have been afforded the "dodgy dealings" aspects, it slots into place nicely enough to still leave us splendidly agitated at the no resolution outcome. It's all in the build up and execution. 7/10

In a small town in Connecticut, Father Lambert is a pillar of the community and, when a man shoots him dead and runs off the shockwaves are felt far and deep. The political pressure is on when the "people" start appealing to the Mayor to catch the man responsible. As always, the sh*t rolls downhill and State's Attorney Henry Harvey finds himself with a few weeks to avoid taking the blame for the failure to bring someone in. When the police bring back John Waldron from Ohio they break him and he signs a confession. Harvey prepares a strong case despite Waldron maintaining his innocence, meanwhile the political games around the case build.

Based on a true story, this film opens with a narration that "this could happen anywhere" etc in the way that films used to often do. Regardless of where it happened the story is still good. On one level this film is about the murder and it follows the court case of the man charged with the murder. This is interesting for the majority without ever really catching fire but the final 20 minutes in court provide one good scene (maybe not the famous court scene from JFK but it is still engaging to watch Harvey ripping his own case down from the top. Intertwined with this is an enjoyable criticism of political manoeuvring within the idea of "justice"; it isn't as sharp as I would have liked but I was surprised that it was there at all considering the period.

The cast are mostly good but it is Andrews that runs things here. He is a slow starter but he convinces when in a moral mire and works well as he pulls out the stops to producing a zippy and engaging conclusion. Aside from him no other performance really stands out that well – Begley is particularly disappointing as the material deserved more than he delivered. The cast does feature some famous faces including Cobb, Malden and Levene but it is Andrews show as he leads it well.

Overall a good film from Kazan with a solid case at the core while also having enjoyable threads about political game playing (which in fairness was probably stronger than I thought, but I've been into The Wire recently so in this area everything pales by comparison).

Boomerang! (1947) has a number of interesting connections to Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning Death of a Salesman on Broadway. Elia Kazan, Boomerang!'s director, also directed Miller's All My Sons on Broadway the same year the film was released.

Less than two years after Boomerang!, Kazan began casting and directing Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, which began rehearsals in the fall of 1948 and opened on Broadway on February 10, 1949. Death of a Salesman was written in the spring of 1948, and Kazan was on board to direct it soon after.

1949's Death of a Salesman on Broadway starred Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman and Arthur Kennedy as his son, Biff. In Boomerang! (1947), Lee Cobb portrays Chief Robinson and Arthur Kennedy plays the murder suspect, John Waldron.

Of course, Arthur Miller also makes his film "debut" in Boomerang! He's the line-up suspect who towers over the policeman. Don't blink or you'll miss him. Miller would not "act" in a film again until 1974, in a film titled The Rehearsal.

Interestingly, Miller originally wrote the part of Willy Loman as a small man, a la Dustin Hoffman, not a hulking one like Lee J. Cobb, or, more recently, Brian Dennehy. So Kazan opted to cast Lee Cobb in Death of a Salesman based on his work with the actor on Boomerang!, and against Miller's original conception of Willy Loman. At one point in the play/movie, for example, Willy tells his wife about a buyer who slandered him. In the original version, Miller wrote the slur as "shrimp." After Kazan cast Lee J. Cobb in the play, the put-down was changed to "walrus."

History is loaded with homicides that never were solved, some of which have become part of global history (such as the 1888 Whitechapel or "Jack the Ripper" Murders, or the 1892 Fall River or "Lizzie Borden Case). The murder in Bridgeport, Connecticut of Father Dahlme in 1924 is a relatively forgotten case, except it was made into this film that was an early directing experience of Elia Kazan. Starring Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Ed Begley Jr., Robert Keith, Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Karl Malden, Philip Coolidge, Cara Williams, the film was a "B" feature that was lucky enough to have top character actors and even some filming in Connecticut (but not Bridgeport - actually it was shot in Stamford).

Father Dahme was a popular figure in Bridgeport who was shot on the main street while lighting his pipe on a dark night. But there were at least half-a-dozen witnesses to the shooting. Unfortuntately the killer wore a dark coat and light hat (which many American males had as parts of their wardrobes) and evaded capture quickly. Pressure was put on the local government to find the killer (the political issue deals with the new "reform" party being confronted by the outed old party - represented by newspaper owner Taylor Holmes - is well handled in the film). Finally a suspect, an unemployed war veteran (Kennedy), is arrested in Ohio. A trail of circumstantial evidence seems strong enough to bring charges against Kennedy, completed by the so-called confession (signed) that he gave them.

The case is presented to the State Attorney (Andrews), but he is noticing how weak the individual links are. With the use of his staff and friends he tests out various points, and finds that while the witnesses in most cases are probably honest in their testimony (one exception is Cara Williams, who has a grudge against Kennedy), they might be mistaken. So is some more important ballistics tests.

Andrews proceeds to surprise everyone by pulling the rug out of his case. The Judge warns him about disbarment and possible trial for malfeasance in office. Chief of Detectives Cobb is furious that his men are being considered forcing that confession. And banker-politician Begley turns out to show a sneaky and vicious streak demanding Andrews change back to prosecuting Kennedy for his own reasons.

It is an exciting story, and follows the main points of the mystery correctly. This is understandable because the screenplay was based on an article in "Reader's Digest" the previous year by "Anthony Abbott" (Fulton Oursler) the creator of the "Thatcher Colt" mysteries, which were popular in the 1930s (several of which were turned into films, such as THE PRESIDENT'S MYSTERY PLOT). The result is Kennedy is released from prison, and while the film admits some people in Bridgeport believe he was guilty, two other suspects (both of whom die violently in different ways) are shown as potential alternate perpetrators.*

The odd performance of the prosecutor turned out to demonstrate his integrity to the public. It was Homer Cummings, a Democrat from Connecticut who was former Democratic National Chairman, and who (from 1933 - 1939) was Attorney General of the U.S. under Franklin Roosevelt. This is quite a fascinating conclusion to the film (and to history) but not so unusual. The Massachusetts prosecutor of Lizzie Borden was William H. Moody, who would end up Attorney General of the U.S. and later a U.S. Supreme Court Justice under Theodore Roosevelt (Lizzie, by the way, sent him a letter of congratulations!).

Altogether a well-done "B" feature, and one with point as a civics lesson. In fact, with it's view of just what should be expected from our public prosecutors seeking true justice, BOOMERANG makes a nice companion film to TWELVE ANGRY MEN, which looked at what to really expect from our juries.

(*If you check the WIKIPEDIA article on "Homer Cummings" you will find that the suspect who was the basis of Arthur Kennedy's character died in 1961. Apparently nothing criminal was associated with him afterward.)

Boomerang raises questions as fresh as today's headlines. In a death penalty case, how carefully do we examine guilt and innocence -- and how much can we rely on the testimony of witnesses? When we're anxious to see a murder case closed, do we really care whether the accused is guilty, or whether the wrong man might be executed?

This fact-based film is set in a small town. The characters include a murdered priest, a slew of law-abiding eye witnesses, a bright young prosecutor, a police chief anxious to declare that the streets are safe and a stranger without friends or an alibi.

When what first appears to be an open and closed case soon shows cracks, the prosecutor is torn between his ambitions, his loyalties and his morals. An excellent cast and skillful writing overcome Boomerang's slow, deliberate pace.

Great old story. Film noir at its best and most compelling.

They don't tell them this well anymore. America may have grown up since then, but not enough to supercede this level of excellence.

Dana Andrews, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden and Ed Begley are all wonderful here.

Another great notch in Elia Kazan's belt.

As dusk settles on a small Connecticut city someone approaches a well-liked priest who is out for a walk and shoots him in the head.The act of violence occurs as the city is under the leadership of a reform city government which comes under fire from the local press for ineptitude for not arresting someone right away. When they do, of course it's the wrong guy, a World War 2 veteran of the Pacific campaign, sort of a drifter looking for a new start. Dana Andrews plays the prosecutor who resists a strong current of opinion that this guy must be convicted in order to project the right image whether or not he's actually guilty. His wife is played by Jane Wyatt in a pretty good role, but the actual stars of this well-done courtroom drama are the ones who play the eye-witnesses and Andrews himself, who is stellar, as usual. The actors and script by Richard Murphy mesh well together, each side brings out the best in the other, thanks most likely to Elia Kazan the director. For a ninety minute film it contains quite a bit of well-drawn out angles.

From the Fox Film Noir collection. Directed by Elia Kazan BOOMERANG is a well written and interesting courtroom drama. Based on a true story, a beloved priest is murdered in front of numerous witnesses. It seems to be a cut and dried case. John Waldron(Arthur Kennedy)fits the description according to eye witnesses. Chief Robinson(Lee J. Cobb)feels the lengthy manhunt has produced the right man. The State's Attorney Henry Harvey(Dana Andrews)is given the job to prosecute; but after digging deep into the evidence he isn't so sure that Walron committed the murder at all. The courtroom is chaotic when Harvey starts tearing apart witnessed testimony. City and state politicians are eager to have a conviction, but will there be one? Andrews fits the role like a glove. Cobb is at his best. The star studded cast is rounded out by: Jane Wyatt, Sam Levene, Cara Williams and Ed Begley Sr.

A beloved Protestant Episcopal minister, Father George Lambert (Wyrley Birch), is shot to death at night while lighting his pipe on a city street. A man in a white hat and a dark trench coat runs away. In brief flashback we see several kooks who may be the murderer. After many days there is no break in the case as the political pressure intensifies and the local citizen's committee demands action. State Attorney Henry Harvey (Dana Andrews) and Police Chief Robbie Robinson (Lee J. Cobb) feel the heat. Police Commissioner James (Ben Lackland) perturbs Robinson, who threatens to quit. There are also those politicians who want Harvey to look badly. Trying to ridicule the reform administration currently in power, the local newspaper ("Morning Record") screams a headline: "Report Police Dept. Under Fire From State House." The same newspaper runs editorial cartoons about the blind leading the blind.

Finally a vagrant who possibly matches a sketchy description is picked up in Ohio and extradited to Connecticut. He is identified in a police line-up by several witnesses. Under an intense and grueling two-day interrogation by such folks as Detective Lt. White (Karl Malden), the man (John Waldron = Arthur Kennedy) cracks and confesses to the crime. Ballistics tests say that the bullet lodged in Father Lambert's brain came from Waldron's handgun. It appears to be an open and shut case.

But when Harvey speaks to Waldron behind bars, he begins to have doubts about Waldron's guilt, even though the suspect is angry and unstable (and, as we have seen, had an altercation with the priest earlier). Harvey remembers the Lawyers' Code of Ethics that justice is more important than conviction. Consequently, at the indictment hearing, although the state attorney lays out a course that appears leading to a deposition of guilt, Harvey in fact states that the suspect is innocent ("nolle prosequi"). The courtroom erupts, immeasurably displeasing the judge, who is also unhappy with Harvey, as is Robinson. The judge, believing that Harvey is being pressured by political chicanery, warns about possible malfeasance and disbarment. Harvey is risking his reputation.

There is another angle. Paul Harris (Ed Begley) wants a conviction so that his party will be assured of an election victory. Harris owns the Sunset Realty Company, which is trying to sell ten acres of land to the city for the charitable Project for Recreational Center (for children). If his party does not win the election, the city will not approve of the purchase and Harris will be financially ruined. Complicating matters is that Harvey's dutiful (and attractive) wife, Madge (Jane Wyatt) is an altruistic volunteer Chairman of the Project. Although she is not privy to the schemes of Harris, he threatens to implicate her; it will look bad in the newspapers. Harris even pulls out a handgun and threatens Harvey (Yikes, only in Hollywood!).

On the second day of the indictment session, Harvey requests that he call in witnesses, not prohibited but unusual. He shows the inconsistencies of the statements of the witnesses, with at least one with an agenda. Harvey also demonstrates that the police ballistics testing was incorrect. Seeing his ruin, Harris takes out his handgun and commits suicide. Case dismissed. The newspaper reads: "Waldron Freed" and "Harvey Exonerates Murder Suspect." Meanwhile a possible suspect perishes in an automobile crash. By the way, the case was never solved.

The movie was based upon the murder of a popular Catholic priest (not a Protestant minister), Father Hubert Dahme, in 1924 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. That case too was never solved. As Bridgeport would not cooperate with filming, the movie was shot in nearby Stamford. It is interesting to note that the state attorney (Homer Cummings, a Democrat) on that case became the nation's attorney general in the Roosevelt Administration.

Ably directed by Elia Kazan, this realistic and hard-hitting drama is one of the best films of the year. Dana Andrews, an intense actor, stars as a lawman with a deep conscience. Jane Wyatt, whose career began in the 1930s, would later star (as Margaret Anderson) with Robert Young in the popular "Father Knows Best" TV series (1954-1960). Top portrayals were also delivered by proved performers Arthur Kennedy, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, and Karl Malden.