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This was a good start to the Chester Morris Boston Blackie series of yarns at Columbia, the next 13 more or less maintained this frantic pitch of action and badinage. On the print I've got it looked like one of Blackie's magic tricks had been cut out in the first minute, not auguring well for the completeness of the rest of the film, but if there were cuts, they were expertly executed.

Blackie about to be pulled in by Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) for robbery gets mixed up with murders and spies and dames. On the way through the cast have a splendid assortment of patter eg dame to Blackie "Who are you?" - "At the moment a fugitive from an autopsy", or Blackie to Farraday "You'll be pounding the beat so far out of town you'll have to send smoke signals to report in", keeping just the right balance in what was, after all, a comedy-thriller. Rochelle Hudson as Cecilia looked extremely decorative, especially when she took that hat off! What were we supposed to be thinking she was thinking at the end of the film?!

Minor points: I preferred George E. Stone as the Runt to come, but all the cast were excellent, and the film could have done with 5 or 10 minutes more, but all the same basically I'm glad at what we've got. Not for serious people - if you like the genre as I do I recommend you watch the entire series, if you don't like the genre why not watch the entire series just to waste your time.

When Boston Blackie leaves a room, he likes to leave a witty note for Inspector Faraday—written in soap in large letters across a mirror. I have to admit—ever since seeing this movie, I've been looking for an opportunity to leave somebody a soap-on-mirror note. That Blackie is indeed an irresistible character, a sharp wit who leaves a clean but clever mark.

Chester Morris is excellent in that title role—fast moving, confident, a magician and a sleuth. And possibly a jewel thief…though in this film we never really know that for sure.

Richard Lane is also strong as the police inspector who is Blackie's dedicated stalker, friendly rival or both. Blackie always outwits the inspector but never makes him look stupid; Inspector Faraday vows to catch Blackie and lock him up but never resorts to dirty tricks and is not grudging in his respect for Blackie's nerve, expertise and luck.

Rochelle Hudson is very good as Cecilia Bradley, properly impressed by this man Boston Blackie who essentially hijacks her car but does it in a very dashing manner. Hudson is just right, actually—romantically interested, yes, but still plenty sharp enough to follow events and lend assistance as needed. Her smart and attractive performance hits just the right notes.

Good script, excellent pace, just the right amount of humor…oh, and all the standard amusement park elements, including a Mechanical Man who figures snugly into the plot. A top notch series opener all the way!

I actually like some of the later Boston Blackie films better than this one, but it is a good enough opener to the series. Chester Morris usually played a hard-boiled tough guy whether he was portraying an actual criminal or just a remorseless cheating husband as he was in "The Divorcée". As Blackie he shows a good bit of finesse and range - he admits he was a thief, and apparently one that has never really been caught, but now he's going straight. He's tough when he has to be, he's a friend when he can be, a ladie's man when he gets the opportunity, and honest if possible. He is even trusted by Inspector Faraday, his nemesis, to not run away if he promises that.

This opener to the series has a patriotic theme, with Blackie's chivalry on board an ocean liner leading to the infiltration of a nest of spies. Made shortly before the beginning of World War II, a conflict that most people saw coming, movies with patriotism and spies were common up to two years before Pearl Harbor. I didn't find the story or Blackie's romantic lead particularly interesting, but I love watching Chester Morris at work here. Plus the other characters are fun too.

In particular, Charles Wagenheim as "the runt" manages to be Blackie's trusty if not very helpful associate who is reliable comic relief without becoming whiny or annoying. Inspector Farraday is no Keystone Cop, but I would think after the first half dozen times Blackie solves the crime, gift wraps the criminals, and hand delivers them to the precinct door, Farraday might begin to believe Blackie had changed.

Highly recommended as an entertaining vehicle for an underrated actor - Chester Morris.

In the opening film of the Boston Blackie series, Chester Morris as Blackie and his pal Charles Wagenheim as the Runt are back from a long European vacation. Ready to greet them is his old nemesis, Inspector Farraday of the NYPD, still looking to pin some robberies on the smooth talking and very clever conman/jewel thief.

But homicide is not something Blackie does and when a dead body turns up in his stateroom, he's got himself in a real jam. As always there's a mysterious beautiful woman involved and Blackie trails her to Coney Island where she winds up good and dead. As Blackie escapes the men who killed her, another female turns up and helps him out as well.

Chester Morris who received an Oscar nomination in the early days of sound for his role in Alibi had gone down considerably in the Hollywood pecking order since then. The Boston Blackie character gave him a lease on life until television came along where he almost exclusively appeared until he died in 1970.

Blackie was one smooth talking charmer, but if you looked hard you could see he didn't come from any privileged background. He was clever and street smart and Meet Boston Blackie established his character who would do several films right into the Fifties. The Boston Blackie films weren't done on blockbuster budgets, but they were fast and entertaining and depended on Morris's charm which never failed.

What Blackie got himself caught up in was an espionage ring operating out of Coney Island. But of course all was righted in the end.

It had to be, Morris was signed for several more films.

CHESTER MORRIS and ROCHELLE HUDSON star in the first of the Boston Blacie series from Columbia, MEET BOSTON BLACKIE.

Inspector Farraday (RICHARD LANE) is Blackie's old friend. They run into each other aboard a steamship where Blackie finds a murdered man in his stateroom. A mysterious blonde (an international spy) is what Blackie has to follow and there's an amusement park scene that involves The Tunnel of Horrors and a Mechanical Man before the woman is murdered and he meets up with Rochelle Hudson.

With Farraday on his trail, Blackie has to prove that he's not the murderer even though his fingerprints were at the scene of the blonde's murder. With the spy element established, it seems that the Morse Code abounds everywhere in the plot, readily interpreted by one and all.

Spies, murder and an amusement park background makes for a lively little Boston Blackie caper.