Elia Kazan (director)
Eureka! (studio)
88min (length)
01 June 2014 (released)
01 July 2014
In this suspenseful film noir from 1947, the true and chilling story of a priest’s murder is adapted by director Elia Kazan and boasts impactful performances by 1940’s US stalwarts Dana Andrews, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. Boomerang! garnered various national awards and also marked one of the early Hollywood entries into the Cannes Film Festival.
When much loved Father Lambert (Wyrley Birch) is shot dead one night on the streets in Connecticut, the community is shocked. Not only because the murder is particularly brutal (the priest is shot in back of the head execution style), but because no one can see any reason as to why such a popular man should fall victim to such cowardly deed. What follows is a brief flashback that shows two possible suspects in conversation with the priest prior to his death, though only one man – jobless drifter John Waldron (Arthur Kennedy) - becomes the main suspect. Several witnesses claim to have seen him on the street when the priest was murdered, especially foxy waitress Irene Nelson (Cara Williams) seems to have an agenda of her own to see Wladon go to prison. When a gun that shot the fatal bullet in the night of the murder is found in Waldron’s pocket his fate seems sealed.
The truth, however, is somewhat different. Both the public and the press demand the murder is found double-quick, but when that does not happen the police is deemed incompetent. Unfortunately for Waldron, he is made the scapegoat and virtually bullied by police chief Robinson (Lee J. Cobb) and his men to sign a confession. Only state attorney Henry Harvey (Dana Andrews) had doubts about Waldron’s guilt, and during the court case tries hard to prove the ‘evidence’ as flawed. That’s easier said than done, as Harvey’s reluctance to believe in Waldron’s guilt not only outrages the public but also various political highflyers and corruption inside the police department he takes on in the process – resulting in him getting blackmailed. When journalist Dave Woods (Sam Levene) gets wind of the foul play involved and exposes property businessman Harris (Ed Begley) to be the blackmailer, Harris commits suicide in court. Meanwhile, Harvey is successful in convincing the judge that Waldron cannot be the murderer, and the suspect is released. In the film as in reality, the true murderer was never found, but a flashback sequence in which a mentally disturbed man protests when Father Lambert advises he seek professional help. The same man is seen, with a nervous expression on his face, during the court case. After Waldron has been acquitted, the same man makes news a few days after as his was involved in a car crash. These details hint that the disturbed man could have been the real murderer. Finally, it is also revealed that Connecticut state attorney Henry Harvey was Homer Cummings in real life, and that Cummings went on to become Attorney General of the United States under President Roosevelt.
This gripping docu-style melodrama is, as part of Eureka’s ‘Masters Of Cinema’ series, for the first time ever on Blu-ray, in a special dual format edition which has the following extras: an interesting interview/docu about the life and career of director Elia Kazan, plus a 36-page booklet with new essays and vintage interview material.