A Close Call for Boston Blackie

Boston Blackie is led astray by a dame. The dame in this case being an ex-girlfriend of his played by beautiful Lynn Merrick. There's a baby, an extortion plot, and the inevitable murder charge for Blackie. One of these days Inspector Farraday might get the right suspect if he actually stopped to consider someone, ANYONE, besides Blackie! An enjoyable entry in the Boston Blackie series with lots of comedy. Blackie once again disguises himself as an old man. At least he doesn't wear blackface this time. Chester Morris, Richard Lane, and George E. Stone are all good as usual. Claire Carleton is fun as Runt's girlfriend Mamie. The baby is cute. Certainly not the best Boston Blackie movie but hard to dislike.

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.

Close Call for Boston Blackie, A (1946)

*** (out of 4)

Lew Landers (The Raven) directs this tenth entry in Columbia's popular series. This time out Blackie (Chester Morris) runs into a woman he formally loved who know is married with a kid. When her husband gets out of prison he's killed in Blackie's apartment and of course the police thing Blackie pulled the trigger so he must set out to prove his innocence as well as capture the real killers. This one here is a step up from the previous film because they changed the mode quite a bit. For starters, the plot is a lot more difficult to figure out and is a lot more challenging for the viewing. Another added bonus is that Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) and Sergeant Matthews (Frank Sully) play a bigger part of the mystery and they aren't just here for laughs, although they still have a lot of funny moments. Another added bonus is the baby itself, which leads to several cute scenes with Blackie, the police and The Runt. All the cast members are once again at full force with Morris being as delightful as ever.

In his tenth appearance in the Columbia B series role, Chester Morris is visited by former girlfriend Lynn Merrick. She married the son of a rich man who was sent up to prison. He has just been paroled, and she wants Morris to help her with the baby; daddy is liable to be impulsive in his jealousy. Enter the man, who is quickly shot dead from a mysterious stranger at the door. Enter Inspector Richard Lane and dumb sergeant Frank Sully, and we're off and running.

It's always fun to watch Morris on the screen, and this one is played for very broad comedy. In fact, it's so broad that the seams begin to show, as every single police call in New York City is funneled through to Lane, who puts them all together to make one case, which he then proceeds to get wrong. Morris also goes into disguise, and no one can recognize him.

Oh, well. With George E. Stone, Russell Hicks, and inevitably, Charles Lane.

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.