This is quite the entertaining picture, but boy oh boy, you really have to stretch the credibility factor to make it through the entire story. The main one for me, and there were many, was the way Cecilia Bradley (Rochelle Hudson) accepted her fate when Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) hijacked her auto and literally kidnapped her onto a train car. You would think a panic attack might be in order, wouldn't you? Yet Miss Bradley appears pretty much nonplussed, and even sticks around to take part in Blackie's frenetic dealings with Police Inspector Faraday (Richard Lane).What was pretty clever though were the three verbal clues left for Blackie by the dying Marilyn Howard (Constance Worth) - 'mechanical man, Skyland sign, and 2 1/2'. Making their way through a carnival freak show, Blackie and Ms. Bradley manage to put the pieces together in a way that lead them to bad guys sending messages to an off shore ship using lights and Morse Code. I had the same thought as another reviewer for this picture - just how common was Morse Code for so many characters in the story to be using or understanding it? Personally, I don't know how those who use it can keep up with the rapid pace of the clicks sending the message.I try to catch these Boston Blackie flicks whenever they make the rounds on Turner Classics, usually one at a time, so of necessity manage to see them out of original film release order. Of the ones I've seen, they're fairly representative of the era's detective type films which include Charlie Chan, Bulldog Drummond and Mr. Wong. The series borrows a gimmick from another detective franchise of the era, in as much as Boston Blackie's former career involved being a jewel thief, just like The Lone Wolf.

I actually like some of the later Boston Blackie films better than this one, but it is a good enough opener to the series. Chester Morris usually played a hard-boiled tough guy whether he was portraying an actual criminal or just a remorseless cheating husband as he was in "The Divorcée". As Blackie he shows a good bit of finesse and range - he admits he was a thief, and apparently one that has never really been caught, but now he's going straight. He's tough when he has to be, he's a friend when he can be, a ladie's man when he gets the opportunity, and honest if possible. He is even trusted by Inspector Faraday, his nemesis, to not run away if he promises that.This opener to the series has a patriotic theme, with Blackie's chivalry on board an ocean liner leading to the infiltration of a nest of spies. Made shortly before the beginning of World War II, a conflict that most people saw coming, movies with patriotism and spies were common up to two years before Pearl Harbor. I didn't find the story or Blackie's romantic lead particularly interesting, but I love watching Chester Morris at work here. Plus the other characters are fun too.In particular, Charles Wagenheim as "the runt" manages to be Blackie's trusty if not very helpful associate who is reliable comic relief without becoming whiny or annoying. Inspector Farraday is no Keystone Cop, but I would think after the first half dozen times Blackie solves the crime, gift wraps the criminals, and hand delivers them to the precinct door, Farraday might begin to believe Blackie had changed.Highly recommended as an entertaining vehicle for an underrated actor - Chester Morris.

Meet Boston Blackie (1941) ** 1/2 (out of 4) First entry into Columbia's Boston Blackie series with Chester Morris. In this film, the ex-thief tries to track down a group of spies hiding out in Coney Island. This was a pleasant enough little film with some nice laughs and decent action. With my first viewing of the series Morris struck me as merely good but nothing great ala some of the other crime series like Holmes, Chan and Moto. There were some very good moments and the film got better as it went along but there were a few too many "cheap way out" moments where pieces of the mystery are put together and they seemed too easy. Richard Lane is also very good as the Inspector who never believes Boston has gone straight. Directed by Robert Florey.

This was my first look at this old-time crime "series," if you will, of hour-long tales starring Chester Morris as "Boston Blackie." I don't know enough about the character, since this was my first look, to make many comments on him but Morris reminds me a bit, with his smugness, of William Powell playing "Nick Charles" of "The Thin Man" movie fame. In a nutshell, I found this movie surprisingly fast-paced and entertaining. I hope they all are similar to this with interesting characters and a good mix of crime, snappy dialog that includes humor, nice-looking "dames," chase scenes and the like. Yes, it's dated but that's okay for the most part although some scenes you shake your head with the implausibility. At the end, Blackie makes a throw that a Major Leauge baseball pitcher couldn't make, but despite the credibility it was a short, fun story that doesn't drag. Rochelle Hudson filled the bill as the female lead. I remember her from a Shirley Temple film or two. Richard Lane was a bit odd as "Inspecor Faraday." He kept saying - or hinting - that he cared about Blackie but but at the same time he kept trying to put him in the electric chair. Some friend!Overall, enjoyable, and I hope I see many of the 13 others in the series is they are as fast- paced as this one.