CTVA US Crime - "Boston Blackie" (ZIV) (1951-53) starring Kent Taylor
CTVA The Classic TV
Archive - US Crime Series Boston Blackie
(1951-53)
Episode Guide compiled by
The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:
John King, New York [JK] / Sal Crisanti [SC] , Rina Fox
references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive / Writers Guild of America (wga) Boston Blackie (season 1) (Syndicated) (1951-52)
26 b&w episodes Boston Blackie (season 2) (Syndicated) (1952-53)
32 color
episodes
Ziv Television Programs, Inc
for
First-Run Syndication
Executive Producer Frederick W. Ziv Producer - Maurice Ungeraka
Babe Unger
US Crime Adventure series 1951-53 58 episodes x 30 min (26bw /
32 color)
starring Kent Taylor
as
Boston Blackie
supporting cast: Lois Collier as Mary Wesley, Blackie's secretary Frank Orth as Inspector Faraday
Also starring
Whitey as the dog
Premise:
Underworld adventures of a crook with a heart of gold.
Set in Los Angeles
Directors include:
Paul Landres, Eddie Davis, Sobey Martin, George M. Cahan,
Lambert Hillyer, Lew Landers.
Writers include:
Herbert Purdum, Warren Wilson, J. Benton Cheney
"Boston Blacke" based upon a character created by Jack Boyle for short
stories which appeared in Cosmopolitan and Redbook magazines
in the 1900s; the character also appeared in a feature film
series produced by Columbia Pictures 1942 - 1949; and on NBC
radio in 1944, and on Mutual radio in 1945.
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DURING THE EARLY 50'S THE BOSTON BLACKIE SERIES(1951-1953) WAS VERY
POPULAR WITH MANY TV FANS WHO ENJOYED THE WAY ACTOR KENT TAYLOR PLAYED HIS ROLL
AS THE TOUGH, SUAVE, AND SOMETIMES HUMOROUS INVESTIGATOR WHO TRAVELED AROUND THE
LOS ANGELES AREA SOLVING CRIMES WITH THE HELP OF HIS GIRLFRIEND MARY WESLEY (LOIS
COLLIER) AND THEIR DOG WHITEY. THEY WERE ALSO ASSISTED BY THEIR FRIEND, POLICE
INSPECTOR FARADAY (FRANK ORTH). THERE WERE THREE THINGS THAT REALLY STOOD OUT
ABOUT THE SERIES. FIRST, THE CRISP CAMERA WORK PERFORMED THROUGH MOST OF THE
SERIES BY CAMERAMAN CURT FETTERS. SECOND, WAS THE TIGHT EDITING BY VETERAN FILM
EDITOR ACE HERMAN. AND THIRD, THE WONDERFUL ACTION SEQUENCES PUT TOGETHER BY
TWO STUNTMAN, WHO WERE FAIRLY NEW TO THE BUSINESS AT THAT TIME, AND WHO WENT ON
TO HAVE VERY SUCCESSFUL CAREER'S IN TELEVISION AND MOTION PICTURES. THEIR NAMES
ARE BILL CATCHING AND TROY MELTON. BILL STARTED OUT AS A HORSE WRANGLER ON THE
CISCO KID SERIES(1951-1955). TROY CAME ALONG RIGHT AFTER, AND BOTH MEN BEGAN
DOUBLING FOR DUNCAN RENALDO (CISCO) AND LEO CARRILLO (PANCHO) DURING THE SECOND
SEASON OF THE SERIES. AT THE SAME TIME THEY ALSO WORKED ON BOSTON BLACKIE. TROY
WAS KENT TAYLOR'S DOUBLE. BILL USUALLY DOUBLED THE VILLAIN; BUT ON OCCASION ALSO
DOUBLED FOR KENT TAYLOR. ONE EPISODE THAT STANDS OUT IS "MOTORCYCLE BANDIT". THE
HEAVY PLAYED BY ACTOR-STUNTMAN SANDY SANDERS COMMANDEERS A BUS THROUGH THE
STREETS OF LA. BLACKIE WHO IS IN PURSUIT, TRANSFERS TO THE BUS, CLIMBS ON THE
ROOF AND HOLDS ON FOR DEAR LIFE AS THE VILLAIN TRIES TO KNOCK HIM OFF BY MAKING
SHARP TURNS. THE FINALLY ENDS WHEN THE VILLAIN LOSES CONTROL OF THE BUS AND
CRASHES. AS HE TRIES TO FLEE, BLACKIE LEAPS FROM THE ROOF AND TACKLES HIM TO THE
GROUND. BILL CATCHING DID THE STUNT. BOTH MEN ALSO HAD SMALL SPEAKING PARTS IN
SOME OF THE EPISODES. TODAY, BILL IS RETIRED AND RAISES HORSES ON HIS RANCH
NEAR YUMA, ARIZONA. TROY MELTON PASSED AWAY IN 1995. WITHOUT BILL AND TROY THE
BOSTON BLACKIE SERIES MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN AS WELL RECEIVED BY THE VIEWERS OF
THIS VERY ENJOYABLE SERIES. [Sal Crisanti]
