The Sound of Fury is better known by its general release title, Try and Get Me. Based on Jo Pagano's novel
The Condemned, the film recreates a dismal chapter in American history. In 1933, the otherwise peace-loving citizens of San Jose, CA, were stirred up by blind hatred into forming a mob and lynching two accused kidnappers (this same incident was fictionalized in the 1935
Fritz Lang film
Fury).
Frank Lovejoy and
Lloyd Bridges play a couple of down-and-outers who kidnap a wealthy youngster in hopes of getting a huge ransom. Things go terribly wrong, and the boy is killed. When the two kidnappers are arrested, a local journalist (
Richard Carlson) inflames the populace with a series of hate-filled articles about the two prisoners. The journalist then stands by in mute horror as he watches the terrible results of his irresponsible print campaign. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide