Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942) User Reviews

Hobbles along nicely

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 5 June 2005]

One of the more consistently funny entries in this series (4/14) has Blackie & Runt in NY helping out Arthur who is being shaken down by a gang of rogues in California. Farraday & Matthews go along for the (plane) ride along with hundreds of ants (that Blackie planted on them) they're busy scratching at for most of the picture.

*** Some nice comic routines amidst the actual crime story, maybe in the last 5 minutes it wore a bit thin. But you have to see the hotel room scene where the baddie Slick ties up 5 of them hands to ankles and kneeling, including his henchmen, and lams with a parting "Happy Hobble"! Farraday bursts in then with a "Aren't you boys a little old to be playing marbles?" It's deliciously ridiculous, and was a routine they tried again with variations in later entries. ***

For that, and the fact it does pleasantly fill an hour, one of my favourite Blackies.

Gotta love that Blackie

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 29 January 2007]

"Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood" is another entry into the 14-film BB series. Boston Blackie doesn't exactly go Hollywood; I guess the producers wanted a snazzy name. These series - Blackie, The Saint, The Falcon, Nick Carter all follow a formula - the hero is an amateur detective, a smooth fellow who has flirted with the dark side of the law who usually has a sidekick and always has an officer of the law either angry with him or after him.

This time Blackie is in trouble with the law - as usual - because as an ex-jewel thief, he comes under suspicion every time there's a heist. This time it's the Monterey diamond, even though Blackie is in New York. Then his good friend Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan) calls from Los Angeles, and he's in trouble and in need of $60,000 out of his safe. Of course the police enter Manleder's apartment just as Blackie is making a large withdrawal from said safe. The Boston Blackie police are completely moronic so Blackie and his short friend Runt (George E. Stone) are always able to get away, often in diabolically funny ways. This time is no different.

What distinguishes these various series is the personality of the actors, which makes telling The Falcon and The Saint apart since George Sanders played both. Boston Blackie is the most amusing, starring the personable and well-tailored Chester Morris. The scripts have very witty dialogue - better than the others, in my opinion - and it's delivered well by Morris who has grace and cool under fire.

I find these movies very enjoyable. Look for a young Forrest Tucker and also Lloyd Bridges, who has a small role.

Formula is wearing thin despite some snappy dialog...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 28 July 2007]

This has got to be one of the weaker entries in the "Boston Blackie" series with CHESTER MORRIS and GEORGE E. STONE on the lam from Inspector Farraday and his Keystone Cops who are hot on their trail because they think Blackie can lead them to a missing diamond.

The gag with "The Runt" playing a boy genius is rather unfunny and totally implausible, but the film aims for light-hearted touches throughout, only occasionally succeeding. LLOYD CORRIGAN is Blackie's friend being held hostage by a band of crooks, including FORREST TUCKER in a minor role.

RICHARD LANE is again Inspector Farraday, but it's the same old business of him getting thrown for a loop by Blackie's wild schemes to throw him off guard. Nothing new here and none of it is more than routine formula stuff. Furthermore, the title is misleading if you expect the story to take place anywhere near Sunset Blvd.

Still, Chester Morris fans should get a kick out of his "Blackie" role.

Sidekicks

[tedg · 30 November 2007]

What makes a series last?

Here's a film that is in the middle of a remarkably successful franchise. One wonders what in the formula worked so well.

I think in this case it was the focus on sidekicks. Our two main characters are a "reformed" master thief, the Blackie, and a senior police chief who always chases him and whom reluctantly ends collaboratively up solving some crime. Ho hum so far.

Each of these guys has a sidekick. Each sidekick is incompetent, in fact utterly dependent on his alpha dog. Overall, Blackie's team is suave and the police team gets the worst of pranks. But its the dynamics of the pairs that I think gave this formula its success. There's something about defining a loyal admirer and placing him on screen. Its a funny sort of narrative shift where some small element of ourselves are placed on screen. As they admire the character, we do too, a bit more intensely. To make it more admirable (pun here) we have to have a sidekick who we knowingly do not identify with, someone at the far end of competence.

In other films of this era, the comic main at the bottom of the stack would be a black man. But that wouldn't work for this recipe, because the audience is presumed to be white and the mechanism based on subliminal identification. You'll still see this in cop buddy movies and many teen movies.

Other than this minor thrill, of seeing a perfect and inexpensive formula at work, this is a waste of time.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

$60,000.00 no questions asked

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 7 April 2012]

Boston Blackie and sidekick Runt as they're about to go to Florida on a vacation get a transcontinental call from their good friend, playboy Lloyd Corrigan. Get $60,000.00 from a safe in his apartment and bring it to California. Corrigan has a couple of hoods pointing guns at him as he makes this call and of course Chester Morris thinks something is up. So Morris and George Stone get the money and make the trip with NYC cops trailing them because they think he's involved in a nice jewel heist also having taken place in California.

Columbia was doing both the Boston Blackie and Lone Wolf series at the same time and the plots were pretty interchangeable. Both retired master criminals, both with helpful sidekicks, both living good and no visible means of support, and both with cops constantly questioning them every time some notorious crime breaks at which they're always innocent. My own theory is that they lived off the proceeds of their previous criminal lives, the money having been laundered clean and untraceable. Just what were Blackie and the Runt vacationing from?

In this Lloyd Corrigan who's a good hearted and empty headed soul with too much money to burn always finds someone to help him burn it, usually of the female variety. That was Corrigan's function in all the Blackie films he did. Columbia starlet Constance Worth fulfills the function here, she's a poor man's Rita Hayworth.

Corrigan does have himself peripherally involved in the stealing of a legendary jewel, it's up to Morris and Stone to get him out of the jackpot if they can just shake loose from NYPD's not so finest Richard Lane and Walter Sande. They do it as usual with aplomb.

This one is a nicely paced Blackie entry that also features an up and coming Forrest Tucker as one of the hoods. This is a good one for a potential Blackie fan to be introduced to.

A welcome before-Interval diversion!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 17 December 2017]

"Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood" (1942) was not only the fourth film in the "Boston Blackie" series, but the very first movie directorial effort of Michael (Woman in Hiding, Portrait in Black) Gordon who stages some good action footage on actual Los Angeles locations but not, (would you believe, despite the movie's title) any Hollywood locations at all.

So, in actual fact, Boston Blackie doesn't actually go Hollywood after all! I guess you could say that Los Angles was near enough, but I still wonder how many movie patrons cried "Foul!", and demanded to have their money back!

Another problem is that although the movie moves fast, the plot is not particularly credible, even though solid acting by charismatic villains William Wright, Constance Worth and Forrest Tucker help to save the day.

I enjoyed the movie. It moves at an agreeably fast pace, and for me that is far more important than anything else except the acting. If the actors are convincing and the pace is smart, that is really all I need to make me happy!

A Murder-Free Boston Blackie Film

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 4 April 2014]

A rare entry in the Boston Blackie series where he is not accused of murder. Instead, this time he's accused of robbery as he tries to help his friend Arthur (Lloyd Corrigan) who has gotten mixed up with a pretty blonde and a gang of crooks. Obsessive Inspector Farraday and his sidekick Sgt. Matthews follow Blackie all the way to Hollywood. What is this "jurisdiction" you speak of?

Despite the title, there's nothing distinctly "Hollywood" about this. There are no movie star cameos or mysteries on film sets or anything of that sort. In addition to Chester Morris and the enjoyable regular cast, there's some nice support from Forrest Tucker, William Wright, and pretty Constance Worth. It's an entertaining entry in the series, though not one of the best. More comedy than usual. Blackie once again disguises himself as an old man. Better than blackface, I suppose.

Boston Blackie Travels in this Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 6 April 2007]

Boston Blackie, (Chester Morris) and his sidekick George E. Stone,(The Runt) decided to travel to Florida and Blackie gets a phone call from his friend and changes his plans and travels out to Hollywood and tries to help his friend. When Blackie gets to Hollywood he finds out that his friend is being romanced by a hot blonde named Gloria Lane (Constance Worth) who claims her diamond was stolen and wants $60,000 and while Boston Blackie tries to get the money, he gets caught by Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) and he proceeds to handcuff poor Blackie. There are scenes with people sliding down elevator shafts and lots of utter confusion.

Fun, but not Blackie's best............

[Panamint · 5/10 · 30 July 2007]

It's more like "Blackie Goes to a Hotel in Los Angeles", rather than Blackie Goes Hollywood. Didn't get much of a Hollywood impression from this film. The pace is fast, it is a well edited movie, but the script here is just not quite up to the usual high "Blackie" quality. Also, some of the physical stuff (in and out of doorways, up and down stairs, etc.) is directed rather poorly, but is performed with a lot of energy and verve by the cast.

Chester Morris is watchable with his usual good acting as Blackie. Richard Lane and Walter Sande do a great job as the bumbling police. Constance Worth is attractively untrustworthy as the girl involved.

The ensemble cast keeps this watchable and it moves along briskly, overcoming the weak script.

Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 10 December 2023]

I'm not too sure "Blackie" (Chester Morris) had his head screwed on the right way when he agreed to take $60,000 in cash from the safe of his pal "Manleder" (Lloyd Corrigan) and travel with the "Runt" (George E. Stone) to deliver it to him in Hollywood. No sooner is the cash in his pocket than "Insp. Farraday" (Richard Lane) and the dim-witted "Matthews" (Ralph Dunn) collar him for theft. This time, though, "Farraday" has a plan. He reckons that "Blackie" might have some ideas about the recently stolen Monterey diamond and by letting him escape and following him, he hopes to track it down. Meantime, as luck would have it his wealthy pal has hooked up with "Gloria" (Constance Worth) who was wearing the diamond when it was pinched and who is now offering to retrieve it for, yep, $60,000! What now ensues is an almost slapstick series of escapades as nobody is quite sure who has the stone, the money, or who is trying to double cross whom. The bumbling Corrigan reminded me a little of Nigel Bruce here, and there's decent effort from William Wright as the aptly monikered "Slick" to keep this entertaining and worth a watch for an hour.

Not bad for the genre, but also nothing new or exciting either

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 6 April 2007]

Turner Classic Movies just recently showed most of the Boston Blackie films starring Chester Morris and while they are pretty good B-detective films, they are also very, very formulaic--even for the genre. I practically saw all of these movies and noticed that the same stupid inspector and his subhuman sidekick are accusing Blackie of committing the crimes in question. And, each time, Bost Blackie solves the crime for them--making their idiocy apparent again and again and again. You'd think that these bumblers would be fired and that any cop with a functioning cortex would realize the best thing to do it just sit back and let Blackie solve the crime! Plus, in the process, the Inspector almost always gets himself captured or is tricked by Blackie. At first, this is all pretty funny, but by the time this film came out, the formula was wearing a bit thin. They could have easily kept most of the formula but also had the cops not always been so stupid--this would have greatly improved the films.

About the only new thing about this film is that now in addition to the idiotic cops, Blackie has a rich friend who is introduced to the series and he manages to be even dumber than the police!! While it would have been easy for even a two year-old to figure out what was happening, this Neanderthal was clueless--making the film itself seem pretty lame in spots. Still, the snappy dialog and able support by Blackie's buddy, Runt, is pretty good and make this film an amiable time-passer--just don't expect anything particularly new or interesting except for appearances by very young actors Forrest Tucker and Lloyd Bridges.

Boston Blackie goes Hollywood?

[Hollycon1 · 8/10 · 28 March 2007]

As you have already read by the person who has only seen this one film in the Boston Blacke series, they are not in the A budget class. Look a little closer and you'll see some up and coming actor, namely Forrest Tucker (Whipper). Who cares if it's not an A picture. These films are fun to watch! And by the way, the original writer of the Boston Blackie series was an opium addict and did time in prison. He began writing in prison and when he got out his stories were bought and changed for the movies. Columbia pictures had a hit on it's hands. Not all the movies made back then were Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford, if it weren't for Boston Blackie and his antics Columbia would have probably gone bankrupt a long time ago. Most movies made even today aren't worth the time and money, but every now and then the movie makers get it right and it works. Open your mind and enjoy a fun film. Any Boston Blackie movie is fun to watch.

Farce with a mystery in there somewhere

[csteidler · 7/10 · 30 August 2011]

Inspector Farraday, in his never-ending quest to get the goods on Boston Blackie, is even more pigheaded and persistent than usual in Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood. Farraday, ever suspicious and always ready to go to any lengths necessary, loads himself and his loyal assistant Sergeant Matthews into the cargo hold of an airplane flying Blackie and the Runt across country. Blackie, of course, catches on, and manages to unload on ant farm into their hiding place, thus setting in motion an ongoing itching gag that lasts through the whole film.

The mystery has to do with the famous Monterey Diamond, Blackie's wealthy friend Arthur, and the girl and the gang who have pulled a swift one on Arthur out in California. Arthur calls Blackie for assistance; Blackie hops a plane; Farraday pursues; and it's all over in an hour.

Lots of humor in this one, including Blackie in disguise as a professor and the runt dressed up in a sort of Lord Fauntleroy outfit that doesn't really fool anybody, especially since he's constantly forgetting he's supposed to be a little boy. Matthews takes the brunt of both insults from Farraday ("You know, Matthews, every time I'm out with you I think I ought to be wearing a nurse's uniform") and trickery and general disrespect from everyone else.

Good fun for Blackie fans.

Out where they say, Let us solve crimes, Boston Blackie goes Hollywood!

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 25 April 2017]

Starting down south where they grow oranges but ending up on the way there to the other coast where they also grow oranges. So while Florida is the initial destination, Californy is the place that Boston Blackie ends up, involved again with sidekicks Lloyd Corrigan and George E. Stone, as usual followed around by his friendly foil, lieutenant Richard Lane and his increasingly dumber sidekick Walter Sande. All it takes is putting Morris to outwit these two idiots, and there's no game even to begin other than against the bad guys, lead by William Wright.

This entry has Morris and Stone heading out to California to deliver money to Corrigan to get him out of a jam, only to find more trouble. Corrigan's got involved with slick con-artists, a plot line that could take place in any city, let alone the L.A. district of Hollywood. A beautiful con artist (Constance Worth) gets Corrigan involved in a scam he's too naive to get out of on his own, and all he needs is Blackie, not sidekick Stone or the annoying Lane, outlasting his usefulness. Forrest Ticker is pretty unrecognizable as one of the racketeers out to fleece Corrigan. While the dialog is pretty smart and the film moves fast, the plot on this one is mostly just ludicrous.

Strong Enrty

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Forth film in Columbia's series finds Blackie (Chester Morris) trying to get $60,000 to California so that a friend can pay off a mob holding him hostage. As usual, Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) thinks Blackie has stolen a priceless diamond and is hot on his trail. Unlike the previous film, this one here thankfully gets the laughs back on target and delivers a pretty good entry that fans of detective films should really enjoy. Once again Morris is very comfortable in his role and by now it seems like he could play it with his eyes closed. The supporting players are all good but again, the main highlight are all the laughs that this entry has. There's a wonderful segment at the end with Blackie and the bad guy fighting in an elevator shaft that has a dash of slapstick, which is really funny. There isn't much of a mystery going on but the 68-minute running time flies by. Forrest Tucker has a small role and if you look fast you can see Lloyd Bridges. Also of note, the word Hollywood is never even mentioned in the film.

Boston Blackie sets the pace!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 17 December 2017]

"Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood" (1942) was the fourth film in the "Boston Blackie" series and it was also the first movie directorial effort of the then very successful Broadway stage director, Michael Gordon.

Owing partly to his expertise and partly to the fact that there was a war going on, Michael Gordon was soon in great demand in Hollywood (his later films included "Woman in Hiding", and "Portrait in Black") and he certainly stages some really great action footage here , utilizing some actual real life Los Angeles locations that were not far from Hollywood.

Oddly, despite the film's actual title, no real outdoor locations in Hollywood itself were utilized.

Of even more importance, although the film moves really fast, the plot is not particularly credible, but nonetheless, the solid acting by charismatic villains William Wright, Constance Worth and Forrest Tucker certainly help to put the story across most successfully.

Totally forgettable series entry.

[Wilbur-10 · 5/10 · 22 August 2000]

The first Boston Blackie film I've seen, so don't know how it compares to others in the series. In this entry Blackie ( a reformed jewel thief ) has to transport a large sum of money to a friend in Los Angeles, whose gotten involved with a typically dodgy 'B' movie female who's in with the mob. Film has typical character array from these type of early film serials; Boston Blackie is a wise-cracking handsome hero, his sidekick is a snivelling strange looking man/child called 'Runt' whose only purpose seems a perverse kind of comic relief, while we also have the dumb Police Inspector and his even dumber Sergeant.

Even for low-budget crime films of the type, this seems like a below-average entry in what is probably a below-average series. That said the film potters along nicely and is fun for those with a big nostalgic streak - despite the last third of the film degenerating into farce.

Incidentally the title is misleading, as the only Hollywood connection is the use of L.A. as a location for the second half of the film!! Even then we aren't treated to any exotic outside location shooting - never trust an ex-jewel thief

Blacked Out

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 21 April 2017]

***SPOILERS*** Boston Blackie, Chester Morris, and his pint-size partner "The Runt", George E. Stone, get themselves involved in the case of the stolen $60,000.00 Monteray Diamond that got Blackie's good friend millionaire Arthur Manleder, Lloyd Corrigan, in deep trouble. This involves some kind of cockamamie scam by gangster Slick Barton, William Wright, to blackmail Manleder into making it look like he stole it in order to have it cut into a dozen pieces! And from what I can make out appreciate its value even though it's Slick who'll end up getting rich off it.

All throughout the movie Blackie's nemesis the bumbling Inspector Farraday, Richard Lane, ends up falling on his face as well as being attacked a thousands of army ants in him trying to get the goods on Blackie in framing him for the stealing of the Monteray Diamond which he in fact recovered, by safe cracking, for its owner Arthur Manleder. There's also pretty blond Gloria Lane, Constance "Worth a Look" Worth, and hoodlum and Slick's strongman "Whipper, Forrest Tucker, who just loves to "Whip" it out to round out the cast.

***SPOILERS*** Heart drooping elevator scene with Blackie slugging it out with Slick who ends up being knocked unconscious by him not once but twice-Within five minutes- by a fired up Blackie before the movie ends. It's the up and down sequence in the movie that makes those of us watching sea sick in following g it but as we saw it was Slick who ended up getting the far worst of it. Chester Morris seems to be really getting into his Boston Blackie character with his on target cracking jokes as well as not as much as getting his hair or clothes mussed up during the entire movie. He also does a good imitation of an head shrink-er or Austrian Sigmund Freud like psycho analyst, together with an Austrian accent, as well.

Blackie goes Hollywood - but not to become a star...

[binapiraeus · 8/10 · 9 February 2014]

This time, Boston Blackie REALLY gets a taste of his old 'job': a rich friend of his phones him to 'break' into his apartment and crack his safe to take out 6000 dollars and bring them to him in L.A. - but... Inspector Faraday catches him right 'in the act', with the safe open and the money in his hands; so THIS time, he thinks, he's got him for good!

Of course, now the usual cat-and-mouse game follows, with the money and a precious jewel changing hands countless times (and Blackie meeting some of his old 'pals' from Sing Sing days...), with escapes from planes, hotel rooms and even elevator shafts - hilarious fun, as always! (With the cops being dumber than ever before...) And for a change, nobody gets murdered this time - so you could really call this a VERY entertaining, funny family crime movie, suited perfectly for any 8- or 10-year old; but nonetheless equally fun to watch for adults...

"Don't you get enough of cops and robbers in the movies?"

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 30 November 2007]

A frenetic entry in the Boston Blackie series, this one gets downright farcical at times with the Runt (George E. Stone) masquerading as an Our Gang Alfalfa type character, and Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) donning the guise of a Professor to help a friend in California. The caper involves the missing Monterey diamond, followed by the sixty thousand dollars Blackie brings with him from Arthur Manleder's (Lloyd Corrigan) safe back home. The film utilizes all sorts of ruses and gimmicks that wouldn't even be attempted in a movie today because quite frankly, they wouldn't work, literally or figuratively. Like buying a plane ticket with cash! Can you do that today? I don't think so.

But given the time, I'm sure this was a fun diversion, and probably the best way to view the film and the series today. It's also cool to see some Hollywood names before they made it, like the unrecognizably young Forrest Tucker as a henchman named Whipper and an uncredited Lloyd Bridges. The bumbling police detectives were of course a staple for the genre, and you'll find them constantly foiled at the hands of era detectives like Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong, the Lone Wolf and plenty of others. There might be better ways to spend an hour, but in a pinch, this one will do as well as most.

"Going Hollywood" means getting a swelled head from sudden attention ...

[pronker · 8/10 · 30 May 2018]

... so while it would have been neat to see Blackie and crew in Hollywood circa 1942, the title perhaps misled viewers in 2018. At least, the aforementioned definition of the term is what I learned as a kid; I guess the action taking place in LA was close enough to Hollywood. There were nice outdoor shots of the city from top of buildings and maybe experts on the area could point out where the elevator scene took place. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride of Blackie as a psychologist type traveling on a plane with Runt in disguise as his little genius nephew, fun idea! As for the ants, right away the suspense began as they boarded the plane on an ant farm held by little Runt ... LOL