After Midnight with Boston Blackie

Columbia Pictures had an unbeatable formula in the 40's - get stars who had passed out of the limelight but still had great talent and charisma and make them the leads in short B crime mystery films with lively scripts. They did this with Warner Baxter and the Crime Doctor series, with Warren William and the Lone Wolf series, and with Chester Morris and the Boston Blackie series. They also had a habit of naming the films in almost a random way. For example this film has nothing to do with the hour of midnight or what came before or after.

The basis of the story is an old friend of Boston Blackie -"Diamond Ed" - is getting out of jail and has some diamonds hidden away for his grown daughter that are apparently from the heist for which he was doing time. His old gang has been waiting for him to get out and wants the loot. Blackie is drawn into the whole situation by Ed's daughter, who wants Blackie to help Ed decide to go straight. Of course, things never go right for Blackie or else we wouldn't have a story and soon Blackie finds himself falsely accused of killing Diamond Ed to get to his loot. The incompetent and always mistrusting detective Farraday and his sidekick Matthews get their usual exercise jumping to conclusions and running in circles.

There are a few items of note in this particular Boston Blackie film. First, we finally get to hear Blackie's real name. Second, apparently Blackie's friend "The Runt" (George E. Stone) has it in him to court and marry a very tall and buxom amazon of a woman who's a burlesque dancer at a local club...or does he??? Finally, I may have missed something but it is not entirely apparent at the end that Blackie turns over Ed's diamonds to the police. You walk away at the end not knowing if Blackie gave the diamonds to the daughter and told her to keep them or not. For a production code era crime film this would be quite an event.

Action packed from beginning to end, and even using a WWII west coast blackout as a plot device, I highly recommend this fast little film.