Meet Boston Blackie

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.

Returning to America from Europe via ocean liner, notorious jewel thief Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) gets mixed up with a murder, a spy ring, and someone called The Mechanical Man. The first of Columbia's Boston Blackie series of B detective movies. I say detective because, despite Blackie being a jewel thief, he spends every movie solving crimes and helping people out. Usually he's the one accused of the crime and in order to prove his innocence, he must figure out the real culprits. Richard Lane plays Inspector Faraday, the cop forever on Blackie's trail who likes him despite their being on opposite sides of the law. Charles Wagenheim plays Blackie's sidekick Runt. George E. Stone would play the role later and was much better-suited for the part than Wagenheim. Rochelle Hudson and Constance Worth provide the pretty in this first film. The Blackie series always had lovely actresses. Fun start to a great series.

Blackie arrives back in the US (via steamer) only to find himself in trouble with the law again when he finds a corpse, Martin Vestrick, in his stateroom. Blackie trails Marilyn Howard, who was seen with Vestrick by Blackie and Runt on the ship, to Coney Island where a group of spies meet at the freak show exhibit. Marilyn is later killed when she goes on the Tunnel of Horrors ride with Blackie, and the same killers go after our hero. Blackie forces a ride with Cecelia Bradley, an innocent bystander, and the two manage to elude the killers. Inspector Faraday, in the meantime, goes after Blackie for the murder of Marilyn, while Blackie, Cecelia, and the Runt try to unravel the spy activities at the amusement park. Nice opening to this 14 film series, with Chester Morris providing the jovial attitude seen in his other movies and beneficial to the character (also nice to see some of Morris' magic tricks as well). Rochelle Hudson was very beautiful here and lent fine support. I was impressed with Florey's direction and Planer's camera-work giving us some interesting perspectives and camera angles. My beef with this film was that there was little action with the villains in the movie, seeing the case from Blackie's perspective. Next film in the series: Confessions of Boston Blackie. Rating, 8.

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.

Now if THAT wasn't a novelty, especially in the 40s, in the middle of the Production Code reign (which EXPLICITLY says: "The treatment of crimes against the law must not... make criminals seem heroic and justified"!): Columbia Pictures took the hero of Jack Boyle's stories from the 1910s - 'Boston Blackie', a jewel thief and safe cracker! - and made him the protagonist of a whole series of 14 movies; a bigger number than quite popular and utterly decent 'Ellery Queen' or the highly moralistic 'Whistler' stories ever reached.

And from the first movie on, this safe cracker hero, thanks to Chester Morris' wonderful, charming as well as cheeky and clever performance, but also to the way the script models him, certainly IS heroic, and has the audience's FULL sympathy despite his illegal 'hobby' that has made him widely known to the police - he's even got something like a feud-friendship with Inspector Faraday.

Well, the reason his 'petty crimes' are forgivable is that, when it comes to CAPITAL crime, Boston Blackie becomes a REAL help for the police: because he's not only enormously smart and quick, but he also knows magical tricks and a lot of other things the average cop has got no idea of.

So, in this case, he himself becomes a murder suspect, and at the same time has to clear himself, to escape the assaults of the real murder gang AND to blow up a spy ring! With him is his friend and 'colleague' called 'the Runt', and a beautiful young lady whose car he 'hijacked' while fleeing from the gangsters - and sometimes with him, sometimes against him is Inspector Faraday...

You just CAN'T help loving this cheeky, wisecracking, smart rogue, and feel the suspense throughout the movie where he is almost constantly on the run from someone; this wonderful movie, full of excitement and fun, is the beginning of a wonderful film series of which you shouldn't miss a single one!