Boomerang! (1947 film)
| Boomerang! | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Elia Kazan |
| Produced by | Louis De Rochemont |
| Screenplay by | Richard Murphy |
| Story by | Fulton Oursler |
| Based on |
The Perfect Case 1945 article in The Reader's Digest by Anthony Abbot |
| Starring |
Dana Andrews Jane Wyatt Lee J. Cobb |
| Narrated by | Reed Hadley |
| Music by | David Buttolph |
| Cinematography | Norbert Brodine |
| Edited by | Harmon Jones |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.14 million |
| Box office | $2.25 million (rentals) |
Boomerang! is a 1947 American crime film noir based on the true story of a vagrant who was accused of murder, only to be found not guilty through the efforts of the prosecutor. It stars Dana Andrews, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Arthur Kennedy and Jane Wyatt.
The film was directed by Elia Kazan, based on a story (written by Fulton Oursler, credited as "Anthony Abbot") in Reader's Digest and was shot largely in Stamford, Connecticut after Kazan was denied permission to film in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the actual events occurred. This semidocumentary also contains voice-overs by Reed Hadley. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.
Father Lambert (Wyrley Birch), a priest, is shot dead on a Bridgeport, Connecticut street at night. The police, led by Chief Robinson (Lee J. Cobb), fail to immediately find the murderer. It soon becomes a political hot potato, with the police accused of incompetence, and the city's reform-minded administration comes under attack. Robinson and the prosecutor Henry Harvey (Dana Andrews) come under severe pressure by political leaders to find the killer or bring in outside help.
After strenuous efforts yield nothing, a vagrant ex-serviceman, John Waldron (Arthur Kennedy), is apprehended and identified in a lineup. He is interrogated for two days by police until, deprived of sleep, he confesses. The evidence seems solid, and a gun in his possession is believed to be the gun that was used in the shooting.
Harvey, however, is not convinced. He questions Waldron, investigates the evidence and the witnesses. Harvey then risks his reputation and incurs the wrath of the police and the public in proposing that the defendant is innocent, while he and his wife (Jane Wyatt) are also being threatened by a businessman named Harris (Ed Begley). In court, even though he is the prosecutor, Harvey lays out the flaws in the case before the judge, and indicates he intends to dismiss the charges. The judge suspects Harvey's motives; Harvey's relationship with Chief Robinson is strained; and a mob unsuccessfully attempts to impose their own justice on Waldron.
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