Thu 11 Apr 2013
Walter Albert Reviews FOUR B-FILMS from Cinevent 30.
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[6] Comments
from Cinevent 30 (May 1998)
Meet Boston Blackie (Columbia, 1941) was a zippy 60 minutes, with the crisp direction of Robert Florey making the difference here. Rochelle Hudson was a luscious treat as the female lead, and Chester Morris and Richard Lane sparred amiably as Blackie and his sympathetic nemesis, Inspector Faraday.
Even better was Raffles (Hyclass Producing Co., 1917; George Irving, director). John Barrymore was a charming and stylish Amateur Cracksman, his performance fully justifying the curtain line delivered by the detective: “I’m delighted he’s escaped! He’s really splendid!” (Frank Morgan plays Raffles’ friend, Bunny Manders, an early appearance for the future MGM contract player.)
As Meet Boston Blackie demonstrated, B-films can be the most enjoyable and dependable of film viewings. I was. therefore, depressed by the lackluster Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (2Oth Century Fox, 1938) and by the dreadful The Lone Wolf Strikes (Columbla, 1940).
Peter Lorre couldn’t salvage the back-lot jungle melodrama of the Moto film, and Warren William, Eric Blore and Montagu Love brought only momentary life to the Lone Wolf’s dead-at-the-starting-gate caper. The pacing of the Lone Wolf film was funereal, and I am convinced that the director (Sidney Salkow) told his actors to count to three before delivering a line.
April 12th, 2013 at 11:03 am
I reviewed MEET BOSTON BLACKIE here in these pages a long time ago
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=175
and reading it now, I am surprised at how negative my reaction was toward the movie. Now, almost six years later, my memories are a lot more positive than what I had to say then. I’ll stick to my memories, but my opinions at the time are a lot more valid, I’m sure.
Both Walter and I agree as to the charms of Rochelle Hudson.
April 12th, 2013 at 11:22 am
Boston Blackie on the air with Dick Kolmar, and carried over onto television with Kent Taylor, had one of the best intro lines ever: Friend to those who have no friend. Enemy to those who make him an enemy. I think we would all like to be that guy.
April 12th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
In the case of quite a lot of people, there is a REASON why they have no friend- so careful what you wish for !
The Doc
April 12th, 2013 at 4:43 pm
Cute Doc. And, possibly so.
April 13th, 2013 at 3:33 am
The Mr MOTO movie is not the best of the series. In fact, it looks as if the actors, or director, or whoever, just made it up as they went along. Something like MR MOTO’S LAST WARNING, with Ricardo Cortez as an evil ventriloquist and George Sanders looking as if he just happened to be walking past the studios, is much more fun. B movie series can be really enjoyable, and the fact that they were always intended to be throwaway fun means that in some cases they have lasted better than the more serious movies.
April 13th, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Right on all counts, Walter! The first Boston Blackie had that polish the studios usually imparted to the premier of a series before they let it go stale, and WARNING is really tired-looking with some awful back-projection nobody bothered to perk up.