One Mysterious Night (1944)

Film Title: One Mysterious Night
Also known as: Behind Closed Doors (UK)
Released: October 21, 1944
Directed by: Budd Boetticher
Written by: Paul Yawitz based on the character created by Jack Boyle
Starring: Chester Morris, Janice Carter & Richard Lane

Plot: Inspector Farraday recruits Boston Blackie to help him find a stolen diamond.

IMDb: 6.1/10
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The seventh in Columbia Pictures Boston Blackie series of films, One Mysterious Night shakes things up in more ways than one. First of all, several new actors are present in roles previously established in the series by other actors. Present as ever are Chester Morris as Blackie, Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick the Runt but the newcomers to the series include Lyle Latell as Farraday's assistant Detective Matthews, Harrison Greene as Arthur Manleder and Joseph Crehan as pawnbroker Jumbo Madigan. Another change is the formula of the script as One Mysterious Night actually has Morris working with Lane on the case instead of at odds with him (although, by the middle of the movie Lane is as much chasing after Morris as he is the real culprits). The film opens with a famous diamond being stolen from its display case in broad daylight. The police are baffled and when asked by reporters, Lane says that the only person possibly responsible is Morris. The story gets printed and then brought to the attention of Morris who heads right down police headquarters to talk to Lane. It turns out the story was Lane's way of getting Morris' attention and to ask for his help in the case. Morris goes undercover but is recognized by a beautiful reporter (Janice Carter) and "arrested." He then tells Lane to let the reporters know that he "escaped," allowing him to keep up his rogue persona to the real culprits. Relentless on the case is Carter, who complicates things for Morris more than once. One Mysterious Night is a bit of a shot in the arm for the series and nicely changes the predictability that the scripts have fallen into. The change in so much casting is bit disheartening, though, as I had come to enjoy the familiarity of Blackie's extended cinematic family. Co-starring Robert Williams and William Wright as the crooks behind the caper and Mark Roberts (billed as Robert E. Scott) and Dorothy Malone as a brother and sister embroiled in the robbery. Malone won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Written on the Wind in 1956. Director Budd Boetticher (billed here in his first credited directorial role as Oscar Boetticher Jr.), was known later in his career for a string of westerns starring Randolph Scott, but was also nominated for an Oscar for his story of The Bullfighter and the Lady in 1951, which he co-wrote with Ray Nazarro and James Edward Grant. Watch the opening sequence below or the whole movie here.