Boomerang! [HD]

Goes on Sale Again September 2!
Update!! It's in stock and for sale at Amazon Canada at CDN $16.99. Maybe Amazon U.S. can't get this disk. (limited release?)

(I have tried to ask customer service twice why this DVD is not listed. It is listed on Amazon Canada as a pre-order.) This DVD was released once before but it was withdrawn from sale soon after. It is based on a true story-a drifter(who is not guilty)is arrested and charged with the murder of a respected citizen in a small town. This nightmarish scenario is handled wonderfully well in a semi-documentary style by the director Elia Kazan. Dana Andrews gives another excellent noir performance.

Part of the flowering of post war films
Dana Andrews had just appeared in the acclaimed Best Days of Our Lives, when Director Elia Kazan lured him to do this film. It is a fine piece of work as Dana Andrews plays a moral man in a political and moral quagmire of an ordinary American town. The documentary style was often repeated, but Kazan got it right first time.

It is a feast of fine acting with the camera moving from one small story to another. There are so many good actors in this film, but Lee J. Cobb delivers the best as the old time police officer.

This film was made just before the HUAC investigation of Hollywood which drove out social criticism of American life. It is an example of where Hollywood was going before the investigation strangled the life from Hollywood. The Best Days of Our Lives was another example of this type of film. It is direct and honest.

The choice of ending where it is not made clear about the killer makes it all the more interesting. I have no idea why this film is not readily available...

A killing in a small town
Elia Kazan's third directing effort was "Boomerang!" - a solid murder drama that explores the sometimes polluting effect that politics exerts on the legal system. In a small town, a beloved pastor is murdered in the street, shocking the local residents. Dana Andrews plays the prosecuting lawyer trying the case: clearly the biggest assignment of his career. A shifty ex-serviceman (the talented Arthur Kennedy) is indicted and appears unquestionably guilty. But is he? Everyone involved in the case seems to have an ulterior motive, and Andrews' character is determined to see justice prevail. The Oscar-nominated story was inspired by a true case; Andrews portrays Homer S. Cummings, who later became U.S. Attorney General in the FRD administration.

Despite being a satisfying crime drama, "Boomerang!" is a relatively neglected film, especially among Kazan's outstanding canon. Why has it been ignored? All aspects of the film essentially are good to very good, including the...

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