The Phantom Thief

This entry in the Boston Blackie series has Blackie trying to help a young woman who is being blackmailed by a spiritualist, Dr. Nejino, played by familiar Columbia heavy Marvin Miller. When Blackie confronts Nejino, the doctor does something unusual for a spiritualist in these old movies - he admits the whole séance business is an act, but that it is an act that helps his patients deal with the losses of loved ones in their own way and in their own time. In the case of the young woman in question - wealthy Anne Duncan - her father's death has left her terribly lonely in spite of her recent marriage. So Nejino invites Blackie to watch one of his séances. The problem is, during the séance a member of the audience is knifed in the back. Of course, Blackie is suspect number one in the case.

This one has plenty of good old fashioned haunted house and ghostly fun, and if it seems that magic is a recurring theme in the Boston Blackie series, it is so for a reason. Chester Morris was a very good amateur magician, even entertaining the troops during World War II with his act. Recommended for anyone who specifically likes the Boston Blackie series or the old B detective movies of the 40's in general.

Post-War Blackie film, a little harder edged than before, but still with an over-abundance of verbal witticisms and slapstick. The Runt tries to help a pal accused of stealing a diamond necklace, Blackie gets involved but can't prevent the pal on the lam getting stabbed in the back while watching all of the suspects perform at a rather feeble séance. Huh? It makes sense while you're watching it anyhow, except maybe who the murderer turned out to be - it must have been Real Dark!

Chester Morris as Blackie seemed a bit more relaxed in here than previously, maybe the absence of a black-face routine helped?! Jeff Donnell as Anne was decorative, even if she did stretch credulity with her credulousness! Marvin Miller as Dr. Nejino was Deeply sinister - thanks mainly to his fruity and succinct baritone voice, Dusty Anderson's only problem as his cohort(?) was to be too tall for everybody else in the film. George E. Stone as Runt was starting to bug me in this one - his whining almost-effeminacy made me wish Blackie would bitch-slap him and stand him in a corner as a naughty little boy and spare us his company for the last 30 minutes or so. Inspector Farraday and Sgt. Matthews played the usual good double act, and even old Jumbo got an airing in a good scene.

All told, nice entry in the series.

The Runt has a friend in a jam—he's stolen some "papers" that turn out to be hot jewels. Boston Blackie is, of course, drawn into the situation; the friend, of course, is murdered; and Inspector Farraday, of course, is right there to practically catch Blackie in the act. It all opens up a case of blackmail, another murder or so, a spiritualist and a couple of séances—and a fair amount of good-natured tough talk and silly banter.

By now, Inspector Farraday knows that when he shows up at a murder scene, Boston Blackie is going to be less than cooperative: "All I needed to hear from the men on the beat was that you had a perfect alibi and I took this call myself," he tells Blackie. "Now I'd like to hear some of your best double talk."

Blackie and Farraday operate at full speed in this well-written series entry. Their sidekicks, the Runt and Detective Matthews, are faithful but dumb as usual. The Runt's childish squeals do grow somewhat annoying, but I have to admit it's pretty funny watching him and Matthews cower and yelp together at the séance.

Two female characters play important roles. Jeff Donnell is Anne, a young woman who suffers from nervous troubles—or is that diagnosis an invention of the sinister Dr. Nejino, the spiritualist? Less passive—more actively looking out for herself—and more interesting is Dusty Anderson as Sandra, the mystic's assistant, whose loyalties are frequently in question but are mainly to herself.

A pretty good plot and a handful of good gags keep this episode moving. (My favorite bit: Farraday barking into the phone that "We're getting closer to Boston Blackie every minute," unaware that Blackie is at that very moment—well, much closer than Farraday thinks.) A satisfying hour for Blackie admirers.

Tenth movie in Columbia's Boston Blackie series starring Chester Morris. This one has Blackie taking on a phony spiritualist (Marvin Miller) who's blackmailing a woman (Jeff Donnell). Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) is on the wrong track as always. A fun entry in the series, thanks to a good cast and supernatural elements that provide more atmosphere than usual. Morris and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick The Runt are both great. Stone gets a lot of comedic bits here, afraid of spooks and the like. Richard Lane is amusingly cantankerous in this one. Jeff Donnell gives a sympathetic turn and Dusty Anderson provides some sex appeal as Miller's assistant. For his part, deep-voiced Marvin Miller is sufficiently sinister as the villain. Joseph Cretan has a nice scene as a tough pawnbroker that's somewhat of a change of pace from his usual authoritarian roles. I enjoy the Boston Blackie series a lot, even with its formulaic plots. This is one of the better Blackie pictures.

I have now seen every Boston Blackie film with Chester Morris but one and I can say that the series is a very mixed bag. Though the films started off extremely well (blending a nice mixture of action and comedy), they also suffered terribly from repetitive plots. It was as if Columbia Pictures could have cared less that in EVERY episode you have the ignorant Inspector Farraday and his idiotic Sergeant accusing Blackie of whatever crimes are committed--even though in every movie it turns out that not only is Blackie innocent but he solves the crime himself. This schtick gets pretty old after a while and no cop can be half as stupid as Farraday or his sub-human assistant. Plus, plot elements are often recycled (such as two movies where Blackie performs a magic show at a prison and a prisoner uses this to escape, stolen jewels again and again as well as Blackie and Runt dressing up as Black cleaning ladies, etc., etc., etc.). Forutately, aside from the moronic inspector and sidekick, this film IS different and doesn't have that recycled feel to it--with a nifty plot involving a phony psychic and, of course, a murder! The usual good acting and fast pace are of course present and make for an enjoyable romp.