Boston Blackie

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This article is about the fictional noir pulp hero. For the Chicago bluesman, see Boston Blackie (guitarist).
Boston Blackie
"Unhurried and without excitement, but quickly,
Boston Blackie forced drawer after drawer"—
N. C. Wyeth illustrated "The Price of Principle" (1914) for The American Magazine
First appearance"The Price of Principle" (1914)
Created byJack Boyle
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationJewel thief, safecracker, detective

Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author

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."

Actor

NBC
radio series.

Jack Boyle

Writer Jack Boyle was born in Oakland, California, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. While working as a newspaper editor in San Francisco, he became an opium addict and was drawn into crime to support his habit.

San Quentin for writing bad checks. Later convicted of robbery in Denver, Colorado, Boyle was serving time at the Colorado State Penitentiary when he created the character of Boston Blackie.[2][3]

Boston Blackie

The first four stories appeared in The American Magazine in 1914, with Boyle writing under the pen name "No. 6066". From 1917 to 1919, Boston Blackie stories appeared in The Red Book magazine, and from 1918 they were adapted for motion pictures.[4]: 149 

When Boston Blackie began to find success on the screen, Boyle edited the Red Book magazine stories into a book, Boston Blackie (1919). He revised and rearranged the order of the stories to create a cohesive narrative—a common practice at the time known in publishing as a

fixup. This was the only appearance of Boston Blackie in book form, but his adventures continued to appear in periodicals.[4]: 149–150 [5]

Short stories

First edition of the short story collection Boston Blackie (1919)
Year Title Publisher Publication date Notes
1914 "The Price of Principle" The American Magazine July 1914 As No. 6066[6]
1914 "The Story About Dad Morgan" The American Magazine August 1914 As No. 6066[7]
1914 "Death Cell Visions" The American Magazine September 1914 As No. 6066[8]
1914 "A Thief's Daughter" The American Magazine October 1914 As No. 6066[9]
1917 "Boston Blackie's Mary" The Red Book Magazine November 1917 [10]
1917 "The Woman Called Rita" The Red Book Magazine December 1917 [10]
1918 "Fred the Count" The Red Book Magazine January 1918 [10]
1918 "Miss Doris, Safe-Cracker" The Red Book Magazine May 1918 [10]
1918 "Boston Blackie's Little Pal" The Red Book Magazine June 1918 [10]
1918 "Alibi Ann" The Red Book Magazine July 1918 [10]
1918 "Miss Doris's 'Raffles'" The Strand Magazine August 1918 [10][11]
1918 "The Poppy Girl's Husband" The Red Book Magazine October 1918 [10]
1918 "A Problem in Grand Larceny" The Red Book Magazine December 1918 [10]
1919 "An Answer in Grand Larceny" The Red Book Magazine January 1919 [10]
1919 "The Third Degree" The Strand Magazine April 1919 [10][12]
1919 "The Daughter of Mother McGinn" Cosmopolitan June 1919 [13]
1919 "Alias Prince Charming" Cosmopolitan July 1919 [14]
1919 "Black Dan" Cosmopolitan October 1919 [15]
1919 "The Water-Cross" Cosmopolitan November 1919 [16][17]
1920 "Grandad's Girl" Cosmopolitan March 1920 [18]
1920 "The Face in the Fog" Cosmopolitan May 1920 [19][20]
1920 "The Painted Child" Cosmopolitan October 1920 [10][21]
1920 "Boomerang Bill" Cosmopolitan December 1920 [10][22]

Films

Rhea Mitchell (Mary) and Bert Lytell (Boston Blackie) in Boston Blackie's Little Pal (1918), a lost film[23]

The earliest Boston Blackie film adaptations were silent, dating from 1918 to 1927. Columbia Pictures revived the property in 1941 with Meet Boston Blackie, a fast, 58-minute B movie starring Chester Morris. Although the running time was brief, Columbia gave the picture good production values and an imaginative director, Robert Florey. The film was successful, and a series followed.

In the Columbia features, Boston Blackie is a reformed jewel thief who is always suspected when a daring crime is committed. In order to clear himself, he investigates personally and brings the actual culprit to justice, sometimes using disguises. An undercurrent of comedy runs throughout the action/detective series.

In one of these films, After Midnight with Boston Blackie, the character's real name was revealed to be Horatio Black.

Morris gave the Blackie character his own personal charm: he could be light and flippant or stern and dangerous, as the situation demanded. His sidekick, the Runt, was always on hand to help his old friend. George E. Stone played Runt in all but the first and last films. Charles Wagenheim and Sid Tomack, respectively, substituted for Stone when he was not available.

Blackie's friendly adversaries were Inspector Farraday

Richard Lane) and his assistant, Sergeant Matthews. Matthews was originally played as a hapless victim of circumstance by Walter Sande; he was replaced by Lyle Latell, who played it dumber, and then by comedian Frank Sully
, who played it even dumber.

Blackie and Runt were often assisted in their endeavors by their friends: the cheerful but easily flustered millionaire Arthur Manleder (almost always played by

gal Friday
characters.

The films are highly typical of Columbia's

Oscar Boetticher, William Castle, and finally Seymour Friedman
, who went on to work prolifically in Columbia's television department. The Boston Blackie series ran until 1949.

Filmography

Joey Jacobs and Bert Lytell in Boston Blackie's Little Pal (1918)
Poster for The Face in the Fog (1922), starring Lionel Barrymore
Poster for Boston Blackie (1923), starring William Russell
Year Title Actor Notes
1918 Boston Blackie's Little Pal Bert Lytell Adapted from "Boston Blackie's Little Pal"[25]
1919 The Poppy Girl's Husband Walter Long [26]
1919 The Silk Lined Burglar Sam De Grasse Adapted from "Miss Doris, Safe-Cracker"[27]
1919 Blackie's Redemption Bert Lytell Adapted from "Boston Blackie's Mary" and "Fred the Count"[28]
1922 Boomerang Bill Lionel Barrymore Adapted from "Boomerang Bill"[29]
1922 Missing Millions David Powell Adapted from "A Problem in Grand Larceny" and "An Answer in Grand Larceny"[30]
1922 The Face in the Fog Lionel Barrymore [19]
1923 Boston Blackie William Russell Adapted from "The Water-Cross"[16]
1923 Crooked Alley Thomas Carrigan Adapted from Boyle's original story, "The Daughter of Crooked Alley"[31][32]
1924 Through the Dark Forrest Stanley Adapted from "The Daughter of Mother McGinn"[33]
1927 The Return of Boston Blackie Raymond Glenn [34]
1941 Meet Boston Blackie Chester Morris [24]
1941 Confessions of Boston Blackie Chester Morris [35]
1942 Alias Boston Blackie Chester Morris [36]
1942 Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood Chester Morris [37]
1943 After Midnight with Boston Blackie Chester Morris [38]
1943 The Chance of a Lifetime Chester Morris [39]
1944 One Mysterious Night Chester Morris [40]
1945 Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion Chester Morris [41]
1945 Boston Blackie's Rendezvous Chester Morris [42]
1946 A Close Call for Boston Blackie Chester Morris [43]
1946 The Phantom Thief Chester Morris [44]
1946 Boston Blackie and the Law Chester Morris [45]
1948 Trapped by Boston Blackie Chester Morris [46]
1949 Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture Chester Morris [47]

Radio

Boston Blackie—enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend.

— Boston Blackie radio series[48]

Concurrent with the Columbia Pictures films, a Boston Blackie radio series—also starring Chester Morris—aired on

Richard Lane played Inspector Farraday. Harlow Wilcox was the announcer for the 30-minute program.[48][49][50]

A new incarnation of the Boston Blackie radio series aired April 11, 1945 – October 25, 1950, starring Richard Kollmar. Maurice Tarplin played Inspector Farraday; Jan Miner was Mary. More than 200 half-hour episodes were transcribed and syndicated by Frederick Ziv to Mutual and other network outlets.[48][49][50]

Television

Kent Taylor (Boston Blackie), Lois Collier (Mary Wesley) and Frank Orth (Inspector Farraday) pose with Whitie in TV's Boston Blackie (1951–53)

Kent Taylor starred in the Ziv-produced half-hour TV series The Adventures of Boston Blackie. Syndicated in September 1951, it ran for 58 episodes, lasting until 1953,[citation needed] continuing in repeats over the following decade. Lois Collier appeared as Mary Wesley and Frank Orth was Inspector Farraday.[51] The series was set in Los Angeles; Mary and Blackie had a dog named Whitie, and comedy sometimes took precedence over crime.[52]

Television historian

Tim Brooks in The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present described Boston Blackie as "a memorable B-grade television series … The term 'B' is used in all the best senses: a certain vitality and sense of humor substituted more than adequately for the normal criteria of expensive production and famous stars."[52]

Graphic novels

Scripter Stefan Petrucha and artist Kirk Van Wormer created the graphic novel Boston Blackie (Moonstone Books, 2002) with a cover by Tim Seelig. A jewel heist at a costume ball goes horribly wrong, and the five-year-old son of the wealthy Greene family disappears and is presumed dead; the body is never found. The main suspect is Boston Blackie, who is still haunted seven years later by what happened that night. Drawn back into the case, he finds that the truth of what happened that night is awash in a watery grave. A sequel to the graphic novel was published years later.[53]

In popular culture

See also

References

Informational notes

  1. ^ The surname of Boston Blackie's police adversary was spelled Faraday in only the first film, Meet Boston Blackie. In all subsequent films it was spelled Farraday.[24]

Citations

  1. ^ No. 6066 (pen name); Boyle, Jack (April 1914). "A Modern Opium Eater". The American Magazine. Retrieved 28 Jan 2024.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Ladnier, Curt. "IN SEARCH OF JACK BOYLE". Retrieved 28 Jan 2024.
  3. ^ Humphreys, Ray (26 Oct 1928). "The Denver Post". p. 1.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7864-4864-7
    .
  5. OCLC 11311055
    .
  6. ^ Boyle, Jack (July 1914). "The Price of Principle". The American Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  7. ^ Boyle, Jack (August 1914). "The Story About Dad Morgan". The American Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  8. ^ Boyle, Jack (September 1914). "Death Cell Visions". The American Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  9. ^ Boyle, Jack (October 1914). "A Thief's Daughter". The American Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Contento, William G. "Boyle, Jack (1881–1928)". The FictionMags Index. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  11. ^ Boyle, Jack (August 1918). "Miss Doris's "Raffles"". The Strand Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  12. ^ Boyle, Jack (April 1919). "The Third Degree". The Strand Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  13. ^ Boyle, Jack (June 1919). "The Daughter of Mother McGinn". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  14. ^ Boyle, Jack (July 1919). "Alias Prince Charming". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  15. ^ Boyle, Jack (October 1919). "Black Dan". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  16. ^ a b "Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  17. ^ Boyle, Jack (November 1919). "The Water-Cross". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  18. ^ Boyle, Jack (March 1920). "Grandad's Girl". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  19. ^ a b "The Face in the Fog". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  20. ^ Boyle, Jack (May 1920). "The Face in the Fog". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  21. ^ Boyle, Jack (October 1920). "The Painted Child". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  22. ^ Boyle, Jack (December 1920). "Boomerang Bill". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  23. ^ "Boston Blackie's Little Pal". Progressive Silent Film List. Silent Era. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  24. ^ a b "Meet Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  25. ^ "Boston Blackie's Little Pal". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  26. ^ "The Poppy Girl's Husband". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  27. ^ "The Silk Lined Burglar". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  28. ^ "Blackie's Redemption". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  29. ^ "Boomerang Bill". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  30. ^ "Missing Millions". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  31. ^ "Crooked Alley". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  32. ^ "What Girardeau Theatres Offer". Southeast Missourian. December 29, 1923. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  33. ^ "Through the Dark". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  34. ^ "The Return of Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  35. ^ "Confessions of Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  36. ^ "Alias Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  37. ^ "Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  38. ^ "After Midnight with Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  39. ^ "The Chance of a Lifetime". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  40. ^ "One Mysterious Night". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  41. ^ "Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  42. ^ "Boston Blackie's Rendezvous". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  43. ^ "A Close Call for Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  44. ^ "The Phantom Thief". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  45. ^ "Boston Blackie and the Law". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  46. ^ "Trapped by Boston Blackie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  47. ^ "Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  48. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3
    . Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  49. ^ a b "Boston Blackie". RadioGOLDINdex. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  50. ^ a b "Boston Blackie". Digital Deli Too. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  51. ^ Dinan, John (Spring 2015). "Boston Illegal". Nostalgia Digest. Vol. 41, no. 2. pp. 50–52.
  52. ^
    ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4
    . Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  53. ISBN 978-0972166805
    .
  54. ^ "Boston Blackie's Restaurant".
  55. ^ "Boston Blackie". Anti-.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boston Blackie.

Radio shows

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