Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)

I'm not too sure "Blackie" (Chester Morris) had his head screwed on the right way when he agreed to take $60,000 in cash from the safe of his pal "Manleder" (Lloyd Corrigan) and travel with the "Runt" (George E. Stone) to deliver it to him in Hollywood. No sooner is the cash in his pocket than "Insp. Farraday" (Richard Lane) and the dim-witted "Matthews" (Ralph Dunn) collar him for theft. This time, though, "Farraday" has a plan. He reckons that "Blackie" might have some ideas about the recently stolen Monterey diamond and by letting him escape and following him, he hopes to track it down. Meantime, as luck would have it his wealthy pal has hooked up with "Gloria" (Constance Worth) who was wearing the diamond when it was pinched and who is now offering to retrieve it for, yep, $60,000! What now ensues is an almost slapstick series of escapades as nobody is quite sure who has the stone, the money, or who is trying to double cross whom. The bumbling Corrigan reminded me a little of Nigel Bruce here, and there's decent effort from William Wright as the aptly monikered "Slick" to keep this entertaining and worth a watch for an hour.