Today, we
are honored to have K.G. “Gail” McAbee on board to talk about one of her
favorites, Boston Blackie. Gail is an award-winning author, and just happens to
be my favorite writer of fiction. We’ve even coauthored a fast-paced action
story in the pulp tradition of heroes. SHADOWHAWKE: First Flight is still
available from the authors. She also writes Blog entries like this one on her
own Blog http://kgmcabee.blogspot.com Be sure
and check it out. Now, without further ado, the lovely and talented, Gail McAbee!
(Note: Boston Blackie can also be heard three times on Sunday at this url http://www.theiotrs.com )
Boston Blackie
"Enemy
to those who make him an enemy. Friend to those who have no friend."
This was
the opening line for The Adventures of Boston Blackie, a TV series
syndicated in 1951. Since I personally wasn't syndicated until late 1950, it
seems strange to say that this was one of my earliest favorites on television,
being still in diapers when it began, but it was. Luckily, there were 58
episodes and they were repeated throughout the 50s, so as I grew up and out of
diapers, I got to know Boston Blackie well. I also got to know Superman, the
Cisco Kid, the Lone Ranger and Tonto and lots of guys with six-guns.
But Boston
Blackie was my first love, and we never forget our first. Here's a list of
things I learned from him and which have influenced me throughout my misspent
life full of pulp, comics, movies, science fiction, horror, fantasy and such
like fun things:
One: Men
in thin mustaches are cool. Corollary: what happened to thin mustaches?
Two:
Reformed bad boys are the best kind of bad boys.
Three: A
good character name is worth its weight in rubies.
Four: Dogs
are everyone's best friends.
Five:
Solving crimes and punishing evildoers wasn't just for Doc Savage and crew.
If your
parents stuck you with a name like Horatio Black—my apologies to any Horatios
out there—wouldn't you rather be known as Boston Blackie? Of course you would.
Blackie was a jewel thief and safecracker in the original stories by Jack Boyle
written in the early 1900s. By the time he got to movies and radio, Blackie was
areformed safecracker and thief who often had to solve a crime to clear
himself from suspicion. This state of affairs continued from silent movies, to
the string of 14 talkies starring Chester Morris, to the brief radio series.
The TV
series, however, was a different matter. Blackie had deserted his former East
Coast environs and moved to LA. He acquired an assistant and girlfriend named
Mary Wesley, a seriously smart dog named Whitey, and a string of awesome
convertibles. He also had a tenuous connection with the LAPD through Inspector
Faraday. Kent Taylor starred as Blackie, with Lois Collier as Mary and Frank
Orth as the perpetually irritated Faraday.
A scene
which perfectly captures Inspector Faraday's opinion of Blackie is early in
Season 1, Episode 2, called "Cop Killer." Faraday is in his command
center, sending out messages to his patrol cars about an emergency concerning a
robbery, when Blackie and friends enter. Faraday say something like, "Hi,
Mary. Hi, Whitey." Remember, now, Whitey is the dog. Then the inspector
seems to finally notice Blackie—who is holding Whitey—and says, "Oh, it's
you, Blackie."
I love
that!
The
beginning of every episode started, as many early TV series did, with an
announcer shouting out the title and the aforementioned "Enemy to those
who make him an enemy. Friend to those who have no friend" as Blackie's
shadow appears, looming on the wall of what looks like an alley. He walks
forward, lighting a cigarette in the nonchalant fashion of the time, and
saunters past a news stand…where the announcer is revealed in a ball cap,
looking admiringly at Blackie as he ambles by. So cool! It can still bring a
chill to my spine. I assume the need to shout out the promo—common to other of
my favorite 50s TV shows such as Captain Video, Captain Midnight, Captain
Z-Ro and more—was a holdover from radio days—which were still going strong,
of course.
And
several episodes are available at Youtube.
Go watch
some now and return to those thrilling days of yesteryear…wait, wrong series.
Sorry. Just go watch some Boston Blackie. I think I'll do the same….
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