TCM Pick O' The Day: Monday, February 16th

9am PST – Boomerang (1947) – A prosecutor fights to prove the defendant in a scandalous murder case is innocent. Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Cara Williams Dir: Elia Kazan BW-88 mins, TV-PG

Here’s a treat for you. Elia Kazan directs this tough, little tightly-paced (88 mins!) hickory knot of a docu-drama starring The Mighty Dana Andrews and just as Mighty Arthur Kennedy. No time is wasted in getting to it. The story opens in broad daylight on a busy street and before you can say, “What a lovely little town,” a Priest has his brains blown out and the manhunt is on. Kennedy, at his sneering, contemptuous best, confesses and is prosecuted by State’s Attorney Henry Harvey (Andrews), but something’s amiss and soon, all instincts for what’s good for him to the contrary, Harvey finds himself in the awkward position of having to prove the man’s innocence.

Purely by coincidence, just last night over dinner, I was discussing this with a friend of mine who had just seen it for the first time. While I love it, he only liked it, but when I mentioned it was better than all but a handful of films released over the last five years that gave us both pause. What a sad truth that a 60 year old courtroom drama most people have never even heard of is vastly superior to 90% of the swill thrown at us today.

Those of you who don’t have the Fox Movie Channel should pay special attention. Because today’s pick is a 20th Century-Fox production, TCM doesn’t play it all that often.

Dana Andrews is a very, very special actor. Just a few months a go I wrote a short tribute to him. He deserves to stand with the giants of his generation, but for whatever reason is overlooked. To program his name into your DVR is to discover an actor who brought an emotional depth to stillness unlike than any other. His work in “Laura” or “Where the Sidewalk Ends” should be included in any respectable list of top screen performances.