(1947)

Starring Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Ed Begley; dir: Elia Kazan

Directed with vigour by Elia Kazan (best known for On The Waterfront), Boomerang tells the story of a (probably) innocent drifter, played by Arthur Kennedy - looking suitably angry and confused - who becomes the focus of a small town’s need to avenge a callous murder, even at the cost of Justice.

We see the story partially through the eyes of newspaperman Dave Woods (Sam Levene) as he limns the moral trajectory with both a subversive wit and the wisdom to see around corners (as when he spots banker Ed Begley’s car outside a nighttime meeting with Dana Andrews, the politically ambitious D.A.).

Boomerang sports an early appearance by an uncredited Karl Malden, while Lee J.Cobb brings his characteristic gruff authority to the role of the investigating cop. There’s a satisfyingly realistic ambiguity to all the characters here, none staying stuck in too-easy cliché, all alive to the shifting perception of the narrative and its ensuing compromises.

Unfortunately Boomerang’s gimmicky courtroom climax nearly tips the film into Perry Mason territory, an association reinforced by Dana Andrews’ steady unpicking of the threads of the prosecution’s case. But it’s Kazan’s background establishing of the town’s injustices being driven by media manipulation, greed amongst its powerbrokers and lust for political prizes that justify Boomerang’s enduring high reputation.

Kazan himself, after Boomerang, recognised the relative tentativeness of his approach in this film: "Actually civic corruption is much more widespread. It is much more complex and I know that now". In his much punchier, no-holds-barred A Face In The Crowd (1957) Kazan revisited the anatomy of corruption on a broad canvas that stretched from rural backwaters all the way to the White House. Its Reaganesque model of political cynicism and pseudo-folk hero opportunism remains startlingly prescient - Andy Griffith then bearing a spooky resemblance to George W.Bush now.

Boomerang (I don’t understand the title either) was always notable for its based-on-a-true-story claim to verisimilitude. Producer Louis de Rochemont (of March of Time newsreel fame) drove this point home through using not just a neighboring small town to Boomerang’s actual setting in which to shoot it, but some local citizens in minor roles as well.

Even though the film let’s us in on its preferred candidate for a guilty verdict, Boomerang’s unexpectedly ambivalent conclusions help ensure it is remembered as a refreshing cinema experience decades later.