Disappointing, to say the least. Most of the Columbia films, while not by any stretch great art, are passable enough B-entertainment, with good production values, fairly logical plots and some decent characters.
This one has got to be one of the weakest of them all, though. It suffers not just from a sloppy, coincidence-laden plot that makes no sense at all, but also a narratively dubious, cringe-worthy bit where Blackie and Runt don black-face to avoid capture by the cops. Even in 1945, such broad, ethnic-based "humor" would have seemed, if not quite outdated, at least hopelessly old-fashioned.
And while I can see Lt. Faraday's obsession with nailing Blackie for some crime (any crime!) being a fun running gag in these films, it's still an awful stretch for audiences to believe he honestly sees Blackie as a crazed killer.
This one has got to be one of the weakest of them all, though. It suffers not just from a sloppy, coincidence-laden plot that makes no sense at all, but also a narratively dubious, cringe-worthy bit where Blackie and Runt don black-face to avoid capture by the cops. Even in 1945, such broad, ethnic-based "humor" would have seemed, if not quite outdated, at least hopelessly old-fashioned.
And while I can see Lt. Faraday's obsession with nailing Blackie for some crime (any crime!) being a fun running gag in these films, it's still an awful stretch for audiences to believe he honestly sees Blackie as a crazed killer.