Performing Arts · Adam Graham
Boston Blackie| Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Mystery Dramas
by Adam Graham
Boston Blackie was created by writer Jack Boyle as a jewel thief and safecracker with a heart of gold. The character was featured in nine silent films. In 1941, Blackie returned to film in the era of talkies. Much like the Saint, the character reformed from a thief into a detective. Blackie was always Inspector Farraday’s prime suspect in any major crime. The films were very popular with fourteen films made starring Chester Morris. Morris brought Blackie to the radio in a summer replacement radio series for NBC in 1944. Then in 1945, first-run syndication king Frederick Ziv created a new series starring Broadway Actor Richard Kollmar as Blackie and featuring the best talent in New York radio. The series was the most successful first-run syndication program of its era, producing 288 episodes of which at least 190 are in circulation.Ziv took the series to television in 1951 for two syndicated series featuring Kent Taylor as Blackie. Throughout his many iterations in the 1940s, Blackie remained a clever crime-solver whose past gave him a slight edge and made him a bit of a lovable rogue who fought on the side of the angels. He was the type of guy you wanted in your corner when the chips were down. “Enemy to those who make him an enemy. Friend to those who have no friend.” Host Adam Graham presents every circulating old time radio episode of Boston Blackie with episodes starring Chester Morris and later Richard Kollmar. This was originally presented as part of the Great Detectives of Old TIme Radio podcast.
