Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)
*** (out of 4)
Forth film in Columbia's series finds Blackie (Chester Morris) trying to get $60,000 to California so that a friend can pay off a mob holding him hostage. As usual, Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) thinks Blackie has stolen a priceless diamond and is hot on his trail. Unlike the previous film, this one here thankfully gets the laughs back on target and delivers a pretty good entry that fans of detective films should really enjoy. Once again Morris is very comfortable in his role and by now it seems like he could play it with his eyes closed. The supporting players are all good but again, the main highlight are all the laughs that this entry has. There's a wonderful segment at the end with Blackie and the bad guy fighting in an elevator shaft that has a dash of slapstick, which is really funny. There isn't much of a mystery going on but the 68-minute running time flies by. Forrest Tucker has a small role and if you look fast you can see Lloyd Bridges. Also of note, the word Hollywood is never even mentioned in the film.
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