binapiraeus Every time we think that after so many hilarious and varied adventures, the writers of the 'Boston Blackie' movie series must be running out of ideas sometime, they surprise us with something ENTIRELY new: this time, the story seems to revolve around one of Blackie's romances at first, and when the husband of the girl Blackie was 'sweet on', just released from jail, is found dead in Blackie's apartment, Inspector Faraday comes to the conclusion that, while he's learned by now that Blackie wouldn't kill anybody for diamonds or money and neither is he a deranged strangler - for a woman he MIGHT commit murder...But the case very soon becomes a lot more complicated: there's a 'borrowed' baby involved that the 'Runt' and his girlfriend Mamie try to hide in the most impossible places (a very talented baby, by the way - literally a BORN actor!), while Blackie once more is at the same time on the run from the police and after the real murderer... Another VERY entertaining and surprising entry in this wonderful series of 40s crime-comedy mix!

ironhorse_iv I've seen the Boston Blackie TV Series, but didn't know there were movies, as well. I finally got a chance to watch a number of the Film Series, and I find this one, the weakest plot of them, all, but one of the funniest in the bunch. In another of his unusual and fascinating capers, Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) gets entangled with a former girlfriend Gerry Payton (Lynn Merrick) when Blackie and his sidekick, the Runt (George E. Stone) rescue her during an attack in the street right in front of their building. They carry in the unconscious woman to the house. When they open the bedroom door we see the main twist that this series entry has to offer: a baby! The baby is very cute, and it's funny to see Blackie and Runt try to take out of it. It's somewhat comical that the baby sounds don't really match the baby. There is a sound edit that supposed to be a baby yawn, but its sounds like an adult male in one scene. The baby's mother Gerry ask the two to protect the baby from her recently paroled husband. The Runt takes the baby to her girlfriend Mamie (Claire Carleton). Blackie takes on the husband when he returns and disarmed him. Before he can question him, an assassin kill the husband, and blackmailing Blackie for murder and kidnapping. The chase is on, with Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) and Sergeant Matthews (Frank Sully) at their heels. This fast-paced, surprising mystery wraps up in a tidy 60 minutes, but don't feel embittered. It's full of witty writing, comedy, and action to pack it. There is barely any slow moments in the film. The problem with the film is that, its plot is very low grade and simple. It also follows the same similar plot line as the other movies. If you follow the film series, you'll easily guess, Blackie will be accused of the murder and the Inspector will do the accusing. There a lot of dumb moments in the film as well like Runt leaving a baby by himself in Mamie's house when he get milk from a milk woman with a deep voice while leaving a woman's dress. Once again, Sergeant Matthew and Inspector Farraday are idiots, and makes you wonder how on earth did they ever became cops. Why on earth, did Matthew agree to a wrestling match with Blackie? I love the scene with the Inspector talking to Runt over the phone. Mamie, maybe. I don't why director, Lew Landers hired Lynn Merrick twice to play a similar role in the film series. She just played a character pulling a similar deception on them in Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion! (1945). Honestly, Blackie does some dumb things to, like act like a dead man to escape, and put pajamas over his clothes to fool the cops. At least Blackie didn't feel it obligatory to don black-face in this outing just his typical old man disguise for 5th time, again. In a nice touch, Matthews turns up in the same disguise which is hilarious. The film series try to follows the far more successful Thin Man series starting William Powell in production, but fail to make their film series different to each other in each movie. It's so repeatable and predictable. Can Boston Blackie and his partner The Runt figure out the plot, clear Blackie's name, rescue the child and put the criminals into the hands of the incompetent police?

Michael_Elliott 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.

Neil Doyle 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.