Una noche misteriosa

At an exhibition of art and jewelry for the purpose of raising money for war funds, the most valuable of all pieces, a huge diamond, is mysteriously stolen - so what does Inspector Faraday tell the reporters to print? That Boston Blackie did the 'job'! But why? To get him to help the police solve the case!!

Now that's a new one, Blackie with a police badge in his pocket - but the rest is more or less familiar: the most hilarious chases, the most daring escapes - and two dumb flatfoots playing cards for an hour right next to the two thieves who are posing as dummies in a store!

Good, solid, and clever entertainment as always by Blackie with the thousand faces (this time Chester Morris impersonates an elderly professor, for instance, with the greatest credibility!), his friend the Runt, and the whole bunch of stupid policemen; and not a dull moment!

The Chester Morris Boston Blackie films are always good for a laugh, and although this one is a little shorter than usual it sure ate up the 58 minutes (UK TV running time). Time was never wasted with these potboilers and the action and repartee was necessarily relentless, so making a drink might be fatal - for someone!

Blackie is accused by the police of stealing a diamond simply to get him to show up and find the real robbers for them... He seems to nose out the real culprit and his method in seconds, but as might be expected complications arise when the baddies pulling the strings don't like it. He promised to protect Dorothy Malone's brother from harm, 30 seconds later was stepping over his corpse - what poor old Dot thought of Blackie after that we'll never know. I think this was her first film, and to look at she's the real gem in this picture!

Some wonderful moments - Blackie and Runt tied upside down to a cupboard bed; some brain-dead moments - the 2 crooks hiding a yard away in plain view from 4 or 5 cops in Jumbo Madigan's small shop as tailors dummy's. They weren't Hope and Crosby, they'd just shot Jumbo and were already murderers on the lam!

This was no 7 in the 14 film series, all well worth watching - more or less!

The famous Blue Star diamond is on display at a war fund benefit. Cops are everywhere to prevent any funny business, but—what's this? A sudden row in the gallery, a bunch of noise and commotion, and…the diamond is gone! (It looked pretty easy to me, actually.)

Of course, Inspector Farraday jumps immediately to the conclusion that the only man who could have stolen the diamond is Boston Blackie. But just a moment; it is soon revealed that his loud accusation is nothing other than Farraday's way of "sending for" Blackie. Sure enough, Blackie soon arrives at Farraday's desk and—in a nice new twist to the series—Farraday explains to Blackie that he needs his help: "Now you can call me anything you like, but I'm deputizing you as my assistant on this case, and I'm not taking no for an answer!" The Runt is doubtful, but Blackie readily agrees, is handed a badge, and gets right to work on a disguise or two.

The plot revolving around the stolen gem involves a young man mixed up with a gang of crooks, and the worried sister who lives with and tries to guide him. The sister is played by a very young Dorothy Malone, who has a small role but puts in a fine bit of actual dramatic acting in the scene in which she chews out her brother for falling in with the bad guys.

Chester Morris and Richard Lane are, as always, fun to watch as Blackie and Farraday, and seeing them as a "team" (with the exception of a brief spell where Farraday revives his habitual old suspicions) adds a bit of new life to this episode. George E. Stone as the Runt is faithful but worried as the loyal assistant.

We never do find out, however, just how blond reporter Janis Carter is able to see through Blackie's disguise so quickly. But she sure seems to enjoy chasing him around for the whole movie!

The police, being largely incompetent in the Boston Blackie series thus far, finally admit they suck and ask Blackie for help retrieving the stolen Blue Star of the Nile diamond. I'd like to give Inspector Farraday some credit for character growth for coming up with the plan, seeing as how up until this point he believed Blackie was capable of any and every type of crime. But unfortunately this change was short-lived and by the next picture Blackie was back to being Farraday's eternal suspect again.

Another fun Boston Blackie movie with typically likable turns from Chester Morris as Blackie, Richard Lane as Farraday, and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick, Runt. Three recurring characters in the series -- Arthur Manleder, Jumbo Madigan, and Sgt. Matthews -- are played by new actors in this one. I prefer the originals in these parts as these new guys are kind of bland and forgettable. Very early screen role for Dorothy Malone. This is also the directorial debut of future famed western director Budd Boetticher.

To help raise funds for the war effort, a collection of jewels is being displayed at a posh hotel. That's manna from heaven for a thief and when the famous "Blue Star of the Nile" diamond goes walkabouts and "Blackie" (Chester Morris) is found in the vicinity, well then what else might "Insp. Faraday" (Richard Lane) do but accuse his long-term, if almost always helpful, nemesis. Of course we know all along what's going on, but it's going to be down to "Blackie" and the ever reliable "Runt" (George E. Stone) to clear their names and help the police so that they all find out who did the pinching and retrieve the priceless stone. None of this is really helped by the tenacious journalist "Dorothy" (Janis Carter) who is determined to get the story and who has some useful distractions in her arsenal to trick people into helping her, or giving her information. Though it's perfectly watchable for an hour, this is not one of the more memorable outings from our comedy sleuths, and the story doesn't really give Morris so much opportunity to impose his usually wise-cracking charisma on the proceedings either. Dorothy Malone features sparingly but adds little as the procedural drama does it's job, but not much more, as it reminds the audience to chip in for the war effort.