Boston Blackie is led astray by a dame. The dame in this case being an ex-girlfriend of his played by beautiful Lynn Merrick. There's a baby, an extortion plot, and the inevitable murder charge for Blackie. One of these days Inspector Farraday might get the right suspect if he actually stopped to consider someone, ANYONE, besides Blackie! An enjoyable entry in the Boston Blackie series with lots of comedy. Blackie once again disguises himself as an old man. At least he doesn't wear blackface this time. Chester Morris, Richard Lane, and George E. Stone are all good as usual. Claire Carleton is fun as Runt's girlfriend Mamie. The baby is cute. Certainly not the best Boston Blackie movie but hard to dislike.

If you've never seen a Boston Blackie film, then there are a few things you should know about every film. First, Blackie USED to be a criminal. But, he did his time in prison and has definitely reformed. However, despite leading a very respectable life, the Inspector is always assuming that Blackie is bad and is constantly trying to pin murder raps on him. Second, the Inspector is an idiot...but his assistant is even stupider. Third, Blackie always is able to outsmart these two and ends up solving the crime himself. Fourth, he is a sucker for a dame...and in this particular installment, that's a serious problem. That's because he trusts an old ex-girlfriend--not realizing she's a crook and her boyfriend is a murderer! But because Blackie has this blind spot, he nearly gets arrested for murder and ends up having his friend, Runt, care for a lost baby! So is this film worth seeing? Well, for a B-movie it's pretty good but I must admit that there is a definite sameness with the Boston Blackie series. In other words, if you've seen a couple of them, you can pretty much guess what will happen in this one. It's pleasant and entertaining...plus the baby is pretty cute (yes, this one has a baby). A worthwhile time-passer and it's nice to see Blackie dressed up as an old man--the makeup job was actually really good.

Close Call for Boston Blackie, A (1946) *** (out of 4) Lew Landers (The Raven) directs this tenth entry in Columbia's popular series. This time out Blackie (Chester Morris) runs into a woman he formally loved who know 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 so he must set out to prove his innocence as well as capture the real killers. This one here is a step up from the previous film because they changed the mode quite a bit. For starters, the plot is a lot more difficult to figure out and is a lot more challenging for the viewing. Another added bonus is that Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) and Sergeant Matthews (Frank Sully) play a bigger part of the mystery and they aren't just here for laughs, although they still have a lot of funny moments. Another added bonus is the baby itself, which leads to several cute scenes with Blackie, the police and The Runt. All the cast members are once again at full force with Morris being as delightful as ever.

I didn't really catch the plot of this film very well as it went by, and I really hope to see it again, because I enjoyed it very much. Boston Blackie films are fairly fast paced comedies of error rolled up inside the usual amateur sleuth beats out the dumb police B movie staple fodder. These are light hearted films, and they're made for simple enjoyment.Beautiful blonde Gerry Payton is rescued by Boston Blackie as she is apparently about to be abducted by some thugs who are trying to drag her into their car. She asks him for help, and of course, he can't refuse such a gorgeous woman.There is a complex plot which I didn't follow and to heck with it. But, the babe is a crook, and her boyfriend is a crook, and half of the cast are crooks, and everyone but the cops are out to convince the cops that Boston Blackie is a murderer,and the cops didn't need convincing in the first place, so Boston Blackie is sunk and there is no way out for him. And part of the plot is that the criminals have made up a fictional baby boy, and have somehow managed to convince the grandfather of the non-existent baby boy that he should buy the boy from them for a large amount of money. Also, for some other unknown reason, they have actually managed to obtain a real baby boy, whom they are making no attempt to disguise as the fake Payton scion, since there is no one of any importance to them to see it, but nevertheless they are taking great pains to maintain this useless fiction.Can Boston Blackie and his partner The Runt figure out the plot, clear Blackie's name, rescue the child and put the criminals into the hands of the incompetent police?Well, maybe.