Holiday Classics: “Alias Boston Blackie” (1942)

Alias Boston Blackie doesn’t really employ the good cheer of its holiday backdrop for any thematic heft throughout its brisk 67 minute runtime. But the visual and audial reminders that this crime caper is set over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are so constant, it looks and feels more like a Christmas movie than many better-known classics. 

Directed by Lew Landers, this 1942 B programmer is the third of 14 movies in the Columbia Pictures series made between 1941 and 1949 and starring Chester Morris as the titular Boston Blackie, a former criminal and safecracker who has since reformed and is now using his knowledge of the criminal underworld for good. And at only three films in, the character dynamics of the series are already so set that the movie launches in to them with virtually no preamble. But no matter— the plot is slight enough that it’s all largely straightforward to follow, relying more on the charisma and banter of the series’ recurring characters to entertain. Those include Blackie’s sidekick, “the Runt” (George E. Stone) and Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane), whose familiarity with Blackie’s unsavory past makes him equal parts adversary and ally. The Boston Blackie series began as a serial penned for magazines beginning in 1914 by Jack Boyle, who in real life was drawn to crime as a method of funding his opium addiction; in his stories, Blackie was a criminal, but not a reformed one. There were some early silent film adaptations before the Columbia series, as well as a radio series that ran concurrently with it throughout 1944, also starring Morris. Morris imbues Blackie with a charming fusion of lightness and a stern attitude. He worked steadily in Hollywood throughout the early 1930s, most notably appearing as the henpecked husband opposite some powerful leading ladies in such pre-Code marital dramas as The Divorcee and Red-Headed Woman, but his star had long begun to wane by the time he took on the mantle of Boston Blackie. Today, it is his most remembered role.

Alias Boston Blackie opens on Christmas Eve, with Blackie lackadaisically tossing tinsel onto his enormous Christmas tree. He’s preparing to head to the penitentiary he was once incarcerated in to put on a holiday show for the inmates. Blackie allows showgirl Eve Sanders (Adela Mara) to tag along, even though she has already maxed out her allowed visits to her inmate brother Joe (Larry Parks) for the month, but Joe pulls the switch on everyone, capturing and taking the place of the clown headlining the variety show and thereby escaping. Blackie is suspect number one, while Joe claims to just want to prove his innocence. 

The plot is unremarkable, and specific elements, from the reformed criminal protagonist to the lack of criticism of law enforcement’s incompetence reeks of Hays Code enforcement, but it’s just engaging enough, providing the framework for some fast-paced set pieces. As alluded to before, Christmas permeates almost every frame, whether characters are exchanging best wishes for the season, or whether there are Christmas trees visible, or Blackie, the Runt, and Eve are nearly running over a sidewalk Santa as they zip across the city on a motorcycle. And it all culminates in a Christmas party with Blackie and his friends and associates. Admittedly, the Boston Blackie movies are a series I have yet to really delve into, but if Alias Boston Blackie, with its solid sense of time and place and fun characters, is any indication, it’s well worth the time. Like many of its B movie contemporaries, it also served as proving ground for upcoming and future stars; look for a young Lloyd Bridges appearing at the start of the film as the bus driver.

Alias Boston Blackie is currently streaming on Watch TCM and for free on the Roku Channel. Runtime: 67 minutes.