Boston Blackie films

Boston Blackie, based on the short stories of Jack Boyle, proved to be a popular film character from from 1918 through 1949. Chester Morris is most closely identified with the role . He made 14 films as the reformed "gentleman thief" turned detective for Columbia Pictures. After World War II ended in 1945 Americans became more cynical and the lighter breezy, moralstic style of these films began to lose favor with the public. They were replaced by hard hitting and often unscrupulous detectives like Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade and Mickey Spillane, often in the darker film noir genre. Boston Blackie moved on to television from 1951-1953. Kent Taylor played the lead in 58 episodes.