Alias Boston Blackie (1942)

Alias Boston Blackie is the third installment of a fourteen film series (plus a radio show spin-off) based on a character serialized for magazines who'd previously been adapted into silent films prior to Columbia Pictures's relaunch in the '40s starring Chester Morris. Kind of makes you wonder how long it's going to take for the name, "James Bond," to elicit the same blank stare "Boston Blackie" does now. Or maybe you're better versed in early 20th century crime fiction than I am.

Blackie started out a character in crime fiction, assuming Wikipedia can be trusted (I sure as hell don't have the time to track down and read a bunch of 100 year old stories to confirm that). By the time he made his way to Columbia, the character had been reformed, presumably to keep him on the good side of the Hays Code, which was pretty strict about active criminals being punished for their deeds before the end credits rolled. Put a pin in this, though - I was pleasantly surprised how much they got away with.

All things considered, I was pleasantly surprised in a number of ways. While I can't quite justify a full recommendation due to the movie's low production values, this was more fun than I anticipated. The premise for the installment (and series, if I understand correctly) is Blackie constantly finds himself suspected of committing one crime or another and needs to take on the role of detective to clear his name, all while outsmarting the police trying to arrest him. This results in some ridiculous heist-like antics with all the twists and complications you'd hope for.

One complication around looking at something like this is it really plays more like an episode of a modern TV show than what we now think of as a feature film. Once TV took off a decade later, low-budget genre fare would take root in that medium, but in 1942 that sort of thing was still part of the cinematic ecosystem.

This is relevant for a couple of reasons. First, it's worth understanding that when I talk about low production values, I'm not blaming the filmmakers. This was designed to be produced fast and cheap, and there'd be no shame in that even if this weren't still fun to watch. Second, it's going to complicate my usual attempts to explore holiday themes and tropes, because this conforms more to what I'm assuming is the template of a Boston Blackie adventure, rather than any kind of Christmas movie.

That's not to say there's nothing to talk about. First, it holds some interest as an episodic Christmas installment of a series. In this regard, it's more a precursor to holiday episodes of crime and adventure shows, though most of those would focus on the season more than this. While Alias Boston Blackie is set entirely between Christmas Eve and Day, the timing is primarily backdrop and set dressing. The movie does feature some discussion of goodwill (the plot kicks off because Blackie is doing something kind for incarcerated individuals), and there's a bit of celebratory comradery at the end you might be able to connect to the season, but for the most part the film is concerned with the crime/mystery/detective story tropes and associated adventure.

What this does remind me of in a lot of ways is The Thin Man, though I'd argue that movie (and its sequel) make more poignant use of the holidays. Still, both focus primarily on their genre elements, with the holidays being more a background element for the majority of the runtime. Both also use the holidays more tonally than thematically, leveraging the timing for jokes and levity.

What I don't see here is any focused attempt to use the season for juxtaposition. The movie doesn't seem interested in playing with the contrast between a lighthearted time of year and violence. The Thin Man did this a bit, but Alias Boston Blackie doesn't seem interested.

None of that's a criticism, of course. I'm trying to track the way holiday tropes developed; there's nothing wrong with going a different way with a story. But it's notable to me this aspect of what's essentially a forerunner of the Christmas action movie subgenre either didn't think of or opted not to use what's now become a fairly universal hallmark of that subgenre. You don't really see holiday set crime, action, or any other even superficially dark subject matter skip that aspect much anymore.

The movie opens on Christmas Eve with Blackie arranging to have a charity variety show perform at the prison where he used to reside. There's a literal busload of performers, but only two members of the troop are actually relevant: a clown named Roggi and a dancer named Eve who's breaking some rules to see her incarcerated brother, Joe, who she wants to talk down from potentially doing something foolish. Blackie attends, as well - I'm a little unclear on the specifics, but the movie treats him as a minor celebrity at times (perhaps this makes more sense if you've seen the earlier installments). Against his wishes, he gets a police escort from Inspector Farraday, a recurring character in the series.

Farraday's role is a bit of a contradiction, actually. In a sense, he's here as a foil for Boston Blackie - the inspector is perpetually suspicious of the ex-convict, no matter how many times Blackie proves himself with good deeds or by tracking down the real criminal. Structurally, he serves as the movie's antagonist, creating obstacles for Blackie at every turn and nearly derailing his attempts to set things right. But when the truth is revealed, Farraday's role in the story flips.

I think some of this is explained by the aforementioned Hays Code, which discouraged the ridicule of law enforcement. The movie gets away with some of Farraday's underlings being played as fools, but you can see them tip-toeing around how police authority appears. The film still has Blackie outwit the inspector, but never in ways that make Farraday look idiotic.

Getting back to the plot, Joe corners Roggi with a gun (no idea where he got it), steals the clown's costume, and leaves him tied up in the prison. He then sneaks out with the rest of the troop after the performance. At first, only his sister realizes what's occurred, but Blackie catches on during the bus trip. He keeps quiet to avoid tipping off the police: his initial plan is to talk sense into Joe and sneak him back into prison to avoid any of them getting in more trouble. This falls through when it turns out Joe has other plans.

A few years earlier, Joe was framed for a crime and given a long sentence. Now he's obsessed with tracking down his former partners and getting revenge, no matter the consequences. Blackie sets out to prevent him from killing the men he's after, and - once Roggi's found tied up and gagged on Christmas morning - Farraday and the police are after both Joe and Blackie, who they assume aided in the breakout (which he technically did when he realized what was happening and didn't alert them earlier, but the movie doesn't seem worried about those kinds of crimes).

Joe only knows the full name of one of the two men who framed him. But when he finally tracks that man down, he's too late - his target is already dead. Fortunately for him, Blackie's there, as well, and the former criminal genius manages to hide Joe from the police, who show up immediately after. Blackie, along with a sidekick, is arrested, but he manages to help Joe get away. The arrest is temporary, anyway: Blackie breaks out soon after in a series of entertaining misdirects and tricks.

Unlike the police, Blackie managed to locate a clue as to the real killer's identity at the scene of the crime. With the help of Eve, he tracks down a former criminal now working as a taxi driver and lures him to the hotel where the murder was committed. This was, of course, the missing partner who framed Joe. When he read Joe escaped from prison, he killed his associate to prevent the vengeful man from getting information from him.

Blackie's figured all this out and manages to get a confession, unaware the police are listening in. But before they can burst in, the criminal turns the tables and holds Eve hostage. This all gets a bit silly and mainly exists to force an ending where the police gun down the killer. At the end, everyone's together at a Christmas party. We learn that Joe will need to return to prison for a few days while everything's sorted out, but the police heard the killer reveal Joe was innocent, so it's just a matter of taking care of paperwork.

There's no hint of any repercussions for Blackie's role in withholding evidence, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, or stealing multiple vehicles to make his escape, but this isn't going for realism. This is going for a similar tone as The Thin Man - a lighthearted detective fantasy with a trickster protagonist. Blackie uses disguises and tricks to outmaneuver both the police and actual criminals, and it's easy to see why the series was popular. And it's certainly fun seeing one of these where the cops are the rubes, even if the resolution dials this back and tries to cast one in a heroic light.

As I mentioned earlier, the holiday elements play a minimal role, outside of justifying the initial prison variety show that kicks off the plot. Still, we see the holidays intrude a number of times, such as the killer being fatally delayed at the end after running into someone carrying a stack of packages. But these elements feel more like they were added for convenience - it would have been easy to swap these details out, if the setting had been different (not that this is a meaningful litmus test).

The lack of tonal or thematic weight is more notable. Arguably, the movie's interest in forgiveness and second chances could be seen as relevant to the holidays, though I suspect the same theme is present in other installments of this series. A sequence in which Blackie thanks Farraday for saving his life, coupled with the two acting like friends, feels more significant. The movie doesn't play the song, but there's sort of an Auld Lang Syne vibe to the party at the end - rivalries are forgotten and they seem to be looking forward to a new future. It's less obvious than usual, but I did get the impression this was playing into the idea that Christmas was a time for new beginnings, a theme that dominated holiday media prior to World War II.

Regardless, the holiday aspects are much more subtle than you'd expect to see in Christmas movies made later that decade, to say nothing of those made now. I find these alternate approaches to films set at Christmas fascinating, as they provide glimpses into how the yuletide season was perceived before the nostalgic version of American Christmas became standardized.

On top of that, I had fun with this one as a comedy/adventure detective story. Fans of those genres might find a lot to appreciate here, assuming they're willing to look past the production values. I can't quite recommend this one unconditionally - it's entertaining, but I don't think it's as enjoyable as, say, an episode of Poker Face or Leverage. Likewise, this doesn't have the cultural relevance that make things like The Thin Man required viewing (though diehard fans of that series would be wise to give this a shot). This is a lot better than I expected and there's no reason not to give it a chance if you're interested, but it doesn't quite break into the upper tier of holiday entertainment of its era.