Boomerang (1947 film)
Encyclopedia
Boomerang! is a 1947 film based on the true story of a vagrant who was accused of murder, only to be found innocent through the efforts of the prosecutor. 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
.
After strenuous efforts yield nothing, a vagrant ex-serviceman, John Waldron (Kennedy) is apprehended. He is interrogated for hours 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 investigates the evidence and the witnesses, and lays out the case before the judge. The charges are dismissed.
in 1924. While walking near the Lyric Theatre in downtown Bridgeport, the Rev. Hubert Dahme ("Father George Lambert" in the film) was fatally shot behind the left ear by a gun fired at close range. Those in the theatre were so shocked that no one thought to call for an ambulance until 10 minutes had passed. Two hours later, the priest was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport. A vagrant and discharged soldier, Harold Israel
, was indicted for the murder. Israel confessed to the crime, and a .32 revolver was found in his possession that police believe was used in the murder. Fairfield County, Connecticut
state's attorney Homer Cummings conducted a thorough investigation and found Israel innocent of the crime. Cummings (named "Henry Harvey" in the film) later became Attorney General
of the United States
under Franklin D. Roosevelt
. The Morning Record was the name used in the film for the Bridgeport Post (now the Connecticut Post
).
, except for the courtroom scene shot in White Plains, New York
.
Stamford locations:
The movie premiered at the Palace Theatre in Stamford on March 5, 1947, with Kazan and Andrews in attendance. (Kazan later filmed Gentleman's Agreement
which takes place in Darien, Connecticut
, adjacent to Stamford, and which also included the actress Jane Wyatt.)
discussed the filmmaking, writing the "...style of presentation has resulted in a drama of rare clarity and punch."
The staff at Variety
gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Boomerang! is gripping, real-life melodrama, told in semi-documentary style. Lensing was done on location at Stamford, Conn, the locale adding to realism. Based on a still unsolved murder case in Bridgeport, Conn, plot is backed up with strong cast...All the leads have the stamp of authenticities. The dialog and situations further the factual technique. Lee J. Cobb shows up strongly as chief detective, harassed by press and politicians alike while trying to carry out his duties. Arthur Kennedy is great as the law's suspect."
Nominations
with Dana Andrews and Jane Wyatt, on the January 14, 1949 broadcast of the Ford Theatre
with Dana Andrews and lastly, on Hollywood Sound Stage with Tyrone Power
and Jane Wyatt
on February 28, 1952.
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
, based on a story (written by Fulton Oursler
Fulton Oursler
Charles Fulton Oursler was an American journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot, he was an notable author of mysteries and detective fiction.-Life:...
, credited as "Anthony Abbot") in Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
and was shot largely in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
after Kazan was denied permission to film in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, where the actual events occurred. This semidocumentary
Semidocumentary
Semidocumentary is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary...
also contains voice-overs by Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley was an American movie, television and radio actor.Reed Hadley was born Reed Herring in Petrolia in Clay County near Wichita Falls, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one sister, Bess Brenner. He was reared in Buffalo, New York...
. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival
1947 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :The entire jury at this festival were French.*Georges Huisman *Raymond Borderie *Georges Carriere *Chosson *Joseph Dotti *Escoute *Jean Grémillon...
.
Cast
- Dana AndrewsDana AndrewsDana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
as State's Atty. Henry L. Harvey (the name used for the Homer Cummings character) - Jane WyattJane WyattJane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...
as Madge Harvey - Lee J. CobbLee J. CobbLee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
as Chief Harold F. (Robbie) Robinson - Cara WilliamsCara WilliamsCara Williams is an American film and television actress.-Biography:Born as Bernice Kamiat to an Austrian emigrant father and a mother of Romanian descent, she began her screen acting career in 1941, and was initially billed as Bernice Kay...
as Irene Nelson (Waitress at Coney Island Cafe) - Arthur KennedyArthur Kennedy (actor)Arthur Kennedy was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage" especially in the original casts of Arthur Miller plays on Broadway.- Early life and education :Kennedy was born John...
as John Waldron (murder suspect) - Sam LeveneSam LeveneSam Levene was an American Broadway and film actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1927 with five lines in a play titled Wall Street, and over a span of nearly 50 years, appeared on Broadway in 37 Shows, of which 33 were the original Broadway Productions, many now considered legendary...
as Dave Woods (reporter, 'Morning Record') - Taylor HolmesTaylor HolmesTaylor Holmes was an actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his film roles, which he began in silent movies in 1917. By the 1940s, he was working more on film than on stage...
as T.M. Wade ('Morning Record' publisher) - Robert Keith as Mac McCreery
- Ed BegleyEd BegleyEdward James Begley, Sr. was an Academy Award-winning American actor.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year. He later acted in...
as Paul Harris - Karl MaldenKarl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
as Det. Lt. White - Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
as a suspect in the police line-up (uncredited)
Plot
As the film begins, a priest is shot dead on a Bridgeport, Connecticut public street at night. The police, led by Chief Robinson (Cobb) fail to immediately find the murderer. It soon becomes a political football, with the police accused of incompetence, and the city's reform-minded administration comes under attack. Robinson and the prosecutor Henry Harvey (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 (Kennedy) is apprehended. He is interrogated for hours 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 investigates the evidence and the witnesses, and lays out the case before the judge. The charges are dismissed.
Factual basis
The film is based on an actual murder case in Bridgeport, ConnecticutBridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
in 1924. While walking near the Lyric Theatre in downtown Bridgeport, the Rev. Hubert Dahme ("Father George Lambert" in the film) was fatally shot behind the left ear by a gun fired at close range. Those in the theatre were so shocked that no one thought to call for an ambulance until 10 minutes had passed. Two hours later, the priest was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport. A vagrant and discharged soldier, Harold Israel
Harold Israel
Harold Israel was a defendant wrongly accused of murdering a priest in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1924. The charges against Israel were dismissed by the prosecutor, Homer Stille Cummings, who later became Attorney General of the United States....
, was indicted for the murder. Israel confessed to the crime, and a .32 revolver was found in his possession that police believe was used in the murder. Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
state's attorney Homer Cummings conducted a thorough investigation and found Israel innocent of the crime. Cummings (named "Henry Harvey" in the film) later became Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
under Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. The Morning Record was the name used in the film for the Bridgeport Post (now the Connecticut Post
Connecticut Post
The Connecticut Post is a daily newspaper located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It serves the greater Bridgeport area, Fairfield County, and the Lower Naugatuck Valley. Municipalities in the Post's circulation area include Bridgeport, Ansonia,...
).
Filming locations
Almost all of the film was shot in Stamford, ConnecticutStamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, except for the courtroom scene shot in White Plains, New York
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
.
Stamford locations:
- The South End of StamfordSouth End of StamfordThe South End of Stamford, Connecticut is a rapidly growing neighborhood located at the southern end of the city, just south of the Downtown neighborhood. It is expected to be greatly changed with redevelopment over the next decade...
, particularly at Saint Luke's Chapel. - Old Town Hall, particularly the Police Department offices and the stairway leading up from them to the courtroom.
- The Altschul home on Den Road in Stamford (for a meeting of leading citizens).
- For a scene in which a pastor was killed, the movie used the front and sidewalk of the Plaza Theatre, which stood on Greyrock Place (a driveway leading into the Stamford Town CenterStamford Town CenterStamford Town Center is an urban shopping mall in Downtown Stamford, Connecticut. The mall is the eighth largest in Connecticut, with space for about 130 stores and restaurants. It includes a Macy's and a Saks Fifth Avenue as anchors. The 1991 picture, Scenes from a Mall, was partially filmed...
Mall is at that location now). - The former offices of The AdvocateThe Advocate (Stamford)The Advocate is a seven-day daily newspaper based in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. The paper shares a publisher and editor with the Greenwich Time; both are owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues.The Advocate circulates...
of Stamford, the local daily newspaper, on Atlantic Street. Some members of the Advocate editorial staff members were used in a scene about the news breaking that the priest killer had been caught.
The movie premiered at the Palace Theatre in Stamford on March 5, 1947, with Kazan and Andrews in attendance. (Kazan later filmed Gentleman's Agreement
Gentleman's Agreement
Gentleman's Agreement is a 1947 drama film about a journalist who goes undercover as a Jew to conduct research for an exposé on antisemitism in New York City and the affluent community of Darien, Connecticut...
which takes place in Darien, Connecticut
Darien, Connecticut
Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut's "Gold Coast", the population was 20,732 at the 2010 census. Darien was listed at #9 at CNN Money's list of "top-earning towns" in the United States as of 2011...
, adjacent to Stamford, and which also included the actress Jane Wyatt.)
Critical response
When first released film critic Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
discussed the filmmaking, writing the "...style of presentation has resulted in a drama of rare clarity and punch."
The staff at Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Boomerang! is gripping, real-life melodrama, told in semi-documentary style. Lensing was done on location at Stamford, Conn, the locale adding to realism. Based on a still unsolved murder case in Bridgeport, Conn, plot is backed up with strong cast...All the leads have the stamp of authenticities. The dialog and situations further the factual technique. Lee J. Cobb shows up strongly as chief detective, harassed by press and politicians alike while trying to carry out his duties. Arthur Kennedy is great as the law's suspect."
Awards
Wins- National Board of Review: NBR Award, Best Director, Elia Kazan; 1947.
- New York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
: NYFCC Award Best Director, Elia Kazan; 1947.
Nominations
- Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Oscar, Best Writing, Screenplay, Richard Murphy; 1947.
Adaptations to other media
Boomerang was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the November 10, 1947 broadcast of the Screen Guild TheaterThe Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.The show had a long run, lasting...
with Dana Andrews and Jane Wyatt, on the January 14, 1949 broadcast of the Ford Theatre
Ford Theatre
Ford Theatre was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts...
with Dana Andrews and lastly, on Hollywood Sound Stage with Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
and Jane Wyatt
Jane Wyatt
Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...
on February 28, 1952.