A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946)
1h 0m | PG-13
Blackie runs into a woman he formally loved who now 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. Blackie must set out to prove his innocence as well as capture the real killers.
Director: Lew Landers
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Video: 720p
Cast
Chester Morris
as Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black / Cyrus Peyton
Lynn Merrick
as Geraldine 'Gerry' Peyton
Richard Lane
as Inspector Farraday
Frank Sully
as Sgt. Matthews
George E. Stone
as The Runt
Claire Carleton
as Mamie Kirwin
Reviews
The eponymous "Blackie" (Chester Morris) and his sidekick the "Runt" (George E. Stone) rescue a woman assaulted outside their apartment. The former soon recognises the lass as "Gerry" (Lynn Merrick), an ex-girlfriend heiress and what's more, she has a baby with her too! Who's is it? Who assaulted her? Why? Well it doesn't take us long before the first gunshots ring out and good old "Insp. Farraday" (Richard Lane) and "Blackie" are competing to find the culprits before our intrepid cop, as usual, jumps to the wrong conclusion! It's a well oiled production process with well established characters going through the ultimate in formulaic detective mysteries with a few red herrings before an ending you can spot from space. The writing is adequate, the performances keep it interesting for just under an hour and there is just about enough to keep us guessing as to who did the shooting until quite near the conclusion. Morris was in his element with this series of films, charming and charismatic and with Stone doing his best Jimmy Durante impression the thing works fine.