By Glenn Erickson
Alias Boston Blackie
Brief Synopsis
A reformed thief tracks down an escaped convict so he can prove the man is innocent.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lew Landers
Director
Chester Morris
Boston Blackie
Adele Mara
Eve Sanders
Richard Lane
Inspector Farraday
George E. Stone
The Runt
Lloyd Corrigan
Arthur Manleder
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Crime
Release Date
Apr
2,
1942
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the character created by Jack Boyle.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 7m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,050ft
Synopsis
Prompted by the sentiment of Christmas, reformed safecracker Boston Blackie persuades the cast of a musical comedy company to help him entertain the inmates at his "alma mater," the state prison. The stars of the troupe are Roggi McKay, the famous clown, and a young dancer, Eve Sands, whose brother, Joe Trilby, is an inmate at the institution. Eve is anxious to see her brother, who was jailed on false evidence and who now he seeks revenge on Duke Banton and cab driver Steve Caveroni, the two men who framed him. To make sure that Blackie and his sidekick, The Runt, do not cause any trouble, Inspector Farraday and Detective Mathews accompany them on the bus trip to the prison. While the prisoners and guards are watching the performance, Joe overpowers Roggi in a backstage office and changes into the clown's clothes and makeup. When the show ends, Joe, posing as Roggi, boards the bus with the rest of the troupe and returns to the city. Back at the theater, Blackie and Eve discover Joe's deception, but he escapes. Trailing the fugitive to Eve's hotel, Blackie tries to dissuade him from his scheme to kill Duke and Caveroni. Joe refuses to listen, however, and at gunpoint, he takes Blackie's clothes, leaving him bound and gagged. Soon after, Eve returns home and frees Blackie. After Blackie puts on the clown suit, he and Eve return to his apartment. There he tells Runt to call Jumbo Madigan, a fence, to find out Duke's address. Meanwhile, the police have discovered Joe's prison break and hurry to question Blackie. When Farraday tries to arrest Blackie, he and Runt escape. Hoping to warn Joe's victims, Blackie goes to Duke's hotel, whose address he obtained from Jumbo, and he finds Duke shot to death. Minutes later Joe arrives, angry over being cheated of his revenge. When the police pound at the door, Runt and Blackie hide Joe under the couch, and he later escapes by changing places with Duke's body, which is under a sheet covering a stretcher. Blackie manages to hide Duke's body in a folding bed before Farraday arrests him and takes him to headquarters. Outwitting his guards, Blackie makes a break from the police station with Eve and goes to meet Joe, who is hiding at the mansion owned by Arthur Manleder, Blackie's eccentric millionaire friend. Blackie traces the cab driver's license that he found at the scene of Duke's murder to Caveroni. Setting a trap for Caveroni, Blackie instructs Eve to hail Caveroni's cab and take it to the hotel where Duke's body is hidden. Eve asks Caveroni to carry her bag to her room, and when he opens the door, he is met by Blackie, who confronts him with the corpse and accuses him of murder. Meanwhile, Farraday returns to the hotel, alerted by the ambulance driver's report of a missing corpse. Outside the hotel room door, Farraday listens as Caveroni confesses to killing Duke because Duke was planning to frame him and admits that he and Duke framed Joe. Trying to escape, Caveroni runs out the door, takes the elevator to the lobby and jumps in his cab, but is shot by the police. Joe is cleared of all charges, and at a Christmas party, he toasts Blackie and Farraday as the "two best cops in the world."
Director
Lew Landers
Director
Cast
Chester Morris
Boston Blackie
Adele Mara
Eve Sanders
Richard Lane
Inspector Farraday
George E. Stone
The Runt
Lloyd Corrigan
Arthur Manleder
Walter Sande
Inspector Mathews
Larry Parks
Joe Trilby
George Mckay
Roggi McKay
Cy Kendall
Jumbo Madigan
Paul Fix
Steve Caveroni
Ben Taggart
Warden
Lloyd Bridges
Bus driver
John Tyrrell
Tom
Eddie Laughton
Milly
Ernie Adams
Doorman
George Hickman
Elevator boy
Eileen O'hearn
Maid
Dave Harper
Policeman
Mike Pat Donovan
Policeman
Bud Geary
Policeman
Bill Lally
Policeman
Kit Guard
Taxi driver
Duke York
Johnson
Dick Jensen
Martin
Walter Soderling
Dr. Crane
Cyril Thornton
Meggs
Harry Depp
Manager
Ted Mangean
Messenger boy
Edmund Cobb
Police sergeant
Frank Richards
Mack
Charles Morrison
Burke
Al Herman
Guard
Lee Prather
Guard
James T. Mack
Valet
Lester Dorr
Clerk
Sidney Miller
Bellhop
Francis Sayles
Proprietor
Crew
Eugene Anderson
Assistant Director
Lionel Banks
Art Director
Irving Briskin
Executive Producer
Lodge Cunningham
Sound Engineer
Richard Fantl
Film Editor
Wallace Macdonald
Producer
Robert Peterson
Associate (Art Direction)
M. W. Stoloff
Music Director
Philip Tannura
Director of Photography
Paul Yawitz
Original Screenplay
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Crime
Release Date
Apr
2,
1942
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the character created by Jack Boyle.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 7m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,050ft
Articles
Alias Boston Blackie -
As created by author Jack Boyle, crime-solver Boston Blackie began in 1914 as a safecracker who uses opium, but by his first silent film adventure in 1918 he had become an ex-criminal who solves crimes. Detective comedy-mysteries were so popular in 1940 that Columbia revived the franchise, with Chester Morris taking on the role, aided by scripts that gave him a constant supply of wisecracks. Morris's third adventure Alias Boston Blackie (1942) teams our hero with his usual cohorts. Trusted sidekick 'The Runt' (George E. Stone) always complains that he can't get enough sleep. Blackie's carefree wealthy pal Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan) provides assists as well. Blackie's comic nemesis is Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane), the cop who never believes Blackie has reformed, and whose signature line is, 'Whoa, Nellie!' This time out Blackie accompanies a show troupe on a special Christmas performance at his former residence, the State Pen. When convict Joe Trilby (Larry Parks) escapes by changing identities with a clown, Blackie is falsely implicated as well. As is the formula, Blackie maintains a lighthearted attitude while evading Farraday's cops and trying to prevent Joe from being killed by the crooks that framed him. Adele Mara plays a dancer who helps Blackie zero in on the real villain. Critics were unimpressed with the mystery but enjoyed the snappy jokes in Paul Yawitz's script and praised Lew Landers' speedy direction. The series would continue for seven more years and eleven feature films before eventually moving to radio, and then becoming a TV show starring Kent Taylor.
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
Alias Boston Blackie -
As created by author Jack Boyle, crime-solver Boston Blackie began in 1914 as a safecracker who uses opium, but by his first silent film adventure in 1918 he had become an ex-criminal who solves crimes. Detective comedy-mysteries were so popular in 1940 that Columbia revived the franchise, with Chester Morris taking on the role, aided by scripts that gave him a constant supply of wisecracks. Morris's third adventure Alias Boston Blackie (1942) teams our hero with his usual cohorts. Trusted sidekick 'The Runt' (George E. Stone) always complains that he can't get enough sleep. Blackie's carefree wealthy pal Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan) provides assists as well. Blackie's comic nemesis is Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane), the cop who never believes Blackie has reformed, and whose signature line is, 'Whoa, Nellie!' This time out Blackie accompanies a show troupe on a special Christmas performance at his former residence, the State Pen. When convict Joe Trilby (Larry Parks) escapes by changing identities with a clown, Blackie is falsely implicated as well. As is the formula, Blackie maintains a lighthearted attitude while evading Farraday's cops and trying to prevent Joe from being killed by the crooks that framed him. Adele Mara plays a dancer who helps Blackie zero in on the real villain. Critics were unimpressed with the mystery but enjoyed the snappy jokes in Paul Yawitz's script and praised Lew Landers' speedy direction. The series would continue for seven more years and eleven feature films before eventually moving to radio, and then becoming a TV show starring Kent Taylor.
By Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This was the third picture in Columbia's "Boston Blackie" series. For additional information on the series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry below for Meet Boston Blackie.
