Last night, we watched Chester Morris in the first Boston Blackie movie: "Meet Boston Blackie"(1941). There was another version of the series in the Silent era, but it's most identified with Morris (he made 14 of 'em), and I think it'll be our new Sunday night go-to. In this first installment, he and "Runt" (Charles Wagenheim) are on an ocean liner, returning to New York. Blackie is coming down the staircase when he sees a woman being harassed by a big goon in a suit. Ever the gentleman, and a prime picker-up of chicks, Blackie goes to her rescue. He shoves the goon away, then walks arm in arm down the hall with the dame. He asks "when will I see you again?" She says "you won't", then she goes to her room. Blackie is undaunted, but he has bigger problems that night, because his old nemesis "Inspector Faraday" (Richard Lane) is on board the ship, trying to nail Blackie for the robbery of a string of pearls. Faraday cuffs Blackie, who then shows him how easy it is to break out of the cuffs. Blackie tells him "I've gone straight. I'm out of the jewelry business", but with Faraday and Blackie, there's always an element of mistrust. Faraday decides he has no choice but to trust him without the cuffs, but when they reach port, Blackie is going to jail.
Then Blackie goes back to his cabin on the ship, where he finds the big goon dead (the guy who was accosting the woman). Not wanting the Inspector to blame him for that too, he escapes the ship when it docks, and carjacks "Cecelia Bradley" (Rochelle Hudson) who happens to be driving by. She's shocked at first - "who are you and what do you want?!" - but after a minute, she's not too perturbed because he's quick with a quip and seems to know his Caper Flick business. Thus, let the hijinx begin! You couldn't have a better Screwball team than this one.
Blackie drives them to a hotel where he reunites with Runt, who's learned about the dame from the ship. "She's a spy, Blackie! They're trying to steal the new Navy bombsight!" Blackie decides to follow her. Cecelia is enjoying the adventure and wants to tag along. Blackie doesn't want an amateur risking his neck, so he shoves Cecelia into the hotel room bed, a retractable fold-up. Then he pushes the bed into the wall and closes the door. Cecelia is folded up into the bed and out of his way, or so he thinks.
Now Blackie locates the spy woman from the ship. She's walking to a carnival on the nearby boardwalk. He stops her and says "so, we meet again. I know you're a spy. Who was that dead man in my cabin"?
"He was trying to kill me. I got him first. He was sent by the man I am working for." In other words, the gal wants out of the Spy Business. Blackie is willing to help her, but just then they are followed by two more goons in suits, who chase them into a funhouse ride, where they shoot the gal dead with poisoned darts. Unfortunately for Blackie, he throws one dart back at the pursuers. Now his fingerprints are on it, so when Inspector Faraday finds the dead man in his room, along with the dart and the dead gal in the funhouse, he has two reasons to pin both murders on Blackie, who's running against the clock, as always, to stay one step ahead of the Inspector and also to break up the spy ring. Luckily, the dead woman has left him a clue. "Look for the Mechanical Man". I won't give away his role in the plot, but you'll know him when you see him : a mannakin-like carnival performer who appears every time someone dies.
After the movie was over, I found an interesting tidbit on Wiki. While reading the bio of actor Richard Lane, who plays Inspector Faraday, I saw that he was also known professionally as Dick Lane, and that rang a bell. Then - holy smokes! - I remembered him from Roller Derby in the early 70s ! Man, when was the last time you thought of Dick Lane, and how far back does that take you? He was the announcer and according to Wiki, he coined the phrase "Whoa Nellie"! when the action got crazy on the skating track. Dick Lane! He was balding and older on Roller Derby, which if I recall was live on Channel 5 or 11 on Saturday nights. In the movie he's early middle age and looks entirely different. That's why, as Richard Lane, you'd never make the connection. Anyhow, Two Big Thumbs Up for "Meet Boston Blackie". We're gonna be watching 'em all; it's the best crime caper series since "The Whistler" and "Crime Doctor" from last year, and with Chester Morris in the lead, it may be the best Screwball Crime Series yet. Highly recommended, the picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night we had Ken Maynard again, in "Texas Gun Fighter"(1932). We're really getting to like ol' Ken, and he's great in this early talkie. As the movie opens, "Mason" (Harry Woods), a gang boss, is paying off his honchos for their help in the latest gold robbery. "This is just peanuts", he tells 'em. "wait until the mine re-opens. That'll be a real take." "Bill Dane" (Maynard), just wants his cut so he can quit. Mason isn't happy: "Why're you cuttin' out on me, Dane?" He replies, "I told you after this job I was through. Me and Banty are goin' straight." "Banty" (Lloyd Ingraham) is Dane's old riding buddy, a geezer with an injured spine. "We just want our cut and then we're done", Dane tells Mason. Mason doesn't want Dane to quit, because he's a dead shot, better known as the Texas Gun Fighter. With Dane on their side, Mason knows no lawman can stop his gang. Now Dane wants out. What's Mason gonna do? He acts like it's okay and tells Dane "thanks for everything", but then he sends one of his henchmen out to follow Dane and Banty and kill them. The henchman, "Drag" (Jim Mason), tries to ambush them at Dane's house, but "Tarzan", Ken Maynard's trusty horse, sees Drag and knocks him for a loop. Tarzan saves the day once again.
Now that Dane knows Mason is out to get him, he and Banty head for the rocks, where they shoot it out with Mason and his gang, and manage to hold them off. But during the shootout, the wagon carrying the mine's gold bullion rides by. Mason and his men chase it down, and the trailer wagon goes off a cliff. The main wagon keeps going but is out of control (like Reege). Mason and his boys, thinking the bullion is in the fallen wagon, ride down in the gulley to grab the bullion and split. Dane and Banty chase the runaway wagon, to help the driver bring it to a stop. Of course, the driver is a pretty lady, and a daughter on top of that. It's always a daughter in any wagon that's out of control. In this case, "Jane" (Sheila Mannors) is the daughter of the mine owner "Frank Adams" (Edgar Lewis). She tells Dane, "I've never had a problem delivering the bullion before". He feels guilty for having being part of Mason's gang, but he keeps his identity quiet and helps her get the bullion back home.
When Mr. Adams the mine owner sees what Dane and Banty have done, he's mightily impressed, and offers the two a reward. Banty gets an operation paid for to fix his spine, and Dane becomes the toast of the town. Mr. Adams also makes Dane the new Sheriff after telling him he knows he's the Texas Gun Fighter. "I am hoping you've truly gone straight". Dane says he has, but there's still the temptation to steal the bullion. If it wasn't for Jane Adams and Banty keeping him on the high road, he just might revert to his old ways. But his better angels hold, and he honors his commitment. Mason then corners him one day in the bank at gunpoint, and says "C'mon Dane, you're just pretending to be Sheriff, aren't you?" He thinks, once a crook, always a crook: "You're trying to steal the bullion for yourself". Dane, knowing he has to agree with Mason or be shot, tricks him by saying "yeah you're right, I fooled that old dummy Adams. I'm gonna steal the bullion and I'll cut you in". In fact, he offers to give all the bullion to Mason and his men, and pick up his own cut when they remove it. But after they take it all out of the bank vault, Dane leaves a note for Banty that he's been forced to assist in the robbery. Banty tells Jane, but her Dad isn't yet aware what has happened. He forms a posse to track down Dane and Mason, saying "I never should have trusted him. He's gone back to his old gang". Tarzan, who is psychically linked to Dane, knows exactly what's going on. By now, Mason has found Dane's note to Banty, and knows he's been double crossed. He's got Dane tied up on horseback, and plans to shoot him when they get to the hideout. But Dane jumps in the river to escape, and Tarzan arrives by himself to untie him. Tarzan is a one-horse army. He even pulls Dane's hat out of the river with his teeth, then he leads Mr. Adams and the posse back to Dane so they can see that he isn't part of Mason's bullion heist.
This of course leads to punchouts, then shootouts and the ending, in which Tarzan helps Bill Dane stop the bad guys. Two Big Thumbs Up, Ken Maynard rules; movies don't get better than this, 60 minute Westerns at any rate, which, when all is said and done - because so many hundreds of them were made - just might be the lasting image of the movie industry. I was just thinking that our Western Movie Cowboys were, as a group, the first genre of Movie Stars, and if you go to Youtube and read the comments, people are still seeking out these films almost one hundred years later. Though the budgets were low, they really held up, and that's because they promoted all the best values.
That's all I know for tonight. I'm listening to St. John Passion by Bach, reading Paul McCartney, and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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