Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

binapiraeus Those are exactly the words Blackie's friend the 'Runt' uses when he realizes what a mess they've got in this time... No, this certainly isn't one of the 'usual' cases where some crook assumes Blackie's identity - it's a real maniac that's escaped from the asylum; and because he happens to be the nephew of Blackie's friend Manleder, Blackie promises to help finding him. But the disturbed youth manages to take Blackie by surprise and get hold of a set of his clothes - and then he goes on a murder spree...Now this is a REALLY unusual mixture of an almost Noir murder tale, scary and extremely suspenseful - and the familiar 'Boston Blackie' crime comedy, with moments of sheer nonsense (like when Blackie almost drives the psychologist crazy that Inspector Faraday has hired in order to make sure that Blackie hasn't actually turned into a homicidal maniac...). And strange as it sounds, it manages to hold the delicate balance between both - which is REALLY saying something for the writers as well as for the actors (every single one of whom is giving an EXTRAORDINARY performance)! But this part of the 'Boston Blackie' series HAS got something serious in it: the issue of a murderer not really responsible for his deeds; and Blackie all the time tries to calm him down, assuring him that he understands him and wants to help him - only to keep him from strangling another girl and finally let Faraday catch him. Only? No, I don't think so. We know Blackie well enough that he DOES feel pity for the demented young man - and that he WILL be sent back to the asylum and not on the electric chair...

Michael_Elliott Boston Blackie's Rendezvous (1945) *** (out of 4) Ninth film in Columbia's Boston Blackie series once again features Chester Morris in the role. In this film, a psychopath (Steve Cochran) escapes from an asylum and begins to strangle various women. It appears he's working his way down a line until he can meet a dancer (Nina Foch) he became obsessed with in the asylum. Blackie (Morris), The Runt (George E. Stone) and Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) are once again hot on the case. This is a step up from the last couple films I've seen in the series because it's unlike anything that came before it. Cochran is very good as the killer and the screenplay doesn't shy away from his evilness. Morris, Stone and Lane are as entertaining as ever. Morris gets to do a couple nice magic tricks in the film and the twist involving the killer trapping him was well written.

Alonzo Church Boston Blackie movies have some strengths -- mostly in that the pacing is swift and the hero is cheerfully unfazed in even the worst circumstances. But the plotting is frequently atrocious, and the unrelenting comic bits often kill the pacing (if the plot happens to be atypically good) or are just unfunny and inappropriate.This one involves Blackie chasing an escapee from the asylum (Steve Cochran in a really poor performance) who has become fixated on beautiful Nina Foch (who puts in a nice, rather subtle acting job). Inspector Farraday, of course, believes Blackie has gone homicidal maniac (he at least has some evidence in this one for that), and is incompetently trying to jail him as Blackie goes after the real killer. The plot has possibilities, but any time any real tension gets going, we a get a not funny comedy routine. It doesn't seem like anyone at Columbia understood that, in a movie about a pursuit of a really dangerous maniac, cute little comedy scenes about hiding an inconvenient body from the inspector disrupt any willing suspension of disbelief. (One just concludes our clever hero is an idiot -- deadly for a film like this.) This one is not worth the time. For a well plotted episode of this series, see Alias Boston Blackie.

whpratt1 Chester Morris, (Boston Blackie) has the task of trying to hunt down an insane person who escapes from a mental institution and starts looking for a girl named Sally Brown,(Nina Foch) who works in a dance hall. This escaped killer has a big crush on Sally Brown and even keeps a diary on his daily thoughts about this girl. Steve Cochran,(James Cook) plays the role of the mental patient who as soon as he gets headaches, snaps into a killing urge and manages to kill another girl. Inspector Farraday,(Richard Lane) for some reason thinks that Boston Blackie has lost his mind and is doing all this killing and he stops looking for the real killer. George E. Stone,(The Runt) appears once again as Boston Blackie's sidekick and gives a great supporting role. This film is very entertaining and enjoyable to watch.