The Phantom Thief

In "The Phantom Thief," Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) is as usual blamed for anything that goes wrong on Inspector Farraday's (Richard Lane) watch. This time, as he attempts to help a friend of the Runt's (George E. Stone) return some jewels he didn't mean to steal, Blackie finds himself involved with a phony medium (Marvin Miller), blackmail, and murder, all the while trying to hide from Farraday, sometimes in plain sight.

Not a bad entry into the series, with Jeff Donnell, who was actually a character actress, playing a duped, wealthy woman with rotten taste in men. She handles her part well, considering she usually played a bubbly, wisecracking friend. Marvin Miller, with dark makeup and that sonorous voice, is effective as the medium. Boomers may remember him as John Beresford Tipton's go-to Mr. Anthony on "The Millionaire." Unfortunately he never made it to my house.

Chester Morris is charming and funny as Blackie, but this time he's not particularly ably assisted by The Runt, who is terrified of all those disembodied hands and skeletons at the séance.

Fast-moving and entertaining.

Phantom Thief, The (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) once again finds himself involved in a murder case where ghosts and a weird fortune teller are suspects. This isn't the best in the series but it's not the worst either and in the end it makes for an entertaining 65-minutes. The mystery this time out is pretty predictable and easy to follow but there are some nice added touches including all the stuff involving the ghosts. The supporting cast is up to their usual nice quality with Richard Lane and George E. Stone back to their old tricks as Farraday and The Runt.

Tenth movie in Columbia's Boston Blackie series starring Chester Morris. This one has Blackie taking on a phony spiritualist (Marvin Miller) who's blackmailing a woman (Jeff Donnell). Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) is on the wrong track as always. A fun entry in the series, thanks to a good cast and supernatural elements that provide more atmosphere than usual. Morris and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick The Runt are both great. Stone gets a lot of comedic bits here, afraid of spooks and the like. Richard Lane is amusingly cantankerous in this one. Jeff Donnell gives a sympathetic turn and Dusty Anderson provides some sex appeal as Miller's assistant. For his part, deep-voiced Marvin Miller is sufficiently sinister as the villain. Joseph Cretan has a nice scene as a tough pawnbroker that's somewhat of a change of pace from his usual authoritarian roles. I enjoy the Boston Blackie series a lot, even with its formulaic plots. This is one of the better Blackie pictures.

Boston Blackie indulges in some wit-trading with a squirmy spiritualist who deals in blackmail, murder and the occult. "Blackie" out to help his pal, "Runt," recover some jewels, finds himself involved in the homicides, and also finds himself as the prime suspect, and now has to find the real culprit in order to clear himself. So "Blackie,", a man of many talents, shows he knows a little bit about dancing skeletons, walking phantoms and spiritualism himself, and holds a séance to unmask the murderer.

Jewel theft, seances, murder, trapdoors, spooks, blackmail and murder - it's all here in this light crime quickie. It's a fun film with Boston Blackie and the runt getting into trouble and murder. Love the snappy dialogue and the busy plot.

Post-War Blackie film, a little harder edged than before, but still with an over-abundance of verbal witticisms and slapstick. The Runt tries to help a pal accused of stealing a diamond necklace, Blackie gets involved but can't prevent the pal on the lam getting stabbed in the back while watching all of the suspects perform at a rather feeble séance. Huh? It makes sense while you're watching it anyhow, except maybe who the murderer turned out to be - it must have been Real Dark!

Chester Morris as Blackie seemed a bit more relaxed in here than previously, maybe the absence of a black-face routine helped?! Jeff Donnell as Anne was decorative, even if she did stretch credulity with her credulousness! Marvin Miller as Dr. Nejino was Deeply sinister - thanks mainly to his fruity and succinct baritone voice, Dusty Anderson's only problem as his cohort(?) was to be too tall for everybody else in the film. George E. Stone as Runt was starting to bug me in this one - his whining almost-effeminacy made me wish Blackie would bitch-slap him and stand him in a corner as a naughty little boy and spare us his company for the last 30 minutes or so. Inspector Farraday and Sgt. Matthews played the usual good double act, and even old Jumbo got an airing in a good scene.

All told, nice entry in the series.