Hitchcoc I just chanced upon this Blackie episode without having seen others since I was very young. It is a cut above most of the series of its time. Chester Morris, not unlike his counterparts like William Powell, the Thin Man, had a sparkle that carried the series. He also has a set of quite funny sidekicks. In this one, a man creates a phony first edition of Dickens' "Pickwick Papers." It is auctioned off for more the 60,000 dollars and later discovered to be a fake. Blackie gets framed for the business. It's always interesting how a policeman like Detective Faraday can constantly assume that Blackie is responsible for every crime committed in the city. Even though he has apprehended numerous bad men. There is an interesting Femme Fatale in this one to keep things interesting. Pretty good work for Morris.

binapiraeus Always willing to help his rich friend Arthur Manleder, Blackie goes into a 'racket' pretty strange for him: he agrees to impersonate the sick book expert at an auction of rare books for the bookstore Manleder has just taken over - and soon finds out that it's not only jewels that can be VERY valuable, but also rare old first editions: a Dickens book with the author's signature in it brings 50 000 dollars at the auction! Only that the buyer very soon finds out that it's a counterfeit - and following the first tracks, Blackie very soon finds himself once again with a body at his feet and a gun in his hand, and facing Inspector Faraday...Another FANTASTIC performance by Chester Morris, who in the course of the series really developed into a first-class impersonator of the weirdest characters - and an absolutely NEW feature in the 'Boston Blackie' movies: a REAL, reckless femme fatale fit for any Film Noir! Be prepared for a LOT of surprises...

MartinHafer I have seen nearly every Boston Blackie film they've made and while I really like Chester Morris' title character, the films suffered much more from repetition than other B-movie detective series films. Some of this could have been because they made so many Blackie films--other than Charlie Chan, I can't think of another series of the era that had as many films. But sometimes it was just sloppy writing. While this is generally an enjoyable film, there were just too many similarities to other films--the black-face scene (which is very tacky, I know), Blackie being stuck in the chute and is trapped by the police between floors in the apartment building, and the idiot Inspector and his even more imbecilic assistant--it's all rehashed.Now how much you enjoy the film really depends on your familiarity with the series. If you are new to it, then it you'll no doubt enjoy it immensely (maybe even giving it a 7 or 8) but if you've seen many of them, there just isn't enough new and worthwhile about this pretty standard film. At least, however, the main plot idea of a forged valuable book IS new and interesting.

Spondonman For a relief from the real world which seems full of suicidal terrorist savages, I turned to this one out of the Boston Blackie series. A simple plot: Counterfeit Pickwick Papers bought for $62,000 at auction, Blackie goes into overdrive after the thieves especially because, as usual, Inspector Farraday believes he's at the bottom of it all. With a few neat twists and turns and plenty of wisecracking it reaches a logical and satisfying conclusion - unless in error you thought you were watching Fellini - and in fact fits together like a done jigsaw puzzle. No big surprises then, but I'll have to leave you to guess whether Blackie gets his...person or not - no spoilers!Good bits: Trussed up Blackie + cigar untying himself in hoodlum's den; Steve Cochran alternating as usual between a Tough Cookie and a Poodle; the scenes inside the hotel's dumb waiter. At this point my daughter insists Steve was gorgeously handsome and a Man! Bad bits: Too many forced laughs by the main characters, it was pleasant enough without that.