Boston Blackie's Rendezvous

Boston Blackie's out to stop an escaped maniac on a killing spree. That is if Blackie can keep from being arrested by moronic Inspector Farraday, who has the wrong suspect as usual. Farraday couldn't find his rear end with both hands and a flashlight.

Decent Boston Blackie movie where the series' reliably entertaining regular cast gets better than average support from the likes of Nina Foch, Steve Cochran, and adorable Iris Adrian. Despite dark subject matter, they still find time for some ill-conceived humor. One disappointing part of this movie was the offensive blackface gag where Blackie and Runt disguise themselves as black cleaning women to elude Farraday. This is the third time in the series Blackie uses this ruse. Even if you find it funny (I don't), it's tired and repetitive by this point.

Boston Blackie's friend Arthur needs help: his insane nephew Jimmy has escaped from the asylum and who knows what he may do! Agreeing to help track down Jimmy, Blackie is soon mixed up in—yes, a murder, and yes, Blackie's old friendly nemesis Inspector Farraday is right there to pin the crime on Blackie.

Steve Cochran is appropriately creepy as the lunatic, and through many uncomfortable moments he peeks around corners and lurks in hallways while other characters obliviously look in the wrong places and for the wrong person. Even Blackie misses him narrowly a couple of times while we in the audience want to shout out at him—"Hey! Blackie! No, not there, he's going out the back!"

It's a tense mystery; for one thing, the gratuitous and random nature of the two murders make for a less "comfortable" viewing experience than a more typical who-done-it where you may not know the killer's identity but you do know that he or she has a "logical" reason for killing and therefore a more exclusive hit list. Of course, there's comic relief here and there, but the humor this time around frequently falls flat—the Runt's scaredy-cat antics, for example, come across as mostly idiotic rather than hilarious or even pleasantly silly.

Nina Foch is good in a role where she spends most of her time on screen trying to size up whether she's talking to a friend or a stalker. Chester Morris and Richard Lane are steady as always as Blackie and Farraday.

Still plenty of charm and confidence provided by Morris, and so Blackie fans like me won't want to miss this one; but I have to say it's not the series' finest hour.

When his pal "Manleder" (Harry Hayden) almost breaks down the door one night, he regales "Blackie" (Chester Morris) and "Runt" (George E. Stone) with a story of his nephew who has been in a sanatorium accused of being a strangler - and that he has escaped. Assuring him things will be fine, "Blackie" is soon face to face with the rumoured throttler - "Cook" (Steve Cochran) then left wondering if there might be truth to the allegations. "Insp. Faraday" (Richard Lane) and his sidekick "Matthews" (Frank Sully) are quickly on the case and, as usual, they jump to a series of wrong conclusions that makes the search for the killer and the protection of the damsel in distress "Sally" (Nina Foch) all the harder as the body count starts to mount. It's good fun this one, with plenty of action and a decently witty script that provides for plenty of banter as the chase hots up. The denouement itself isn't up to much, it's a bit flat actually, but Morris is on good form and his impersonation of the woman's elderly grandmother does raise a smile. Not the best of these mysteries, but it's enjoyable for an hour.

Boston Blackie's Rendezvous (1945)

*** (out of 4)

Ninth film in Columbia's Boston Blackie series once again features Chester Morris in the role. In this film, a psychopath (Steve Cochran) escapes from an asylum and begins to strangle various women. It appears he's working his way down a line until he can meet a dancer (Nina Foch) he became obsessed with in the asylum. Blackie (Morris), The Runt (George E. Stone) and Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) are once again hot on the case. This is a step up from the last couple films I've seen in the series because it's unlike anything that came before it. Cochran is very good as the killer and the screenplay doesn't shy away from his evilness. Morris, Stone and Lane are as entertaining as ever. Morris gets to do a couple nice magic tricks in the film and the twist involving the killer trapping him was well written.

Chester Morris, (Boston Blackie) has the task of trying to hunt down an insane person who escapes from a mental institution and starts looking for a girl named Sally Brown,(Nina Foch) who works in a dance hall. This escaped killer has a big crush on Sally Brown and even keeps a diary on his daily thoughts about this girl. Steve Cochran,(James Cook) plays the role of the mental patient who as soon as he gets headaches, snaps into a killing urge and manages to kill another girl. Inspector Farraday,(Richard Lane) for some reason thinks that Boston Blackie has lost his mind and is doing all this killing and he stops looking for the real killer. George E. Stone,(The Runt) appears once again as Boston Blackie's sidekick and gives a great supporting role. This film is very entertaining and enjoyable to watch.