Fans of the “Law and Order” television dramas will undoubtedly find Boomerang!  (1947) dated in terms of its investigatory procedures, yet Elia Kazan’s film provided the blueprint for the series half a century earlier.

When a beloved priest is murdered in a Connecticut town the citizenry demands action.  A man (Arthur Kennedy) is found who fits the description and who cannot provide an alibi.  The case seems airtight, but the town’s prosecuting attorney (Dana Andrews) begins to doubt the man’s guilt, and at the preliminary hearing astonishes the townsfolk by prosecuting the case differently than they expect.

Kazan’s movie is fast-paced drama with a host of excellent actors (Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Ed Begley, Jane Wyatt, Sam Levene, Robert Keith, etc.) to contribute dramatic weight.  The story constructs a strong case against Kennedy, then ably demonstrates just how easily evidence can be manipulated, misread or simply ignored during a rush to justice.  It can be read as an indictment of poor police methodology, but I believe its primary purpose is to depict the fragile balance inherent in our system of justice, to emphasize that care must be taken by all persons involved in such legal cases, and that guilt and innocence are often illusory perceptions.

In an era where the majority of police and crime dramas were straightforward chronicles of criminals on the rampage finally brought to justice through dogged police work, Boomerang! is a timely and relevant reminder that true justice is never expedient, but instead requires diligence, fair-mindedness and a belief that innocence is, occasionally, the reality.  My rating:  ✰ ✰ ✰.  (8:3).