binapiraeus This time, Boston Blackie REALLY gets a taste of his old 'job': a rich friend of his phones him to 'break' into his apartment and crack his safe to take out 6000 dollars and bring them to him in L.A. - but... Inspector Faraday catches him right 'in the act', with the safe open and the money in his hands; so THIS time, he thinks, he's got him for good! Of course, now the usual cat-and-mouse game follows, with the money and a precious jewel changing hands countless times (and Blackie meeting some of his old 'pals' from Sing Sing days...), with escapes from planes, hotel rooms and even elevator shafts - hilarious fun, as always! (With the cops being dumber than ever before...) And for a change, nobody gets murdered this time - so you could really call this a VERY entertaining, funny family crime movie, suited perfectly for any 8- or 10-year old; but nonetheless equally fun to watch for adults...

bkoganbing Boston Blackie and sidekick Runt as they're about to go to Florida on a vacation get a transcontinental call from their good friend, playboy Lloyd Corrigan. Get $60,000.00 from a safe in his apartment and bring it to California. Corrigan has a couple of hoods pointing guns at him as he makes this call and of course Chester Morris thinks something is up. So Morris and George Stone get the money and make the trip with NYC cops trailing them because they think he's involved in a nice jewel heist also having taken place in California.Columbia was doing both the Boston Blackie and Lone Wolf series at the same time and the plots were pretty interchangeable. Both retired master criminals, both with helpful sidekicks, both living good and no visible means of support, and both with cops constantly questioning them every time some notorious crime breaks at which they're always innocent. My own theory is that they lived off the proceeds of their previous criminal lives, the money having been laundered clean and untraceable. Just what were Blackie and the Runt vacationing from?In this Lloyd Corrigan who's a good hearted and empty headed soul with too much money to burn always finds someone to help him burn it, usually of the female variety. That was Corrigan's function in all the Blackie films he did. Columbia starlet Constance Worth fulfills the function here, she's a poor man's Rita Hayworth.Corrigan does have himself peripherally involved in the stealing of a legendary jewel, it's up to Morris and Stone to get him out of the jackpot if they can just shake loose from NYPD's not so finest Richard Lane and Walter Sande. They do it as usual with aplomb.This one is a nicely paced Blackie entry that also features an up and coming Forrest Tucker as one of the hoods. This is a good one for a potential Blackie fan to be introduced to.

classicsoncall A frenetic entry in the Boston Blackie series, this one gets downright farcical at times with the Runt (George E. Stone) masquerading as an Our Gang Alfalfa type character, and Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) donning the guise of a Professor to help a friend in California. The caper involves the missing Monterey diamond, followed by the sixty thousand dollars Blackie brings with him from Arthur Manleder's (Lloyd Corrigan) safe back home. The film utilizes all sorts of ruses and gimmicks that wouldn't even be attempted in a movie today because quite frankly, they wouldn't work, literally or figuratively. Like buying a plane ticket with cash! Can you do that today? I don't think so.But given the time, I'm sure this was a fun diversion, and probably the best way to view the film and the series today. It's also cool to see some Hollywood names before they made it, like the unrecognizably young Forrest Tucker as a henchman named Whipper and an uncredited Lloyd Bridges. The bumbling police detectives were of course a staple for the genre, and you'll find them constantly foiled at the hands of era detectives like Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong, the Lone Wolf and plenty of others. There might be better ways to spend an hour, but in a pinch, this one will do as well as most.

Neil Doyle This has got to be one of the weaker entries in the "Boston Blackie" series with CHESTER MORRIS and GEORGE E. STONE on the lam from Inspector Farraday and his Keystone Cops who are hot on their trail because they think Blackie can lead them to a missing diamond.The gag with "The Runt" playing a boy genius is rather unfunny and totally implausible, but the film aims for light-hearted touches throughout, only occasionally succeeding. LLOYD CORRIGAN is Blackie's friend being held hostage by a band of crooks, including FORREST TUCKER in a minor role.RICHARD LANE is again Inspector Farraday, but it's the same old business of him getting thrown for a loop by Blackie's wild schemes to throw him off guard. Nothing new here and none of it is more than routine formula stuff. Furthermore, the title is misleading if you expect the story to take place anywhere near Sunset Blvd.Still, Chester Morris fans should get a kick out of his "Blackie" role.