Best movie of this year hands down!

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Every time we think that after so many hilarious and varied adventures, the writers of the 'Boston Blackie' movie series must be running out of ideas sometime, they surprise us with something ENTIRELY new: this time, the story seems to revolve around one of Blackie's romances at first, and when the husband of the girl Blackie was 'sweet on', just released from jail, is found dead in Blackie's apartment, Inspector Faraday comes to the conclusion that, while he's learned by now that Blackie wouldn't kill anybody for diamonds or money and neither is he a deranged strangler - for a woman he MIGHT commit murder...But the case very soon becomes a lot more complicated: there's a 'borrowed' baby involved that the 'Runt' and his girlfriend Mamie try to hide in the most impossible places (a very talented baby, by the way - literally a BORN actor!), while Blackie once more is at the same time on the run from the police and after the real murderer... Another VERY entertaining and surprising entry in this wonderful series of 40s crime-comedy mix!

I've seen the Boston Blackie TV Series, but didn't know there were movies, as well. I finally got a chance to watch a number of the Film Series, and I find this one, the weakest plot of them, all, but one of the funniest in the bunch. In another of his unusual and fascinating capers, Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) gets entangled with a former girlfriend Gerry Payton (Lynn Merrick) when Blackie and his sidekick, the Runt (George E. Stone) rescue her during an attack in the street right in front of their building. They carry in the unconscious woman to the house. When they open the bedroom door we see the main twist that this series entry has to offer: a baby! The baby is very cute, and it's funny to see Blackie and Runt try to take out of it. It's somewhat comical that the baby sounds don't really match the baby. There is a sound edit that supposed to be a baby yawn, but its sounds like an adult male in one scene. The baby's mother Gerry ask the two to protect the baby from her recently paroled husband. The Runt takes the baby to her girlfriend Mamie (Claire Carleton). Blackie takes on the husband when he returns and disarmed him. Before he can question him, an assassin kill the husband, and blackmailing Blackie for murder and kidnapping. The chase is on, with Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) and Sergeant Matthews (Frank Sully) at their heels. This fast-paced, surprising mystery wraps up in a tidy 60 minutes, but don't feel embittered. It's full of witty writing, comedy, and action to pack it. There is barely any slow moments in the film. The problem with the film is that, its plot is very low grade and simple. It also follows the same similar plot line as the other movies. If you follow the film series, you'll easily guess, Blackie will be accused of the murder and the Inspector will do the accusing. There a lot of dumb moments in the film as well like Runt leaving a baby by himself in Mamie's house when he get milk from a milk woman with a deep voice while leaving a woman's dress. Once again, Sergeant Matthew and Inspector Farraday are idiots, and makes you wonder how on earth did they ever became cops. Why on earth, did Matthew agree to a wrestling match with Blackie? I love the scene with the Inspector talking to Runt over the phone. Mamie, maybe. I don't why director, Lew Landers hired Lynn Merrick twice to play a similar role in the film series. She just played a character pulling a similar deception on them in Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion! (1945). Honestly, Blackie does some dumb things to, like act like a dead man to escape, and put pajamas over his clothes to fool the cops. At least Blackie didn't feel it obligatory to don black-face in this outing just his typical old man disguise for 5th time, again. In a nice touch, Matthews turns up in the same disguise which is hilarious. The film series try to follows the far more successful Thin Man series starting William Powell in production, but fail to make their film series different to each other in each movie. It's so repeatable and predictable. Can Boston Blackie and his partner The Runt figure out the plot, clear Blackie's name, rescue the child and put the criminals into the hands of the incompetent police?

***SPOILERS*** The usually sharp and on the ball Boston Blackie, Chester Morris, gets himself into deep you know what here by falling for an old flame Jerry Payton's, Lynn Merrick, sob story. That of her being left along in the world by her convict husband John, Mark Roberts with his baby that was born while he was behind bars serving a stretch for a homicide conviction. As it later turned out Payton was killed while, after being let out on bail, showing up at Jerry's apartment with Blackie who just happened to be there getting blamed for it!With Blackie on the lamb he gets help from his sidekick "The Runt", George E. Stone, and his girlfriend Mamie, Claire Carlton, to just why he was set up by Jerry and what's exactly the story with the baby that she suddenly, what seemed like out of nowhere without the help of a stork, gave birth to! That without the usual and biological nine month gestation period?As Blackie soon finds out that baby wasn't her's or her late husband John but that of Hack Hagen, Charles Lane. It was Hagen who together with Jerry and her accomplice Smilley Slade, Eric Rolf, planned to trick Jerry's father in law millionaire Cyrus Payton to pay her and Smilley big bucks, 100 G's,to take home with him as his long lost grandson. The problem is that Blackie is on to them and to both prove his innocence in the murders of both John Payton and Hack Hagen, who was murdered by Smilley for asking too many questions, as well as expose Jerry as the mastermind behind this whole scam!***SPOILERS*** Unexpected ending with bumbling policemen Inspt. Farrady and his butterfingered partner Sgt.Matthews, Richard Lane & Frank Sully, actually being able to solve the very complicated case and end up coming to Blackie's rescue when you at first thought that they, as they alway do, blew it. But it was "The Runt" and Mamie who put the two cops on the right trail not anything that they did in police work in solving the case as well as them putting the cuffs on both Jerry and Smilley who almost got away with murder!

If you've never seen a Boston Blackie film, then there are a few things you should know about every film. First, Blackie USED to be a criminal. But, he did his time in prison and has definitely reformed. However, despite leading a very respectable life, the Inspector is always assuming that Blackie is bad and is constantly trying to pin murder raps on him. Second, the Inspector is an idiot...but his assistant is even stupider. Third, Blackie always is able to outsmart these two and ends up solving the crime himself. Fourth, he is a sucker for a dame...and in this particular installment, that's a serious problem. That's because he trusts an old ex-girlfriend--not realizing she's a crook and her boyfriend is a murderer! But because Blackie has this blind spot, he nearly gets arrested for murder and ends up having his friend, Runt, care for a lost baby! So is this film worth seeing? Well, for a B-movie it's pretty good but I must admit that there is a definite sameness with the Boston Blackie series. In other words, if you've seen a couple of them, you can pretty much guess what will happen in this one. It's pleasant and entertaining...plus the baby is pretty cute (yes, this one has a baby). A worthwhile time-passer and it's nice to see Blackie dressed up as an old man--the makeup job was actually really good.