Starring Chester Morris, Rochelle Hudson, Richard Lane, Charles
Wagenheim, Constance Worth
Directed by Robert Florey

Print: black/white
Runtime: 60 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

Boston Blackie, the suave crook-turned-detective created in 1910 by pulp
writer Donald Boyle, had been popping up sporadically in films for nearly
two decades by the time Columbia launched its "Boston Blackie" series in
1941. Chester Morris starred as the title character in Meet Boston
Blackie, wherein the ex-thief protagonist and his underworld cronie The
Runt (Charles Wagenheim) meet a mysterious young lady named Marilyn
Howard (Constance Worth) while disembarking from an ocean liner. When
a murder takes place, Blackie and the Runt trail Marilyn to Coney Island,
followed in close proximity by Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane), who
thinks (as he always does) that Blackie is somehow tied in with the killing.
Before long, our hero and heroine are mixed up with a gang of foreign
spies operating out of a funhouse. Cleverly directed by Robert Florey and
atmospherically lensed by cinematographer Franz Planer, Meet Boston
Blackie was an excellent launching pad for one of Columbia's most
profitable film series.