Boston Blackie
Encyclopedia
Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle (born before 1880; died circa 1928). Originally a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's novels, he became a detective in adaptations for films, radio and television—an "enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend."
. In 1917, Redbook
published the novelette
"Boston Blackie’s Mary," and the magazine brought the character back with "The Heart of the Lily" (February, 1921). Boyle's stories were collected in the book Boston Blackie (1919
), which was reprinted in 1979 by Gregg Press
. Boyle died in 1928.
to 1927
. Columbia Pictures
revived the property in 1941 with Meet Boston Blackie
, a fast, 58-minute "B" feature starring Chester Morris
. Although the running time was brief, Columbia gave the picture good production values and an imaginative director (Robert Florey
). The film was successful, and a series followed.
In the Columbia features, Boston Blackie is a reformed jewel thief who is always suspected when a daring robbery is committed. In order to clear himself, he investigates the crime personally and brings the actual culprit to justice, sometimes using disguises. An undercurrent of comedy runs throughout the action/detective series.
Chester Morris
gave the Blackie character his own personal charm: he could be light and flippant or stern and dangerous, as the situation demanded. His sidekick, "The Runt," was always on hand to help his old friend. George E. Stone
played Runt in all but the first and last films. Charles Wagenheim and Sid Tomack, respectively, substituted for Stone when he was not available.
Blackie's friendly adversaries were Inspector Farraday of the police (played in all the films by Richard Lane
) and his assistant, Sgt. Matthews. Matthews was originally played as a hapless victim of circumstance by Walter Sande; he was replaced by Lyle Latell, who played it dumber, and then by comedian Frank Sully
, who played it almost imbecilically.
Blackie and Runt were often assisted in their endeavors by their friends: the cheerful but easily flustered millionaire Arthur Manleder (almost always played by Lloyd Corrigan
; Harry Hayden and Harrison Greene each played the role once), and the streetwise pawnbroker Jumbo Madigan (played by Cy Kendall
or Joseph Crehan
). A variety of actresses (including Rochelle Hudson
, Harriet Hilliard (Nelson)
, Adele Mara
and Ann Savage) took turns playing various gal-Friday characters.
The films are highly typical of Columbia's B product of the 1940s, with an assortment of veteran character actors (including Clarence Muse
, Marvin Miller
, George Lloyd
, Byron Foulger), new faces on the way up (Larry Parks
, Dorothy Malone
, Nina Foch
, Forrest Tucker
Lloyd Bridges
) and stock-company players familiar from Columbia's features, serials, and short subjects (Kenneth MacDonald
, George McKay, Eddie Laughton
, John Tyrrell
). The series was also a useful training ground for promising directors, including Edward Dmytryk
, Oscar Boetticher, William Castle
, and finally Seymour Friedman (who went on to work prolifically in Columbia's television department). The Boston Blackie series ran until 1949.
1940s Columbia Films
as a summer replacement for Amos 'n' Andy
. Sponsored by Rinso
, the series continued until September 15 of that year. Unlike the concurrent films, Blackie had a steady romantic interest in the radio show: Lesley Woods appeared as Blackie's girlfriend Mary Wesley. Harlow Wilcox was the show's announcer.
On April 11, 1945, Richard Kollmar portrayed Blackie in a radio series syndicated by Frederick Ziv
to Mutual and other network outlets. Over 200 episodes of this series were produced between 1944 and October 25, 1950. Other sponsors included Lifebuoy Soap, Champagne Velvet beer and R&H beer. While investigating mysteries, Blackie invaribly encountered harebrained Police Inspector Farraday (Maurice Tarplin
) and always solved the mystery to Farraday's amazement. Initially, friction surfaced in the relationship between Blackie and Farraday, but as the series continued, Farraday recognized Blackie's talents and requested assistance. Blackie dated Mary Wesley (Jan Miner
), and for the first half of the series, his best pal Shorty was always on hand. The humorless Farraday was on the receiving end of Blackie's bad puns and word play.
This content has been marked as public domain and available through www.archive.org at: http://www.archive.org/details/OTRR_Boston_Blackie_Singles
starred in the Ziv
-produced half-hour TV series The Adventures of Boston Blackie. Syndicated in 1951, it ran for 58 episodes, continuing in repeats over the following decade. Lois Collier appeared as the inevitable love interest and Frank Orth as the perpetually exasperated Lt. Farraday. This time, Blackie was set in Los Angeles, and the character enjoyed the use of several exotic sports cars as he battled on behalf of those who have no friends. Whitey was the precocious dog. Among the series' guest stars were veteran film actors Roscoe Ates
, Russ Conway
and John M. Pickard
.
and artist Kirk Van Wormer created the graphic novel Boston Blackie (Moonstone Books
, 2002) with a cover by Tim Seelig. A jewel heist at a costume ball goes horribly wrong, and the five-year-old son of the wealthy Greene family disappears and is presumed dead; the body is never found. The main suspect is Boston Blackie, who is still haunted seven years later by what happened that night. Drawn back into the case, he finds that the truth of what happened that night is awash in a watery grave. A sequel to the graphic novel was published years later.
Radio shows
Literature
Jack Boyle's stories first appeared in the early 20th Century. "The Price of Principle" was a short story in the July 1914 issue of The American Magazine. Boyle's character also turned up in CosmopolitanCosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
. In 1917, Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
published the novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
"Boston Blackie’s Mary," and the magazine brought the character back with "The Heart of the Lily" (February, 1921). Boyle's stories were collected in the book Boston Blackie (1919
1919 in literature
The year 1919 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain return to Somerville College, Oxford, to complete their education following war service.*Two paintings by E. E...
), which was reprinted in 1979 by Gregg Press
Gregg Press
Gregg Press was founded about 1965 by Charles Gregg in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey to distribute in the United States the antiquarian reprints published in the UK by Gregg Press International....
. Boyle died in 1928.
Films
The earliest film adaptations were silent, dating from 19181918 in film
The year 1918 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Following litigation for anti-trust activities, the US Supreme Court orders the Motion Picture Patents Company to disband....
to 1927
1927 in film
-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
. Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
revived the property in 1941 with Meet Boston Blackie
Meet Boston Blackie
Meet Boston Blackie is a 1941 crime film starring Chester Morris as Boston Blackie, a notorious, but honorable jewel thief. Although the character had been the hero of a number of silent films, this was the first talking picture...
, a fast, 58-minute "B" feature starring Chester Morris
Chester Morris
Chester Morris was an American actor, who starred in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s.-Career:...
. Although the running time was brief, Columbia gave the picture good production values and an imaginative director (Robert Florey
Robert Florey
Robert Florey was a French screenwriter, director of short films, and actor who moved to Hollywood in 1921. In 1950, Florey was made a knight in the French Légion d'honneur....
). The film was successful, and a series followed.
In the Columbia features, Boston Blackie is a reformed jewel thief who is always suspected when a daring robbery is committed. In order to clear himself, he investigates the crime personally and brings the actual culprit to justice, sometimes using disguises. An undercurrent of comedy runs throughout the action/detective series.
Chester Morris
Chester Morris
Chester Morris was an American actor, who starred in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s.-Career:...
gave the Blackie character his own personal charm: he could be light and flippant or stern and dangerous, as the situation demanded. His sidekick, "The Runt," was always on hand to help his old friend. George E. Stone
George E. Stone
George E. Stone was a Polish-born American character actor in movies, radio, and television.-Career:Stone's slight build and very expressive face first attracted attention in 1927, in the popular silent-film romance Seventh Heaven...
played Runt in all but the first and last films. Charles Wagenheim and Sid Tomack, respectively, substituted for Stone when he was not available.
Blackie's friendly adversaries were Inspector Farraday of the police (played in all the films by Richard Lane
Richard Lane
Richard Lane is the name of:* Richard Lane ; 17th century barrister and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England* Richard Lane , 19th century English architect...
) and his assistant, Sgt. Matthews. Matthews was originally played as a hapless victim of circumstance by Walter Sande; he was replaced by Lyle Latell, who played it dumber, and then by comedian Frank Sully
Frank Sully
Frank Sully was an American film actor. He appeared in over 240 films between 1934 and 1968.-Film:Sully was often cast as a heavy or villain throughout his career. Modern viewers will recognize Sully in his appearances in several late Three Stooges films such as Fling in the Ring, Pardon My...
, who played it almost imbecilically.
Blackie and Runt were often assisted in their endeavors by their friends: the cheerful but easily flustered millionaire Arthur Manleder (almost always played by Lloyd Corrigan
Lloyd Corrigan
Lloyd Corrigan was an American film actor, producer, screenwriter and director who began working in films in the 1920s...
; Harry Hayden and Harrison Greene each played the role once), and the streetwise pawnbroker Jumbo Madigan (played by Cy Kendall
Cy Kendall
Cy Kendall was an American film actor. He appeared in over 140 films between 1935 and 1950.Kendall's heavy-set, square-jawed appearance and deep voice were perfect for wiseguy roles such as policemen and police chiefs, wardens, military officers, bartenders, reporters, and mobsters.He was born...
or Joseph Crehan
Joseph Crehan
Joseph Crehan was an American film actor. He appeared in over 300 films between 1916 and 1965.He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and died in Hollywood, California from a stroke.-Selected filmography:...
). A variety of actresses (including Rochelle Hudson
Rochelle Hudson
Rochelle Hudson was an American film actress from the 1930s through the 1960s. Hudson was a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1931.-Career:...
, Harriet Hilliard (Nelson)
Harriet Nelson
Harriet Nelson was an American singer and actress. Nelson is best known for her role on the long-running sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.-Early life and career:...
, Adele Mara
Adele Mara
Adele Mara , born Adelaide Delgado, was an American actress, singer and dancer who appeared in films during the 1940s and 1950s. During the 1940s, the blond actress was also a popular pinup girl....
and Ann Savage) took turns playing various gal-Friday characters.
The films are highly typical of Columbia's B product of the 1940s, with an assortment of veteran character actors (including Clarence Muse
Clarence Muse
Clarence Muse was an actor, screenwriter, director, composer, and lawyer. He was inducted in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973. Muse was the first African American to "star" in a film. He acted for more than sixty years, and appeared in more than 150 movies.-Life and career:Born in...
, Marvin Miller
Marvin Miller
Marvin Julian Miller is a former executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association , from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players' union was transformed into one of the strongest unions in the United States...
, George Lloyd
George Lloyd
George Lloyd may refer to:*George Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd , British politician*George Lloyd , member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly*George Lloyd , Bishop of Sodor and Man and Bishop of Chester, 1605–1614...
, Byron Foulger), new faces on the way up (Larry Parks
Larry Parks
Larry Parks was an American stage and movie actor. He was born Samuel Klausman Lawrence Parks. His career was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been a member of a Communist party cell, which led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios.-Background:Parks grew up in Joliet,...
, Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...
, Nina Foch
Nina Foch
Nina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :...
, Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television from the 1940s to the 1980s. Tucker, who stood 190 cm tall and weighed 93 kg , appeared in nearly 100 action films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:Forrest Meredith Tucker was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of...
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
) and stock-company players familiar from Columbia's features, serials, and short subjects (Kenneth MacDonald
Kenneth MacDonald (American actor)
Kenneth MacDonald was an American film actor. Born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made more than 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1970.-Career:...
, George McKay, Eddie Laughton
Eddie Laughton
Eddie Laughton was a British-born American film actor. Born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, Laughton appeared in over 200 films between 1935 and 1952.-Career:...
, John Tyrrell
John Tyrrell
John Tyrrell may refer to:* John Tyrell, 15th century English knight, Speaker of House of Commons* John Tyrrell , English second Admiral of the East Indies...
). The series was also a useful training ground for promising directors, including Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.-Early life:Dmytryk was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada,...
, Oscar Boetticher, William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
, and finally Seymour Friedman (who went on to work prolifically in Columbia's television department). The Boston Blackie series ran until 1949.
List of "Boston Blackie" films
Silent Films- Boston Blackie's Little Pal Metro-1918
- The Silk-Lined Burglar Universal-1919
- Blackie's Redemption Metro-1919
- Missing Millions Famous Players-Lasky-1922
- The Face in the Fog Cosmopolitan-1922
- Boston Blackie Fox-1923
- Crooked Alley Universal-1923
- Through the Dark Cosmopolitan-1924
- The Return of Boston Blackie Chadwick-1927
1940s Columbia Films
- Meet Boston Blackie 1941
- Confessions of Boston BlackieConfessions of Boston BlackieConfessions of Boston Blackie is a 1941 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk.-Cast:* Chester Morris as Boston Blackie* Harriet Hilliard as Diane Parrish* Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday* George E...
1941 - Alias Boston Blackie 1942
- Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood 1942
- After Midnight with Boston Blackie 1943
- The Chance of a Lifetime 1943
- One Mysterious Night 1944
- Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion 1945
- Boston Blackie's Rendezvous 1945
- A Close Call for Boston Blackie 1946
- The Phantom Thief 1946
- Boston Blackie and the Law 1946
- Trapped by Boston Blackie 1948
- Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture 1949
Radio
The Boston Blackie radio series, also starring Morris, began June 23, 1944, on NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
as a summer replacement for Amos 'n' Andy
Amos 'n' Andy
Amos 'n' Andy is a situation comedy set in the African-American community. It was very popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s on both radio and television....
. Sponsored by Rinso
Rinso
Rinso is the brand name of a laundry soap most commonly used in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The brand was created by Hudson's Soap which was sold to Lever Brothers of Port Sunlight, England, in 1908...
, the series continued until September 15 of that year. Unlike the concurrent films, Blackie had a steady romantic interest in the radio show: Lesley Woods appeared as Blackie's girlfriend Mary Wesley. Harlow Wilcox was the show's announcer.
On April 11, 1945, Richard Kollmar portrayed Blackie in a radio series syndicated by Frederick Ziv
Frederick Ziv
Frederick William Ziv was an American broadcasting producer and syndicator who is considered the father of television syndication and once operated the nation's largest independent television production company....
to Mutual and other network outlets. Over 200 episodes of this series were produced between 1944 and October 25, 1950. Other sponsors included Lifebuoy Soap, Champagne Velvet beer and R&H beer. While investigating mysteries, Blackie invaribly encountered harebrained Police Inspector Farraday (Maurice Tarplin
Maurice Tarplin
Maurice Tarplin was a novelist and a radio actor best known as the narrator of The Mysterious Traveler, employing a voice once described as "eerily sardonic."-Biography:...
) and always solved the mystery to Farraday's amazement. Initially, friction surfaced in the relationship between Blackie and Farraday, but as the series continued, Farraday recognized Blackie's talents and requested assistance. Blackie dated Mary Wesley (Jan Miner
Jan Miner
Jan Miner was an American actress best known for her iconic role as the manicurist Madge in a 27-year series of television commercials for Palmolive dish-washing detergent....
), and for the first half of the series, his best pal Shorty was always on hand. The humorless Farraday was on the receiving end of Blackie's bad puns and word play.
This content has been marked as public domain and available through www.archive.org at: http://www.archive.org/details/OTRR_Boston_Blackie_Singles
Television
Kent TaylorKent Taylor
Kent Taylor was an American actor.Born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more prestigious studio releases, including I'm No Angel , Death Takes a Holiday , Payment on Demand ,...
starred in the Ziv
Ziv Television Programs
Ziv Television Programs, Inc. was an American television syndication and production company, producer of popular syndicated TV programs in the 1950s.- History :...
-produced half-hour TV series The Adventures of Boston Blackie. Syndicated in 1951, it ran for 58 episodes, continuing in repeats over the following decade. Lois Collier appeared as the inevitable love interest and Frank Orth as the perpetually exasperated Lt. Farraday. This time, Blackie was set in Los Angeles, and the character enjoyed the use of several exotic sports cars as he battled on behalf of those who have no friends. Whitey was the precocious dog. Among the series' guest stars were veteran film actors Roscoe Ates
Roscoe Ates
Roscoe Ates was an actor and musician in primarily western films and television.-Early years:Ates was born in the rural hamlet of Grange, Mississippi, northwest of Hattiesburg. Grange is no longer included on road maps...
, Russ Conway
Russ Conway (actor)
Russ Conway was a Canadian-American character actor who appeared on film and television between 1947 and 1975.-Early years:...
and John M. Pickard
John Pickard (American actor)
John M. Pickard was an American actor who appeared primarily in television Westerns.-Early life and career:...
.
Graphic novels
Scripter Stefan PetruchaStefan Petrucha
Stefan Petrucha is an American writer for adults and young adults. He has written graphic novels in the The X-Files and Nancy Drew series, as well as science fiction and horror.- Background :...
and artist Kirk Van Wormer created the graphic novel Boston Blackie (Moonstone Books
Moonstone Books
Moonstone Books is an American comic book, graphic novel, and prose fiction publisher based in Chicago focused on pulp fiction comic books and prose anthologies as well as horror and western tales....
, 2002) with a cover by Tim Seelig. A jewel heist at a costume ball goes horribly wrong, and the five-year-old son of the wealthy Greene family disappears and is presumed dead; the body is never found. The main suspect is Boston Blackie, who is still haunted seven years later by what happened that night. Drawn back into the case, he finds that the truth of what happened that night is awash in a watery grave. A sequel to the graphic novel was published years later.
In popular culture
- A 1957 Daffy DuckDaffy DuckDaffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
cartoon, Boston QuackieBoston QuackieBoston Quackie is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short featuring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, directed by Robert McKimson and released in 1957. The name and cartoon itself are a parody of a 1950s crime serial called Boston Blackie.-Plot:...
, is a direct parody of the serial, with Daffy as the detective - who needs everyone else's help to solve his case. - Jimmy BuffettJimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
's song "Pencil Thin MustachePencil Thin Mustache"Pencil Thin Mustache," originally released as "Pencil Thin Moustache," is a song written and performed by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released as a single on Dunhill D-15011 in August 1974.It was first released on his 1974 album Living & Dying in ¾ Time...
" references Boston Blackie, as does The CoastersThe CoastersThe Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
' song "Searchin'" and some versions of "The Wabash CannonballWabash Cannonball"The Wabash Cannonball" is an American folk song about a fictional train, thought to have originated in the late nineteenth century. Its first documented appearance was on sheet music published in 1882, titled "" and credited to J. A. Roff...
". - Boston Blackie's Restaurant, a bar and grill chain with eight Illinois locations, is designed with a dark Art Deco look and a pulp novel-style illustration behind the bar.
- In a 1966 episode of BewitchedBewitchedBewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
("Samantha's Thanksgiving to Remember", Season 4, Episode 12), "Boston Blackie" is mentioned in fond remembrance by Aunt Clara (Marion LorneMarion LorneMarion Lorne MacDougall was an American actress. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne made her first film in 1951, and for the remainder of her life, played small roles in films and television...
), who confuses him as attending the First Thanksgiving with famous Pilgrims. - In Errol Morris' 1988 documentary "The Thin Blue LineThe Thin Blue LineThe Thin Blue Line is a colloquial term for police and police forces, designed by a police officer after seeing a blue light reflecting on a black marble wall during the first Official Police weeks in Washington DC...
", interview subject Emily Miller cites Boston Blackie as an inspiration for wanting to become a "detective, or the wife of a detective." The film's score by Philip GlassPhilip GlassPhilip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
also has a cue titled "Boston Blackie."
External links
- Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: Boston Blackie
- Boston Blackie TV series titles and airdates
- Thrilling Detective
Radio shows