Customer Reviews

Dick Tracy Collection: (Dick Tracy, Detective / Dick Tracy vs. Cueball / Dick Tracy's Dilemma / Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome)

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If you liked the Dick Tracy comics, you'll love these 4 films. The first 2 on disc 1 star Morgan Conway, a little known actor, who does look the part. The other 2 on disc 2 bring back Ralph Byrd who played the role in 4 cliff hanger serials in the 30s. Plus there are some nice little extras after each movie on each side of each disc. So put on your yellow trenchcoats it's time for some grade B mysteries of grade A caliber.

A sampling of Dick Tracy for those who yearn for a bit of nostalgia, or to introduce new generations to this futuristic crime fighter. This set comes beautifully packaged in a black wooden storage case, with four full DVD movies, excellent for gifting. The set features two different leads and were filmed by Republic Features.

Includes two movies starring Morgan Conway as Tracy: DICK TRACY (1945) and DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL (1946), and two more movies starring Ralph Byrd as Tracy: DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA (1947) and DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME (1947), which also features Boris Karloff as the lead villain.

The Dick Tracy Collection, DVD

The "Dick Tracy" comic strip began around 1930 when Chester Gould created it for the `Chicago Tribune' ("The World's Greatest Newspaper"). Some said Dick Tracy was based on Eliot Ness, the famous Prohibition Agent of the US Treasury Department. Its purpose was to influence public opinion for the support of the police in Chicago and elsewhere. It was liked by adults because of its cleverness and stories that appealed to the public. Its villains were famous for their distinctive features, a belief fostered by some criminologists that is now out of date. Some of the "James Bond" novels also featured villains with some physical deformity. It was continued after the retirement of Chester Gould, but was dropped from my local newspaper in the 1970s. Comic strips, like TV series, have a variable lifetime.

These four movies came from the RKO film factory. The first two used actor Morgan Conway. He was replaced by Ralph Byrd for the last two. Byrd played "Dick Tracy" in the serials of the 1930s. There is more comic relief in the later pictures. Its popularity showed it met the needs and wants of its audiences (fighting crime in the city). There was no mention of corrupt politicians or similar scandals, even in the big city where this originated. The comic strip would also have interesting facts and tips for the general public. These Hollywood movies were low-cost productions compared to "The Thin Man" series. Crime dramas continue as a staple for movies and television today.

"Dick Tracy, Detective" deals with the slashing murders of people. What is the connection? After the Mayor gets a death threat Dick Tracy figures out the solution and searches for the killer "Splitface".
"Dick Tracy versus Cueball" starts by investigating a murder on a ship. This leads to a stolen jewelry gang. [A small business operation.] Dick Tracy uses a lure to locate the murderer, who makes his final escape in a railroad yard.
"Dick Tracy's Dilemma" begins with a robbery-murder at a fur vault. They track the connection to "The Claw". Dick Tracy pursues "The Claw" who meets his end while hiding by a high-voltage transformer.
"Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" deals with a bank robbery where a toxic gas immobilizes the customers. Dick traces the gas to a scientific lab, and connects a worker there to "Gruesome". Dick catches up to the villain, shots are fired, and "Gruesome" falls.

I just watched two of these Tracy flicks, Dick Tracy Detective and Dick Tracy meets Gruesome and both were pretty good. They are Universal productions so unlike a Monogram or similar studio, these have a decent production quality.
I wont review the movies here but if your a Tracy fan you'll enjoy them. I got three of these flicks on the 50 Movie Pack Mystery ASIN: B0001HAGTW here at Amazon, and it was half the price of this package, its only 3 of the 4 films but you get another 47 movies to make up for it and the prints were decent.