Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941)

Film Title: Confessions of Boston Blackie
Released: December 8, 1941
Directed by: Edward Dymtryk
Written by: Paul Yawitz based on a story by Jay Dratler & Paul Yawitz based the character created by Jack Boyle
Starring: Chester Morris, Harriet Hilliard & Richard Lane

Plot: When he's accused of murdering a man at an auction, Boston Blackie goes into action and uncovers a ruthless ring of art thieves.

IMDb: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Confessions of Boston Blackie is the second of Columbia Pictures Boston Blackie series and has Chester Morris and Richard Lane reprise their roles as reformed jewel thief Boston Blackie and his friendly nemesis, police Inspector Farraday. The movie opens revealing that a group of art counterfeiters are copying a valuable statue owned by Harriet Hilliard in an effort to steal the original. She is auctioning the family heirloom to raise money for her sick brother. Morris is invited to the auction by his millionaire friend Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan) and Lane is on hand with his partner, Detective Matthews (Walter Sande). When Hilliard investigates the fake statue at the auction and discovers its a replica, one of the thieves (Ralph Theodore) tries to shoot her, only grazing his intended target but killing one of his partners, the owner of the art house. Of course Lane immediately assumes Morris is guilty of the crime and takes him into custody. In the confusion, Theodore hides the body inside the hollow statue but much to his dismay, Corrigan buys the fake and has it transported it to his home. Morris manages to get free from his captors and eventually uncovers the truth of the matter with the help his sidekick, the Runt (George E. Stone), and Corrigan, ending with a gunfight between Morris, Lane, Sande and the crooks in their secret hideout. There is also a subplot involving Morris being blackmailed by Joan Woodbury. Keeping in tone with the action/comedy of its predecessor Meet Boston Blackie, Confessions is a lot fun and introduces more of the peripheral characters that appear regularly in the rest of the series. Corrigan is great as the easily flustered but good natured Manleder and Stone is the definitive Runt, playing him in every film of the series except the first and last. Sande has a bit part as a cop on the boardwalk in Meet but is given a bigger role here and plays it lovable but dim. Director Edward Dymtryk was nominated for an Oscar for his 1947 film Crossfire and Hilliard is known the world over as the Harriet of Ozzie and Harriet. Consistently named one of television's top moms from the golden age of television, she starred on the long running sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and is the mother of Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Ricky Nelson. Watch the opening sequence for the movie below or the whole fun-filled adventure here.