Not bad little crime caper on the lighter side. Boston Blackie, a reformed jewel thief (or something of that nature) is suspected yet again of thievery and murder. This time the goings-on take place in Chinatown. The transfer is fine. The Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD-R is excellent quality. The DVD-R has absolutely no extras. Goes right into the movie. Other than that recommended for fans of the genre.

It's only an hour, so it's a painless distraction, and at least, there are some nice outdoor shots for once rather than the claustrophobic photography of many of the other entries. After nine years and twelve films, it goes out with a bit of a whimper, but will be back for TV, the continuing place for many a famous movie detective. This entry is just another variation of older plots, with Chester Morris once again in the wrong place at the wrong time and once again the main suspect in murder. Obviously on those nine years and twelve films, inspector Richard Lane hasn't learned a darn thing. Maylia is a pretty, but bland, heroine. Two years would go by before Boston Blackie made his small screen debut, with Kent Taylor taking over. Seeing Morris and George E. Stone in Asian disguise isn't as offensive looking as an earlier really bad minstrel show look, but it's a close second.

"Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture" is the last in the Boston Blackie series, filmed in 1949. Thanks to Blackie, Chester Morris had to return to the theater, as he was quoted as saying, "After ... these films, a producer wouldn't put me in an 'A' movie even if I paid for the privilege." Without the good-looking, amusing Morris as Blackie, the series would not have worked as well as it did. The stories were usually very formulaic, and you really had to love the Runt in order for him not to become annoying. (The Runt here is Sid Tomack and not George E. Stone.) This story is actually kind of interesting - Blackie gets involved with a diamond smuggling ring in Chinatown after the owner of a laundry is found dead right after Blackie dropped off his laundry! Of course, as usual, he has to clear his name or be arrested by Inspector Farraday.The fun part about this film is the underground Chinese tours for tourists showing gambling, dancing slave girls, etc. - all fake, with the performers dropping their acts as soon as the tour guide moves on.Sorry to see Blackie go, but it became a TV show in the '50s starring Kent Taylor, a very different type from the amiable Morris.

With this one Columbia closed down the Blackie series, the 14th in 8 years and a fairly satisfying conclusion. Times and tastes were changing and actors and technicians were spending more time working for TV, this type of b film series became popular TV series during the '50's. Chester Morris moved onto doing more TV and stage stuff - and Richard Lane already was a successful TV wrestling commentator! I can almost hear him now - his high speed buzz-saw of a voice must have been perfect for the job! Blackie and Runt (Sid Tomack for the once) get accused of murdering Chinese laundry shop boss, tracking down the real killers with Inspector Farraday and Sgt. Matthews on their heels leads them into a web of ingenious diamond smugglers. This involves a diamond-cutting Nazi refugee held against his will but who seems to put up a good fight when confronted with Blackie, a night club owner who might be good or bad, a redhead who seems to walk all over Chinatown with hot diamonds in tow, and plenty of tea. As usual the 57 minutes are taken at warp speed, meaning that even though I've already seen it a couple of times I'll still have to see it again to finally settle who murdered who. Favourite bits: The "sleazy" tour of Chinatown that is by turns cringe-worthy and hilarious and Farraday's continuous witty estimations of Matthews' intelligence.All in all I think the BB's are an enjoyable and unjustly overlooked series with some films of course better than others, but with the last being as good as the first makes me wish they'd gone on churning them out just a few more years!