Sunday night means Boston Blackie, and we had a blast with Chester Morris and company in "Alias Boston Blackie"(1942), in which BB plans a Christmas show for the convicts at his former prison. As the movie opens, he and "Runt" (George E. Stone) are decorating a tree. Runt tells Blackie that the last thing he wants to do is go back to the joint, even for a visit. "I'd rather be cracking a safe". Blackie says "no more of that, it's time to give something back." This is Altruistic Blackie (rarely seen), but he does have an ulterior motive because a gal he's sweet on has a brother locked up for a crime he didn't commit, and if Blackie can get get him a new trial, it might lead to something with the sister. Blackie hopes to talk to the guy during the Christmas show, to get evidence on the crook who framed him. Runt and Sis (Adele Mara) accompany him on the bus trip to the prison (driven by a young Lloyd Bridges), and so do Inspector Faraday and Sgt. Matthews. Faraday is in the Christmas spirit, and has even promised to help Blackie with his show. When they arrive, the warden checks them in and the guards make a head count as each guest and performer enters the lockup. There's a clown who's set to perform, but Blackie's prisoner, whose name is "Joe Trilby" (Larry Parks) lures him to his room. Trilby is a prison trusty who doesn't have to sleep in his cell. When he gets the clown in his room, he pulls a gun and switches clothes. He puts the clown's makeup on, does the clown's performance, and when the show is over, he passes through the exit with the rest of the group and gets on the bus driven by Lloyd Bridges.
His sister knows the clown is Joe, and Blackie soon figures it out. He tries talking Joe into going back to the prison to give himself up. Joe says no, because he's been waiting two long years to get revenge on the guys who framed him - they conned him into a ride in his car and he wound up as the getaway driver on a stickup job. Now he's gonna kill both of those guys. Blackie's gonna try and stop him, but to do so he's gotta find out who the crooks are. Then a dead body turns up in Blackie's hotel room. He figures that it's one of the bad guys, that Joe killed him, and after he and Runt hide the body under a couch (which makes for much hijinx), he urges Joe to leave town or turn himself in. But Joe swears he didn't kill the guy: "I was gonna, but someone beat me to it". At a loss, Blackie goes to visit his pawn shop pal "Jumbo Madigan" (Cy Kendall), who has a reputation for knowing the criminal lowdown. Blackie brings a cabbie's badge he found by the body, and Jumbo mentions a cab driver named "Steve Caveroni" (Paul Fix), who operates downtown. Blackie sets up a scheme to trap Steve, using Joe's sister as bait.
This is a more serious Blackie than we've seen in other installations, thus it's shorter on comedy and closer to a standard crime film. However, you do get the Body-Under-The-Couch routine, and plenty of action. This may be the fastest Blackie yet. It moves at lightning speed, and Lloyd Corrigan bookends the picture as the affable but distracted "Arthur Manleder", Blackie's old pal from New York. This time Arthur has a dislocated jaw that must be repeatedly slapped back into place. Two Big Thumbs Up, of course. The picture is razor sharp. On a final note, as "Inspector Faraday", Richard Lane predates Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" by referencing his chance for an Academy Award nomination. Classic and highly recommended. ////
The previous night we began our first movie serial, of the type that were popular in the first half of the 20th century and were screened in weekly chapters, with cliffhanger endings to keep audiences coming back for more. Would you believe "Captain Marvel"(1941) was a movie attraction long before the present day Marvel Comics phenomenon? Yes indeed. I didn't know it myself until I did some research on Tom Tyler's career, and found out that, in addition to making Westerns, he was most well known for playing Captain Marvel in the chapter serial of the same name in 1941. This was years before Superman appeared in movies or on TV. I knew we had to see it, and tonight we watched the first two chapters in a razor sharp print that looks like it's straight off a dvd. The first chapter begins in Siam in Chatsworth Park. An expedition led by two British archaeologists is set to break into The Tomb of the Scorpion. They are warned, first by their guide "Tal Chotali" (John Davidson), then by the warlord "Rahman Bar" (Reed Hadley) that breaking into the tomb will unlock the Curse of The Scorpion. Being veddy Brrittish, they don't believe in superstition (fools!) and when they do indeed break into the tomb, they discover that the scorpion in question is a metallic device with five lenses that, when properly aligned and focused, can be used to transform base metals into gold, or as a devastating weapon. Being veddy Brritish, they want the device for themselves and for science (can't leave it for the savages), but also, Rahman Bar is no saint, so you can't blame it all on the Britishers. A young archaeology student named "Billy Batson" (Frank Coughlan Jr.) is visited by Shazam, a wise genie who tells Billy to invoke his name whenever he's in danger. Afterward, whenever Billy says "Shazam!", he turns into Tom Tyler in tights and a cape. Then he kicks major league bootation.
The special effects are fantastic, ditto the use of models and miniatures. I'm only into the first two chapters, but so far, after the British team removes the lenses from the scorpion, the warlord fights back by having his henchmen kill the one of the professors and an assistant. This leaves Billy Batson responsible for protecting the rest of the crew, including their Gal Friday "Betty Wallace" (Louise Currie), by saying Shazam! and turning into Captain Marvel. As Marvel, Tom Tyler basically kicks the living you know what out of the bad guys, but at the end of Chapter Two, they've knocked him out and put him on a conveyor belt, headed for a guillotine! Man, this is great stuff! I'll keep you posted on developments in future chapters.
I'm also watching music videos by The Association and We Five, and I've just begun listening to Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin" (tra-meNN-duss!). A note on Wagner operas: for best results, choose the ones conducted by Herbert von Karajan. That's all I know for this evening. I hope your week is off to a good start and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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