Boston Blackie and the Law

Keystone cops... or maybe three stooges. The cops just look silly trying to figure out how Blackie's magician's box works in the Inspector's office. After the disappearing act goes south in a prison, and one of the girls escapes, Blackie Chester Morris) and his box are hauled down to headquarters. As usual, Inspector Farraday and all the other coppers are goons, scratching their heads trying to figure out what's going on. Blackie must clear his name when "Dinah", the prisoner (Constance Dowling) somehow gets away. He and the "runt" run all over town and break a bunch of laws to try to find Dinah. It's pretty good... a much later episode in the Boston Blackie series. Morris would make a couple more after this one. I hope author Jack Boyle got compensated for all the films they made from his work! Directed by Ross Lederman... who, oddly enough, had actually started out as an extra with the keystone cops I mentioned at the beginning of this summary.

This film (and all the other Boston Blackie films) is significant to those of us in the plus 65 age group for more than one reason. It hearkens us back to Saturday afternoons during the '40's, when a dime or 15 cents gained us an afternoon's entertainment at the Strand. Here was Chester Morris on the big screen, and, as we munched popcorn and stared bug-eyed at our tough, clever hero, we knew that he was more likely to escape any predicament using his wits rather than his fists. We knew that the runt, bumbler though he may be, loyal to the core, would come through when needed. And we knew that Inspector Farraday would never seem to come to fully trust Blackie as we knew he should, and that he would have an assistant who was an even worse bumbler than the Runt. This was an hour and a half of pure escapism, even for an eight or nine year old. And today, for an almost seventy year old. Tacked to a cartoon, newsreel, a Three Stooges (I am one of the few die hard Shemp fans, but that's another story)and maybe an Abbott and Costello....just the place to make your troubles vanish, real or imagined. In short, this film is fun. It is not great drama, comedy, acting, writing, or plotting. Just fun.

If the story has a familiar ring, it's because it's based on a former film called ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE in which Larry Parks is a convict on the lam after a magic show at prison.

This time the convict is a woman who disappears during Blackie's magic act (CONSTANCE DOWLING), but the plot is basically the same.

Unfortunately, the story gets off to a bad start with an attempt at humor that backfires as Blackie shows off his "magic" prowess to Inspector Farraday (RICHARD LANE) and his bumbling assistant. It goes on for fifteen minutes with meager results.

With Blackie impersonating Jani, a magician, the plot takes a turn when the real Jani is murdered. TRUDY MARSHALL plays the magician's wife effectively and is part of the final plot twist.

It's strictly formula stuff, but Blackie fans will probably recall that the story was done in a more clever way originally.

While Boston Blackie is performing a magic show at a women's prison, one of the convicts escapes. Naturally, Blackie is accused of helping with her escape. The Boston Blackie series was often repetitive but this one might take the cake as this is a reworking of Alias Boston Blackie, changing the gender of the escaped prisoner and the season to Thanksgiving instead of Christmas. More repetition as we get one of Blackie's trademark disguises, unconvincing as always. It really is amazing that the Boston Blackie series was as enjoyable as it was, given how many flaws it had. Just a testament to the charm and screen presence of Chester Morris, as well as his likable co-stars Richard Lane and George E. Stone. Lane in particular had his work cut out for him as the series did his Inspector Farraday no favors. If you take Farraday out of the often comical light the films cast him in, it's a rather unsettling character. A police detective who continually abuses his authority and powers to persecute a man who, according to the films, has paid his debt to society. One film even had Farraday chasing Blackie across the country where he clearly had no jurisdiction. In reality (even in the 1940s), he would have lost his badge long ago and Blackie would be able to sue the police for harassment.

"Boston Blackie and the Law" is a remake of "Alias Boston Blackie" with a gender switch - a woman female prisoner escapes during a magic show instead of a male. It seems a little silly to have remade it.

Blackie is in good form first doing his own magic show at the female penitentiary and later disguising himself as a magician whose ex-wife is out to get the money they apparently both stole, for which she took the rap, and to kill him. The Grunt and Matthews, the dumbo-o police investigator, as well as Inspector Farraday are all around. Heavy emphasis is on stupid Matthews as Blackie fools him with a disappearing act.

I never understand Blackie's disguises - to me, it always looks like Blackie, and I'm amazed no one figures it out. Nevertheless, Chester Morris makes even these repeat stories palatable as does George E. Stone as The Grunt.

It's just a little disappointing - the theme is always the same - Blackie in trouble with the law for something he didn't do so now he has to find the real villain - so why retread an old story is beyond me. And how come no one recognized it?