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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Alias Boston Blackie (1942)

Starring Chester Morris, Adele Mara, Richard Lane, George E. Stone, Lloyd Corrigan
Directed by Lew Landers
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Boston Blackie organizes a variety show at the prison he once did time at, unwittingly helping a young convict with revenge on his mind to escape.

One of Morris' long series of Boston Blackie films for Columbia Pictures, and it's a good one, with a nice balance of mystery and humor, and a yuletide setting, making it a perfect film to watch during the holidays.  Although the story of steering a young man from ruining his life was probably a chestnut even back when this film was made, the whodunit portion of the plot kept me guessing, and Morris is engaging as the ex-con who does enough in the movie to warrant a return to prison, but is given a wide berth by the police inspector tailing him.  Larry Parks plays the young convict on the loose but is better known for his impersonation of Al Jolson in a pair of later films.  And a young Lloyd Bridges plays a bus driver!

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