An undercurrent of comedy runs throughout the action/detective series. In order to clear himself, he investigates personally and brings the actual culprit to justice, sometimes using disguises. In the Columbia features, Boston Blackie is a reformed jewel thief who is always suspected when a daring crime is committed. The film was successful, and a series followed. Although the running time was brief, Columbia gave the picture good production values and an imaginative director, Robert Florey. Columbia Pictures revived the property in 1941 with Meet Boston Blackie, a fast, 58-minute B movie starring Chester Morris.

The earliest Boston Blackie film adaptations were silent, dating from 1918 to 1927. Rhea Mitchell (Mary) and Bert Lytell (Boston Blackie) in Boston Blackie's Little Pal (1918), a lost film : 149–150 Short stories įirst edition of the short story collection Boston Blackie (1919) Year This was the only appearance of Boston Blackie in book form, but his adventures continued to appear in periodicals. 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.

When Boston Blackie began to find success on the screen, Boyle edited the Red Book magazine stories into a book, Boston Blackie (1919).

From 1917 to 1919, Boston Blackie stories appeared in The Red Book magazine, and from 1918 they were adapted for motion pictures. : 149 The first four stories appeared in The American Magazine in 1914, with Boyle writing under the pen name 'No. Later convicted of robbery, Boyle was serving a term in San Quentin when he created the character of Boston Blackie. While working as a newspaper reporter in San Francisco, he became an opium addict, was drawn into crime, and was jailed for writing bad checks. Writer Jack Boyle grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Blackie, a jewel thief and 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.'Īctor Chester Morris played the character in 14 Columbia Pictures films (1941–1949) and in a 1944 NBC radio series. Wyeth illustrated 'The Price of Principle' (1914) for The American Magazineīoston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle (1881–1928). 'Unhurried and without excitement, but quickly,īoston Blackie forced drawer after drawer'.

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