The Phantom Thief

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.

The Runt tries to help a friend accused of stealing stolen jewelry and that's how the plot of this Blackie entry starts. Naturally, the police are one step behind Blackie when the plot advances to include a Dr. Nejino who runs seances and has a lovely assistant, model DUSTY ANDERSON who towers over the rest of the cast. It seems the doctor badly wants to get his hands on the stolen necklace.

Dr. Nejino invites Blackie to attend one of his seances so he can witness the effect it has on one of his eccentric women patients (JEFF DONNELL). It turns out that she's had a relationship with Dr. Nejino and wants her stolen necklace back.

The script has Blackie and Inspector Farraday exchanging comic quips and sarcasm over the dead body of Blackie's friend who has been stabbed to death at the seance--one of the story's many unrealistic touches where clever lines rule the day no matter what the situation. The same thing happens with the next murder victim.

It's formula stuff again, with Blackie and The Runt being falsely accused of having something to do with two murders and having to prove their innocence.

GEORGE E. STONE is more annoying than usual as the wimpy Runt, especially during the scene at the seance. DUSTY ANDERSON gives a limp performance as Nejino's pretty assistant and the rest of the cast is strictly by the numbers.

The formula was wearing thin long before this entry was released, but I suppose these films had a certain appeal for audiences when they played the lower half of a double feature bill.

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.

In "The Phantom Thief," Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) is as usual blamed for anything that goes wrong on Inspector Farraday's (Richard Lane) watch. This time, as he attempts to help a friend of the Runt's (George E. Stone) return some jewels he didn't mean to steal, Blackie finds himself involved with a phony medium (Marvin Miller), blackmail, and murder, all the while trying to hide from Farraday, sometimes in plain sight.

Not a bad entry into the series, with Jeff Donnell, who was actually a character actress, playing a duped, wealthy woman with rotten taste in men. She handles her part well, considering she usually played a bubbly, wisecracking friend. Marvin Miller, with dark makeup and that sonorous voice, is effective as the medium. Boomers may remember him as John Beresford Tipton's go-to Mr. Anthony on "The Millionaire." Unfortunately he never made it to my house.

Chester Morris is charming and funny as Blackie, but this time he's not particularly ably assisted by The Runt, who is terrified of all those disembodied hands and skeletons at the séance.

Fast-moving and entertaining.

Boston Blackie indulges in some wit-trading with a squirmy spiritualist who deals in blackmail, murder and the occult. "Blackie" out to help his pal, "Runt," recover some jewels, finds himself involved in the homicides, and also finds himself as the prime suspect, and now has to find the real culprit in order to clear himself. So "Blackie,", a man of many talents, shows he knows a little bit about dancing skeletons, walking phantoms and spiritualism himself, and holds a séance to unmask the murderer.

Jewel theft, seances, murder, trapdoors, spooks, blackmail and murder - it's all here in this light crime quickie. It's a fun film with Boston Blackie and the runt getting into trouble and murder. Love the snappy dialogue and the busy plot.