It seems the more Boston Blackie films I watch, the more I think that this B-detective series just isn't quite as good as The Saint, The Falcon or Charlie Chan. This isn't to say that it is bad, but it just lacks the great fun and chemistry of some of its contemporaries. This film, while offering some pluses, isn't enough to change my opinion.
For once the plot is a bit different. A man who was on the parole board that recommended Blackie for parole many years before comes to see Blackie for help. It seems that his nephew is an escaped maniac who must be caught but he's afraid of what the scandal might do to the family, so Blackie agrees to investigate secretly. However, when the maniac starts killing people and the newspapers get involved, it's now a police matter and for absolutely no good reason, the cops blame Blackie for the murders---even though in every previous film they blamed him but he ultimately proved he's working for law and order! Plus he is a reformed jewel thief--not a murderer.
Instead of discussing the plot further, there's one other aspect of the film you just can't help noticing. When Blackie and Runt (his sidekick) are hiding from the police, they go in disguise--putting on black face and pretending to be cleaning women. On one level, this is kind of funny, but on the other it is very racially offensive--so much, that I just sat there in shock when they first appeared like this on screen!
Overall, it's an okay entry in the series--not one that is remarkably different or better but an amiable time-passer nonetheless.
For once the plot is a bit different. A man who was on the parole board that recommended Blackie for parole many years before comes to see Blackie for help. It seems that his nephew is an escaped maniac who must be caught but he's afraid of what the scandal might do to the family, so Blackie agrees to investigate secretly. However, when the maniac starts killing people and the newspapers get involved, it's now a police matter and for absolutely no good reason, the cops blame Blackie for the murders---even though in every previous film they blamed him but he ultimately proved he's working for law and order! Plus he is a reformed jewel thief--not a murderer.
Instead of discussing the plot further, there's one other aspect of the film you just can't help noticing. When Blackie and Runt (his sidekick) are hiding from the police, they go in disguise--putting on black face and pretending to be cleaning women. On one level, this is kind of funny, but on the other it is very racially offensive--so much, that I just sat there in shock when they first appeared like this on screen!
Overall, it's an okay entry in the series--not one that is remarkably different or better but an amiable time-passer nonetheless.