Last night, in "Raiders of San Joaquin"(1943), Johnny Mack Brown and Fuzzy Knight are riding through Corriganville when they see four men chasing a lone rider. Always on the side of the underdog, they join the fleeing horseman and safeguard his passage to his ranch.There, he explains that the men were from the railroad police. He's "Gil Blake" (Tex Ritter), son of the ranch owner "Jim" (Joseph E. Bernard), who claims that the A and M railroad is trying to force them off their land. The railroad police then show up at the door to give their side of the story. They say that Jim Blake has been paid fairly and squarely for his ranch. When Jim reaches for his deed, to show that he never signed it over, one of the officers thinks he's going for his gun, and shoots him dead. Son Gil swears vengeance. Johnny Mack tries to talk him down. "Let the law handle it, Gil". Gil's girlfriend "Jane Carter" (Jennifer Holt) agrees. "If you go after them, you'll only get yourself killed." Jane's Dad is "Bodine Carter" (Henry Hall), the owner of another local ranch. He's trying to hold out against the railroad takeover by legal means. The last thing he needs is a showdown involving his future son-in-law.
But Gil is hell bent. He's going after "Gus Sloan" (George Eldridge), the town representative, who's acting as an agent for A & M. Sloan is forcing all the ranchers off their land by offering them fire sale prices for their ranches. If they won't accept, he has the railroad police serve them eviction papers. Johnny Mack Brown is curious as to where Sloan is getting the money to buy all these properties, so he assumes the character of a masked "Black Rider", who accosts Sloan at gunpoint, and makes him open his safe. Johnny Mack - as the Rider - finds a whole bunch of "reseda-ed" documents inside (that's what he calls 'em, reseda-ed documents, like somebody reseda-ed them) that reveal the money source behind Sloan's power plays.
Through some complex exposition, in which you need a scorecard to keep track of the characters, we discover that the owner of the general store is using Sloan as a front to steal the land. I don't know what he's selling out of that store, but he must be doing a land office business to be able to pay out 10 to 15 Gees per ranch in 1885 money. Holy smokes! Along with the plot, you get the sidetrack (not subplot) of Fuzzy's lunch wagon, which looks like an 1885 version of a food truck, complete with wagon wheels. You also get the Jimmy Wakely Trio, doing their great western harmonies. Tex Ritter sings a song, but he's downright mean in this movie. He even gets in a punchout with Johnny Mack, which you never wanna see, but in the end he realises Johnny was right. And there's a reason Johnny's been wanting Gil to follow the law and not seek vengeance. No, it's not because he's secretly the Sheriff, but he does have a secret. I won't tell you what it is, but you'll find out at the end of the movie. As noted, it's an ultra complex plot, much of which is explained through character names in dialogue, so if you get mixed up between the numerous Blakes, Carters, Rogers and Morgans, don't worry. Just have a bowl of Fuzzy's special soup, and the tangle will smooth itself out. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Raiders of San Joaquin". It's one of the dozens of Westerns JMB made for Universal in the 1940s, so the sets are better looking and you get extras like the lunch wagon. Some of that early Johnny Mack boyish charm is missing, because now he's ten years older and in his mid-30s, but it's still great stuff and the picture is razor sharp. ////
Sunday night was Boston Blackie night, and boy did we love "A Close Call for Boston Blackie"(1946). As the movie opens, Blackie and Runt are riding in the back of Inspector Faraday's police car, but for once they aren't under arrest. Faraday is giving the boys a ride home after they teamed up to close out a case. Imagine that - the Inspector and Blackie cooperating! But no sooner do Blackie and Runt gets upstairs to their apartment than they hear a commotion on the street. Three thugs are pulling a girl from their car. Blackie and Runt run down there to find her unconcho. In a screenwriter's coincidence, she turns out to be "Gerry Peyton" (Lynn Merrick) a girl Blackie was sweet on, while her old man was locked up in prison. When Gerry wakes up she spills the beans; "I've got a child by him, Blackie". Blackie says, "What were you thinking, Gerry? You never should've married that crook! But who were those men who attacked you"? "They're trying to kidnap my baby for John. Blackie, he just got paroled!" Blackie wants to help her, and takes her up to the apartment to recover. But just then, her husband John kicks the door in. Blackie gets the jump on him, and slaps the cuffs on, but just as he's about to take John back to jail, one of the street thugs comes back and shoots John dead through the doorway. Blackie and Runt give chase, and the caper is on. Runt hides the baby at the apartment of "Mamie" (Claire Carleton) a blonde bombshell ditz, who's a waitress at the local sandwich shop.
Anytime you've got two men and a baby, and a fast talking smart-but-dumb blonde, the Screwball train is running in high gear, and it doesn't let up for a second in this movie. The bottom line is that Blackie finds out that the baby does not belong to Gerry, the girl he rescued. It's really the infant son of a man she's in cahoots with, as part of a plan to extort money from her dead husband's wealthy father.
Hilarious performances are the standard, all the way through. Standouts are Frank Sully as the dumbell "Sergeant Matthews" (who's such a nitwit they could've given him his own series), and Claire Carlton as Mamie the Waitress. Chester Morris shows his comedic range when he disguises himself as the elderly, rich father of Gerry's dead husband John. He looks and reminds one of Kelsey Grammer in this sequence, but actually it's the other way around. If you're not already a Blackie/Chester Morris fan, you will be after this movie. Two Big Thumbs Up for "A Close Call for Boston Blackie". The picture is razor sharp. ////
That's all for tonight. I'm dealing with a sprained hand that isn't healing because I can't rest it. My left hand is all bent with Dupuytren's, and when they did the ceiling repairs in my apartment, I had to move a ton of stuff (and clean and rearrange), and my right hand (which has a Dupuytren's pinkie), got overused and I sprained two fingers. That was five weeks ago, and they aren't healing because I'm right handed and I have to use them to do dishes, etc. I mean, your hands are your hands. You have to use them. I've tried using my left hand for stuff, but only my thumb and two fingers work on that hand, and I'm not left handed. So I'm really hoping my right hand will heal. As of now, I'm down to about 60% capacity of what my hands used to be before I got Dupuytrens, which was a genetic "hand-me-down" (pun intended) from my parents, both of whom had the condition.........ahh, what can you do? Sorry to complain and it could be a whole lot worse. I'm just hoping my right hand will heal. And, I'm listening to Uriah Heep. David Byron was one hell of a singer.
I hope your week is off to a good start and I send you Tons of Love as always.
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