THE BOSTON BLACKIE COMPLETE MOVIE SERIES
STARRING CHESTER MORRIS

The earliest film adaptations were silent, dating from 1918 to 1927. 
Columbia Pictures revived the property in 1941 with Meet Boston Blackie, 
a fast, 58-minute "B" feature starring Chester Morris. Although the running 
time was brief, Columbia gave the picture good production values and an 
imaginative director (Robert Florey). The film was successful, and a 
series followed.

In the Columbia features, Boston Blackie is a reformed jewel thief who 
is always suspected when a daring crime is committed. In order to clear 
himself, he investigates personally and brings the actual culprit to justice, 
sometimes using disguises. An undercurrent of comedy runs throughout 
the action/detective series.

Chester Morris gave the Blackie character his own personal charm: he 
could be light and flippant or stern and dangerous, as the situation 
demanded. His sidekick, "The Runt," was always on hand to help his 
old friend. George E. Stone played Runt in all but the first and last films. 
Charles Wagenheim and Sid Tomack, respectively, substituted for Stone 
when he was not available.

Blackie's friendly adversaries were Inspector Farraday of the police 
(played in all the films by Richard Lane) and his assistant, Sergeant 
Matthews. Matthews was originally played as a hapless victim of 
circumstance by Walter Sande; he was replaced by Lyle Latell, who 
played it dumber, and then by comedian Frank Sully, who played it 
even dumber.

Blackie and Runt were often assisted in their endeavors by their friends: 
the cheerful but easily flustered millionaire Arthur Manleder (almost always 
played by Lloyd Corrigan; Harry Hayden and Harrison Greene each played 
the role once), and the streetwise pawnbroker Jumbo Madigan (played by 
Cy Kendall or Joseph Crehan). A variety of actresses (including Rochelle 
Hudson, Harriet Hilliard (Nelson), Adele Mara and Ann Savage) took turns 
playing various gal-Friday characters.

The films are highly typical of Columbia's B product of the 1940s, with an 
assortment of veteran character actors (including Clarence Muse, Marvin 
Miller, George Lloyd, Byron Foulger), new faces on the way up (Larry Parks, 
Dorothy Malone, Nina Foch, Forrest Tucker, Lloyd Bridges)




DISK 1


MEET BOSTON BLACKIE 1941 Rochelle Hudson
BOSTON BLACKIE GOES HOLLYWOOD 1942
CONFESSIONS OF BOSTON BLACKIE 1941 Joan Woodbury
ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE 1942 Larry Parks


DISK 2


AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE 1943
THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME 1943
ONE MYSTERIOUS NIGHT 1944
BOSTON BLACKIE BOOKED ON SUSPICION 1945


DISK 3


BOSTON BLACKIE’S RENDEZVOUS 1945
A CLOSE CALL FOR BOSTON BLACKIE 1946
THE PHANTOM THIEF 1946
BOSTON BLACKIE AND THE LAW 1946


DISK 4


TRAPPED BY BOSTON BLACKIE 1948
BOSTON BLACKIE’S CHINESE VENTURE 1949
THE RETURN OF BOSTON BLACKIE 1927 - Silent

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