A Close Call for Boston Blackie

I didn't really catch the plot of this film very well as it went by, and I really hope to see it again, because I enjoyed it very much. Boston Blackie films are fairly fast paced comedies of error rolled up inside the usual amateur sleuth beats out the dumb police B movie staple fodder. These are light hearted films, and they're made for simple enjoyment.

Beautiful blonde Gerry Payton is rescued by Boston Blackie as she is apparently about to be abducted by some thugs who are trying to drag her into their car. She asks him for help, and of course, he can't refuse such a gorgeous woman.

There is a complex plot which I didn't follow and to heck with it. But, the babe is a crook, and her boyfriend is a crook, and half of the cast are crooks, and everyone but the cops are out to convince the cops that Boston Blackie is a murderer,and the cops didn't need convincing in the first place, so Boston Blackie is sunk and there is no way out for him.

And part of the plot is that the criminals have made up a fictional baby boy, and have somehow managed to convince the grandfather of the non-existent baby boy that he should buy the boy from them for a large amount of money. Also, for some other unknown reason, they have actually managed to obtain a real baby boy, whom they are making no attempt to disguise as the fake Payton scion, since there is no one of any importance to them to see it, but nevertheless they are taking great pains to maintain this useless fiction.

Can Boston Blackie and his partner The Runt figure out the plot, clear Blackie's name, rescue the child and put the criminals into the hands of the incompetent police?

Well, maybe.

While helping a friend out by looking after a baby, Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) is framed for murder.

The penultimate programme thriller featuring fast talking and wise cracking Boston Blackie. The character of Blackie is as annoying as ever and will most likely leave its viewers feeling irritable, certainly for those who survived the course of the film.

The eponymous "Blackie" (Chester Morris) and his sidekick the "Runt" (George E. Stone) rescue a woman assaulted outside their apartment. The former soon recognises the lass as "Gerry" (Lynn Merrick), an ex-girlfriend heiress and what's more, she has a baby with her too! Who's is it? Who assaulted her? Why? Well it doesn't take us long before the first gunshots ring out and good old "Insp. Farraday" (Richard Lane) and "Blackie" are competing to find the culprits before our intrepid cop, as usual, jumps to the wrong conclusion! It's a well oiled production process with well established characters going through the ultimate in formulaic detective mysteries with a few red herrings before an ending you can spot from space. The writing is adequate, the performances keep it interesting for just under an hour and there is just about enough to keep us guessing as to who did the shooting until quite near the conclusion. Morris was in his element with this series of films, charming and charismatic and with Stone doing his best Jimmy Durante impression the thing works fine.

The plot involves a kidnapped baby, a ransom, extortion, murder and all the usual ingredients that are mishandled by the police on the trail of a crooked lady (LYNN MERRICK) and her criminal pals responsible for all the trouble.

All the trouble, of course, is pinned on Boston Blackie, CHESTER MORRIS in his usual "old man" disguise, who wouldn't fool anybody--but, hey, this is a movie. He poses as the man willing to pay ransom money to get the baby back and it works, in time for a snappy ending.

The baby is a cute little boy, well-behaved on camera most of the time and given numerous close-ups as he peers back and forth at the grown-ups handling him. Inspector Farraday and his dumb sergeant are more bumbling than ever while the accent is on comedy relief more than mystery.

Summing up: Entertaining, but fluffy entry in the Blackie series, strictly routine.

Chester Morris is "Boston Blackie" in this 1946 entry into the series. The Boston Blackie series is far superior to many others which seem to have less humor and move a lot more slowly. In this film, Blackie helps out a former girlfriend whose husband is recently out of prison - she's afraid he's going to kill her and their baby. Then the husband is murdered and Blackie is blamed, and he finds out his ex-girl has been using him as part of a plot to shake down her father-in-law for money so that she will give him the baby. Except it's not his grandchild; the child has been borrowed from a crook who has been cut into the scheme. It's up to Blackie to figure out all of this, keep a step ahead of Farraday and the baby out of the wrong hands.

"A Close Call for Boston Blackie" has a lot of humor in it as well as delightful performances from Morris, George E. Stone as The Runt and Claire Carlton as Mamie, The Runt's girlfriend. Viewers will also recognize Kathryn Card, who played Lucy Ricardo's mother and always called Ricky Mickey, at the apartment house reception desk. All and all, quite entertaining.