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Best movie of this year hands down!

hyped garbage

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I hope writer Jack Boyle got some of the money that was made off his man "Boston Blackie"... there were TONS of films made with that character. Chester Morris was probably the best known. In this chapter, Blackie is the chaperone for some work release prisoners, and one escapes to dig up some stolen dough. Things go haywire, as they always do, and the caper is on! Blackie has to track down the guy who knows the truth, but the police are after HIM, so he has to stay one step ahead. The usual antics, and boy, the cops were silly back then. The story kind of goes all over the place, but its okay. And it's only a 65 minute shortie. Currently showing on Turner Classics. My favorite line in here is when the desk clerk sees the guy with the beard, and says "Hey, you with the chin drapes!" Most of it is pretty average, and for the last five minutes, the fistfight takes place in the dark... rather pointless. meh. Directed by William Castle, known for low budget yet fairly successful films.

It's more of the same here for Boston Blackie in the sixth of the series. Chances have it that the film itself is more mediocre than before, although there are some very amusing moments. Boston Blackie finds himself in trouble once again, wanted by the ever persistent (and still dumber than a box of unpublished scripts) and the even more idiotic Walter Reade, all because he aided old pal Erik Wolfe in covering up manslaughter. Joining other macho dudes who dressed in drag, Chester Morris disguises himself as a scrub maid, along with George E. Stone, getting Maude Eburne drunk in the film's best scene. But it's mostly bland, a repeat of what was already done (and better), with Lloyd Corrigan back once again along with other previous seen actors in different parts. Jeanne Bates, a brief Columbia contract actress, gets little to do as Rolfe's wife, kidnapped by the villains and the key to what really happened. At least, however, it's not a dreadful film, although I found myself starting to feel a bit of de ja vu. Six down, eight to go, and hoping for improvement.

A prison work release program Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) is pushing is endangered by one of the prisoners being implicated in a murder. So what does Blackie do? He takes the blame for the murder, of course. I realize this sounds beyond idiotic but keep in mind that the formula of literally every Boston Blackie movie is that Blackie is the prime suspect in whatever murder occurs in that film. By the end of every film, he manages to catch the real killer and prove his innocence to dogged Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane). So, in a way, it makes perfect sense that Blackie would take the blame since his track record is pretty good with the threat of a murder arrest hanging over his head.Seriously, though, the plot to this one is pretty far-fetched and tough to swallow. But somehow it's still enjoyable thanks to the solid cast of regulars that the Boston Blackie series had. Yes, the series was extremely formulaic and this works against it, especially when you view the films back-to-back. But if you just happen to catch this one on TV one day, without any critical context, it will surely entertain you. Not the best of the series but still fun. There's a character named Dooley who throws just about the wildest overhand punch I've ever seen. That alone is worth checking it out.

I have seen just about all of the Chester Morris "Boston Blackie" films and have to say that this one is about the worst due to very, very bad writing. While the usual "dumb cop" schtick has worn too thin (Faraday and his assistant are sub-moronic clichés as police--too dumb to be anything other than tiresome), my main complaint is the dumb plot itself--it's just so ridiculous and hard to believe that the film soon lost me.Blackie has a plan and he asks the warden at a prison to parole ten men to him (himself, an ex-con) so the guys can work in a defense plant owned by his friend. This is unlikely, but since it was a WWII-era film, I could ignore this. But, when a man has committed a robbery and has only served a short amount of time and EVERYONE tells Blackie this man is too great a risk, Blackie STILL pushes for the man's release. Okay...not exactly believable,...but I guess I can go with this. However, when later this same prisoner's two old accomplices confront him and demand they split the stolen money, there is a struggle and one of the men is killed. So what does Blackie do when he discovers this? Tell the warden or call the police? No. Instead, he insanely convinces the police that HE (Blackie) killed the man and stole the loot!! This just made no sense at all, as it practically puts Blackie into the electric chair AND ruins the chances of his pet project to succeed. What were the writers thinking? About the only good part of the film involved Blackie and Runt dressing as cleaning women (something they did in another film--repetition is an ever-present problem for Blackie films as plot elements are recycled again and again). Unlike Sherlock Holmes, the Falcon or even Charlie Chan, the excessively repetitive nature of the Blackie series make seeing all the films rather unnecessary. I say see a few and then quit, otherwise it's all "like a case of déjà vu all over again" (Yogi Berra).By the way, if you look closely, you'll see Sid Melton is one of the parolees. Sid was "Alf Monroe" from the TV series GREEN ACRES.