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Boston Blackie and the Law

This is the twelveth movie in the Boston Blackie series.
A reformed thief brings a magic show to a woman's prison and gets mixed up in an escape.




Studio: Columbia
Release Date: December 12, 1946
Running Time: 69 minutes   B/W
Director: D. Ross Lederman
Producer: Ted Richmond
Cinematographer: George B. Meehan Jr.
Editor: James Sweeney
Screenwriter: Harry J. Essex
Additional Dialogue: Malcom Stuart Boylan
Production Dates: July 26 to August 9, 1943

RATING:   * * *

STARRING:

Chester Morris as Boston Blackie
Trudy Marshall as Irene
Constance Dowling as Dinah Moran
Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday
George E. Stone as The Runt
Frank Sully as Sgt. Matthews
Warren Ashe as JohnJani/Lampau
Selmer Jackson as Warden Lund

BB Poster



SYNOPSIS:

Boston Blackie, ex-convict and amateur magician, is doing his act at a prison-for-women, Inmate Dinah Moran escapes, determined to wreak vengeance on the man who done her wrong. Held as an accomplice, Blackie gets away and starts the search to find the escapee, and her ex-husband who was involved in the crime for which she was sentenced to prison.

This is essentially a remake of 1942's Alias Boston Blackie. In the original, a falsely accused convict escapes while Blackie is putting on a magic show for a men's prison, prompting Blackie to stop the escapee before he can kill the man who framed him. In both the original and the remake, Chester Morris is given ample opportunity to show off his considerable skills as a magician.




CAST:
Chester Morris as Boston Blackie
Trudy Marshall as Irene
Constance Dowling as Dinah Moran
Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday
George E. Stone as The Runt
Frank Sully as Sgt. Matthews
Warren Ashe as John Jani/Lampau
Selmer Jackson as Warden Lund
Fred Graff as Clerk
Edward Dunn as Peterson
Billy Snyder as Theater Manager
Maudie Prickett as Librarian
Syd Saylor as Mac
Thomas Kinston as Janitor
Wanda Perry as Secetary
Jessie Arnold as Prisoner
Bob Ryan as Prison Guard
Ed Fetherstone as Reporter
Lou Davis as Reporter
Frank O'Conner as Cab Driver
Brian O'Hara as Policeman
Joe Palma as Policeman
Ted Hecht as Harry Burton
Kernan Cripps as Callahan
Eddy Waller as Locksmith
Edward Keane as Andrews
Ralph Dunn as Bank Guard
Eugene Borden as Mephistopheles
Pat O'Malley as Coroner
Lew Harvey as Stagehand
Fred Fox as Stage Dooman
Wally Rose as Reporter
William Newell as Jones

BB LAW 1
Boston Blackie and the Law



  • Other Crew:
  • Assistant Director: Ben Kadish
  • Musical Direction: Mischa Bakaleinikoff
  • Art Director: Charles Clague
  • Art Department: Bill Calvet
  • Sound: Phillip Faulkner



Complete Movie Review:

While performing during the annual Thanksgiving party at a women's penitentiary, Boston Blackie, an amateur magician and reformed thief, asks for a volunteer to step into his magic box. When inmate Dinah Moran raises her hand, Blackie ushers her into the box and she vanishes not only from the box, but from the prison as well. Unable to make Dinah reappear, Blackie is arrested as an accomplice in her escape. Inspector Farraday, Blackie's nemesis, takes him into custody and questions him about a cryptic note found under Dinah's bed stating "Lampau to be married next Sunday." After tricking Farraday's assistant, Sgt. Matthews, into letting him step into the magic box, Blackie escapes from police headquarters and meets his associate, The Runt, at the library. There, Blackie learns from reading some newspaper files that Dinah was formerly married to a magician named Lampau. The couple had been involved in a $100,000 robbery, and although the money was never recovered, Lampau was acquitted of the crime while Dinah was given a three-year prison sentence. Through a magician friend, Blackie discovers that Lampau changed his name to John Jani and is currently performing at a local theater. Upon visiting Jani in his dressing room, Blackie learns that the magician plans to marry his assistant, Irene, on Sunday. Just as Blackie is warning Jani that his ex-wife has escaped from prison, Dinah bursts into the room, gun in hand, and after ordering Blackie into a closet, demands the money from Jani. When Jani lunges for Dinah's gun, the weapon fires and Dinah runs out the back window. To protect the magician and trap Dinah, Blackie arranges to impersonate Jani. After escorting Jani to a vacationing friend's apartment, Blackie dons the magician's robes and takes up residence in his apartment. The next morning, Blackie, still impersonating Jani, goes to the magician's bank, opens up his safety deposit box and discovers the $100,000. After Blackie leaves the bank, Dinah approaches him, and at gunpoint, orders him into his car and demands the money. When Blackie hands her an empty folder, Dinah, thinking that it contains the money, orders him out of the car and drives off. Proceeding to the theater, Blackie informs Irene about Jani's criminal past and confides that he plans to use the money to trap Dinah. Soon after, Blackie's vacationing friend returns and finds Jani's dead body in his apartment. Once again arrested for murder, Blackie tricks his guard and escapes from his cell. He proceeds to the theater, arriving just after Irene shoots Dinah. Irene then smugly admits that she also killed Jani and sent the note to Dinah in prison, hoping that she would lead her to the money. Boasting that Blackie will pay for her crimes, Irene phones Farraday and tells him that Blackie killed Dinah. When Farraday arrives, Blackie claims to have recorded Irene's confession on the phonograph in the dressing room. Blackie then turns on the phonograph, and through ventriloquism, mimics their previous conversation, tricking Irene into revealing that she is the murderer.

The Law
Boston Blackie and the Law


Meet Boston Blackie   |   Confessions of Boston Blackie   |   Alias Boston Blackie   |   Boston Blakie Goes Hollywood |   After Midnight With Boston Blackie
The Chance of a Lifetime   |   One Mysterious Night   |   Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion   |   Boston Blackie's Rendezvous   |   A Close Call for Boston Blackie
The Phantom Thief   |   Boston Blackie and the Law   |   Trapped by Boston Blackie   |   Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture




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