Byrdz OK, the truth is out in the open. I have obviously been living in a cave for far too long. How else can I explain never having seen a Boston Blackie film? Not a single one of all those that are out there plus the radio and TV shows ? Oh, I had heard of them but never saw one.That problem has been fixed and I'd like to see more of them.Fun story with many fast paced wise-cracks that actually further the plot. Interesting relationship between cop and crook and our crook hero and the girl he car-jacks (it's complicated, so don't ask, find and watch the film).We're just sort of dumped into the tale and have to catch up on back-story as we go but it's not all that difficult. We also are expected to ignore those mountains that seem to be in the vicinity of what claims to be Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Minor details.There are side-show performers vital to the story. Among those shown are "Schlitze" appearing as a "Princess". Looking up his filmography, I learned about this gentle soul who also appeared in Tod Browning's Freaks. The bio is worth a read.And ... the picture is worth a watch. It's funny and a good 1941 crook-cop-spy story.

classicsoncall This is quite the entertaining picture, but boy oh boy, you really have to stretch the credibility factor to make it through the entire story. The main one for me, and there were many, was the way Cecilia Bradley (Rochelle Hudson) accepted her fate when Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) hijacked her auto and literally kidnapped her onto a train car. You would think a panic attack might be in order, wouldn't you? Yet Miss Bradley appears pretty much nonplussed, and even sticks around to take part in Blackie's frenetic dealings with Police Inspector Faraday (Richard Lane).What was pretty clever though were the three verbal clues left for Blackie by the dying Marilyn Howard (Constance Worth) - 'mechanical man, Skyland sign, and 2 1/2'. Making their way through a carnival freak show, Blackie and Ms. Bradley manage to put the pieces together in a way that lead them to bad guys sending messages to an off shore ship using lights and Morse Code. I had the same thought as another reviewer for this picture - just how common was Morse Code for so many characters in the story to be using or understanding it? Personally, I don't know how those who use it can keep up with the rapid pace of the clicks sending the message.I try to catch these Boston Blackie flicks whenever they make the rounds on Turner Classics, usually one at a time, so of necessity manage to see them out of original film release order. Of the ones I've seen, they're fairly representative of the era's detective type films which include Charlie Chan, Bulldog Drummond and Mr. Wong. The series borrows a gimmick from another detective franchise of the era, in as much as Boston Blackie's former career involved being a jewel thief, just like The Lone Wolf.

binapiraeus 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!

ccthemovieman-1 This was my first look at this old-time crime "series," if you will, of hour-long tales starring Chester Morris as "Boston Blackie." I don't know enough about the character, since this was my first look, to make many comments on him but Morris reminds me a bit, with his smugness, of William Powell playing "Nick Charles" of "The Thin Man" movie fame. In a nutshell, I found this movie surprisingly fast-paced and entertaining. I hope they all are similar to this with interesting characters and a good mix of crime, snappy dialog that includes humor, nice-looking "dames," chase scenes and the like. Yes, it's dated but that's okay for the most part although some scenes you shake your head with the implausibility. At the end, Blackie makes a throw that a Major Leauge baseball pitcher couldn't make, but despite the credibility it was a short, fun story that doesn't drag. Rochelle Hudson filled the bill as the female lead. I remember her from a Shirley Temple film or two. Richard Lane was a bit odd as "Inspecor Faraday." He kept saying - or hinting - that he cared about Blackie but but at the same time he kept trying to put him in the electric chair. Some friend!Overall, enjoyable, and I hope I see many of the 13 others in the series is they are as fast- paced as this one.