After Midnight with Boston Blackie

Last updated
After Midnight with Boston Blackie
After Midnight with Boston Blackie poster.jpg
Directed by Lew Landers
Written byJack Boyle (character)
Aubrey Wisberg (story)
Howard J. Green
Produced by Sam White
Starring Chester Morris
Richard Lane
Ann Savage
George E. Stone
Lloyd Corrigan
Cinematography L. William O'Connell
Edited byRichard Fantl
Music by M. W. Stoloff
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • March 18, 1943 (1943-03-18)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

After Midnight with Boston Blackie is a 1943 crime film directed by Lew Landers. It is the fifth of a series of 14 Columbia Pictures films starring Chester Morris as Boston Blackie. When a recently paroled friend of Boston Blackie is killed, he finds himself once again the prime suspect of Police Inspector Farraday.

Contents

Plot

When "Diamond" Ed Barnaby (an uncredited Walter Baldwin) is paroled, he sets out to give $100,000 worth of diamonds to his daughter, Betty (Ann Savage). Aware that several shady characters know he has the jewels, he stashes them in a safe deposit box in the Arcade Building. Betty later receives a call asking her to meet him there, but he never shows up. She contacts her father's only real friend: Horatio Black, better known as Boston Blackie. He agrees to help and drops Betty off at the apartment of his wealthy friend, Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan), for safekeeping. His sidekick, "the Runt" (George E. Stone), has to postpone his wedding to statuesque bubble dancer Dixy Rose Blossom (Jan Buckingham).

Blackie discovers which deposit box Barnaby rented. Meanwhile, crooks Joe Herschel, Sammy Walsh and Marty Beck (Cy Kendall, Al Hill and George McKay respectively, all uncredited), force their prisoner, Ed Barnaby, to reveal where he hid the diamonds. When the trio leave, Barnaby manages to telephones the police, but is killed by Herschel. Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) learns enough from the call to rush over to the Arcade Building with Sergeant Mathews (Walter Sande, uncredited). He apprehends Blackie on suspicion of murdering Barnaby just as he is about to open the box. The box turns out to be empty.

Blackie manages to escape. When he returns to Manleder's apartment, he finds that Betty has been kidnapped. A note offers to exchange her for the diamonds. Blackie has the Runt "borrow" a brooch from Dixy, and pries off the fake diamonds.

He then heads to the Flamingo Club, run by Herschel and his associates. Slipping inside undetected, he spies through the keyhole of the door to Herschel's office and sees the crook put the diamonds in his safe. After Herschel leaves, Blackie enters, cracks the safe and takes the jewels. However, before he can leave, Walsh and Beck enter. Thinking quickly, Blackie drops the diamonds in a pitcher of water. Unaware that Herschel double crossed them and had the real diamonds, Walsh and Beck exchange Betty for the fakes. Herschel returns too soon and exposes the fakes, but Blackie and Betty eventually manage to escape, aided by a citywide wartime practice blackout.

Walsh figures out that Herschel is out for himself. When he cannot produce the diamonds, Herschel is shot and killed by Walsh. Blackie returns to retrieve the stones, and witnesses the murder. Afterward, he offers to give the jewels to Walsh for the location of Barnaby's body. When the police close in, the pair sneak out and steal Inspector Farraday's car. Blackie sets the radio to "send" without Walsh noticing, then gets him to confess all with the police listening in. Eventually, Blackie is able to turn the tables and turn Walsh over to the authorities.

The Runt's wedding is interrupted once more, this time by Farraday and Mathews when they arrest Dixy for bigamy.

Cast

Related Research Articles

Boston Blackie Fictional character created by author Jack Boyle

Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle (1881–1928). Blackie, a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's stories, became a detective in adaptations for films, radio and television—an "enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend."

Lloyd Corrigan American actor (1900–1969)

Lloyd Corrigan was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually mysteries such as Daughter of the Dragon starring Anna May Wong, before dedicating himself more to acting in 1938. His short La Cucaracha won an Academy Award in 1935.

<i>The Chance of a Lifetime</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by William Castle

The Chance of a Lifetime is a 1943 crime drama starring Chester Morris, Erik Rolf and Jeanne Bates. It is one of 14 films made by Columbia Pictures involving detective Boston Blackie, a criminal-turned-crime solver. This was the sixth in the series and one of three that did not have his name in the title. The film is also William Castle's directorial debut. As with many of the films of the period, this was a flag waver to support America's efforts during World War II.

Dick Lane (announcer) American actor and television announcer (1899–1982)

Richard Lane was an American actor and television announcer/presenter. In movies, he played assured, fast-talking slickers: usually press agents, policemen and detectives, sometimes swindlers and frauds. He is perhaps best known to movie fans as "Inspector Farraday" in the Boston Blackie mystery-comedies. Lane also played Faraday in the first radio version of Boston Blackie, which ran on NBC from June 23, 1944 to September 15, 1944. Lane was an early arrival on television, first as a news reporter and then as a sports announcer, broadcasting wrestling and roller derby shows on KTLA-TV, mainly from the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

George E. Stone Polish-American actor (1903–1967)

George E. Stone was a Polish-born American character actor in films, radio, and television.

Cy Kendall American actor (1898–1953)

Cyrus Willard Kendall was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1935 and 1950. Kendall's heavy-set, square-jawed appearance and deep voice were perfect for wiseguy roles such as policemen and police chiefs, wardens, military officers, bartenders, reporters, and mobsters.

Purnell Pratt American actor

Purnell Pratt was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.

<i>Meet Boston Blackie</i> 1941 film by Robert Florey

Meet Boston Blackie is a 1941 crime film starring Chester Morris as Boston Blackie, a notorious, but honorable jewel thief. Although the character had been the hero of a number of silent films, this was the first talking picture. It proved popular enough for Columbia Pictures to produce a total of 14 B movies, all starring Morris.

Walter Sande American actor (1906–1971)

Walter Sande was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles.

<i>Confessions of Boston Blackie</i> 1941 film

Confessions of Boston Blackie is a 1941 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Chester Morris and Harriet Hilliard. A woman consigns a family heirloom to a pair of unscrupulous art dealers in order to raise money to help her sick brother. This film is the second in the series of 14 Columbia Pictures Boston Blackie films, all starring Morris as the reformed crook. It was preceded by Meet Boston Blackie (1941) and followed by Alias Boston Blackie (1942).

Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood is a 1942 American crime film, fourth of the fourteen Boston Blackie films of the 1940s Columbia's series of B pictures based on Jack Boyle's pulp-fiction character.

<i>Alias Boston Blackie</i> 1942 film

Alias Boston Blackie (1942) is the third in a series of Columbia Pictures "B" movies starring Chester Morris as Boston Blackie. It was preceded by Meet Boston Blackie, Confessions of Boston Blackie and followed by Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood. Once again, Blackie is suspected of committing a crime, in this instance of helping a prisoner escape.

One Mysterious Night is a 1944 crime film, the seventh in a Columbia Pictures series of fourteen starring Chester Morris as reformed crook Boston Blackie. It was preceded by The Chance of a Lifetime and followed by Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion. Blackie is called upon to recover a stolen diamond.

<i>Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion</i> 1945 film by Arthur Dreifuss

Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion is the eighth of 14 Columbia Pictures B movies starring Chester Morris as reformed thief Boston Blackie.

<i>Boston Blackie and the Law</i> 1946 film by D. Ross Lederman

Boston Blackie and the Law is the twelfth of fourteen Columbia Pictures films starring Chester Morris as reformed crook Boston Blackie.

<i>A Close Call for Boston Blackie</i> 1946 film by Lew Landers

A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946) is the tenth of fourteen Columbia Pictures crime films directed by Lew Landers starring Chester Morris as Boston Blackie.

The Phantom Thief is a 1946 American crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman. The film follows detective Boston Blackie as he tries to track down a blackmailer-murderer. As the investigation goes on, a supernatural element becomes clear.

<i>Boston Blackies Rendezvous</i> 1945 film directed by Arthur Dreifuss

Boston Blackie's Rendezvous is a 1945 American crime film directed by Arthur Dreifuss. The working title of this film was Surprise in the Night.

Trapped by Boston Blackie is a 1948 American crime drama directed by Seymour Friedman. It is the thirteenth of fourteen Columbia Pictures films starring Chester Morris as reformed crook Boston Blackie, and the final film with George E. Stone as "The Runt".

Sid Tomack American actor (1907–1962)

Sid Tomack was an American actor.

References

    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.