Thu 6 Apr 2017
A 1001 Midnights Review: JACK BOYLE – Boston Blackie.
Posted by Steve under 1001 Midnights , Reviews[14] Comments
by Newell Dunlap & Bill Pronzini
JACK BOYLE – Boston Blackie. Gregg Press, hardcover, 1979. Reprint of the first edition published by H. K. Fly, hardcover, 1919.
This is an unusual book in that it consists of previously published short stories put together and revised slightly to resemble chapters in a novel. It is the only Boston Blackie “novel” or collection to be published.
The Boston Blackie stories began running in The American Magazine in 1914; later ones appeared in Red Book and Cosmopolitan. Although by today’s standards they contain overly dramatic language and sentimental plots, they still provide an entertaining insight into popular American fiction of the early 1900s.
Included in this reprint edition is a scholarly introduction by Edward D. Hoch, the original illustrations, and still photographs from some of the various Boston Blackie films.
For those unfamiliar with Boyle’s Boston Blackie, he was a criminal — primarily a safecracker — and was wanted by many police departments. But he was also a devoted husband, a “university graduate, a scholar, and gentleman.” The first half of his nickname derived from his Boston birthplace, the second half from his piercing black eyes.
As interesting as Blackie himself may be, his creator is even more so. Jack Boyle was a San Francisco newspaper editor who became addicted to opium in the legendary dens of Chinatown. This cost him his job, and, unable to get another, he turned to a fife of crime — an unsuccessful one, for he was twice arrested and sent to prison, once for forgery and the second time for armed robbery.
It was while he was in San Quentin on the robbery conviction that he wrote (and sold) his first Boston Blackie story to American, under the pseudonym “6606” — his prison number. Many of the subsequent Blackie stories were to employ drug and prison backgrounds. After his release, Boyle continued his writing career and helped adapt some of his stories for silent films.
Several Blackie silents were made in the 1920s; the first of these, for which Boyle wrote the screenplay, was The Face in the Fog (1922) and featured Lionel Barrymore as Blackie. The character underwent a considerable transformation in the series of B-talkies that began in 1941 and starred Chester Morris: He became a wise-talking reformed-crook-turned-sleuth with a penchant for dames, danger, and sudden death. The Hollywood incarnation also appeared on the radio and briefly on television in its early years.
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Reprinted with permission from 1001 Midnights, edited by Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller and published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2007. Copyright © 1986, 2007 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust.

April 6th, 2017 at 7:10 pm
This was strong enough for me to order a copy on Amazon but I do not believe that a television series running to 58 episodes, two full seasons, can honestly be called brief. That designation would be far more accurately applied to those series that did not complete an initial season. And the radio series with Dick Kollmar was a big hit in syndication.
April 6th, 2017 at 8:07 pm
I read these years ago. While the language was a bit fustian by modern standards like Frank Packard’s Jimmie Dale series the stories were a more realistic portrait of crime and criminals though with a more social convince than most hardboiled writers would originally share.
April 6th, 2017 at 8:44 pm
Barry and David
I’ve not read the original stories, and now prompted, I would like to. I’ve never cared all that much for the Chester Morris movies, though they’re far from terrible. The radio series was predictable, but quite good. I don’t remember ever seeing any of the TV series, though I know there many many episodes available.
April 7th, 2017 at 2:23 pm
Loved the old Chester Morris movies when I was a kid. Haven’t read any of the stories. Afraid if I read any or revisited the movies the magic would be gone.
April 7th, 2017 at 9:38 pm
I recently read this collection as an e-book. As mentioned the writing style is a bit creaky but they are enjoyable. They emphasize the ‘crook with a heart of gold’ literary cliche.
Growing up near San Francisco in the 1970’s, radio statio KSFO played re-runs of the radio version. During that time when my family adopted a black cat we named him “Boston”.
April 7th, 2017 at 10:24 pm
The stories have little to do with the Morris movies or the Kent Taylor series. Boyle is closer to O Henry than Dashiell Hammett and the stories tend to be sentimental in the way of O Henry’s “A Reformed Reformmation” which may have helped inspire the series.
A few Blackie movies are on Facebook, the early ones are the best. Morris was an amateur magician so magic often shows up in the series. The Blackie of movies in television is more the Lone Wolf than the character in the books.
April 8th, 2017 at 3:35 pm
I remember watching the Kent Taylor series when I was a kid, but didn’t discover the Chester Morris films until sometime within the past 15 years or so when I caught some on Turner Classic Movies. I’ve since acquired an electronic copy of Boyle’s original stories, and hope to get to them one day.
June 16th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
Thanks for devoting some attention here not just to Boston Blackie, but also to Jack Boyle. He is often overshadowed by his own literary creation, so it’s always good to see some discussion of him. But I need to dispel a couple of misconceptions that your piece repeats. First, the term Boyle served in San Quentin was for forgery, not robbery (I’ve recently acquired copies of SQ’s records which confirm this). Second, his stretch there ended almost three years prior to the publication of his first Boston Blackie story. Boyle was actually serving time in Colorado’s Canon City penitentiary (on yet another forgery conviction) when he penned the initial Blackie yarns. I’m currently working on a biographical essay on Jack Boyle, which I hope will set the record straight on quite a bit of misinformation that has cropped up in print over the years.
June 16th, 2017 at 9:53 pm
Curt
Jack Boyle has always been pretty much a mystery to me, so what you’ve said in your comment just now was pretty much new to me. Thanks for taking the time to set the record straight, as you say, and I hope to see more about Boyle when you get the chance to write it up.
June 19th, 2017 at 8:53 am
Glad you found my info of interest. Given how popular Boston Blackie was for more than half of the 20th century, I’m always amazed at how little is actually known about Jack Boyle. I write a sporadic blog devoted to documenting the life of Blackie’s often overlooked creator:
https://jackboylefan.wordpress.com
Feel free to drop by, if you’d like to know more about the strange life of Jack Boyle, and the background on the creation of Boston Blackie.
June 19th, 2017 at 9:16 am
Indeed I will, Curt. Thanks!
September 29th, 2017 at 5:35 pm
In case anyone is interested in seeing it, here is a link to a copy of Boston Blackie creator Jack Boyle’s mugshot from his induction into San Quentin in 1910:
https://jackboylefan.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/san-quentin-convict-24700/
September 29th, 2017 at 6:11 pm
Very very interesting. Thanks, Curt!
April 12th, 2022 at 4:06 am
So, I’m coming at this from a different angle; I believe I may know who authored (or at least shared in person through conversation) some of the first few original stories that came out around 1914 that stemmed from real life events. Perhaps a cell mate of Boyle’s at the Cabin City prison in Colorado. I doubt Morris was a real named, but might be on to something with the initial’s of J.J. What I mean by coming from a different angle, I have been researching and trying to paste clues together on a subject matter, kept seeing stuff pop up in regards to “Boston Blackie,” in which I had no clue or ever heard of before – never seen, read, or had any knowledge of the short stories or tv series, untill I started investigating why that name kept appearing in some of my searches. Would love to fill you in and chat about – if ever interested. P.S. The SS Humboldt bullion heist / episode I know was not a fictional event, yet actually took place in 1910. In fact, am lead to believe my great-great grandfather had a major role in the event. Anyways… just a fascinated curiosity of mine.