3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
1940's Nostalgia, February 2, 2001
Boris Karloff certainly looks the part as the recently released convict named Gruesome. The nerve gas story is corny as is the bank robbery scene especially when one bloke is frozen just as he is about to sneeze. Ralph Byrd returns as Dick Tracy and he later starred in the early 50's TV series. People who are familiar with the B movies of the 1940's will recognise character actors Milton Parsons and Skelton Knaggs as a professor and his assistant respectively. If you feel like going on a nostalgia trip watch this.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Boris Karloff Is The Main Attraction, May 3, 2003
In DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME the famous detective is able to trick Gruesome by placing a false story in the newspapers about another criminal who is going to squeal on Gruesome. Boris Karloff plays the part of Gruesome and he dominates the movie. Ralph Byrd has the role of Dick Tracy and Anne Gwynne is Tess Truehart.
The film was a big success for a "B" movie in both the United States and in Great Britain.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Clever Criminal Caught, March 27, 2010
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, 1947 film
The film begins at night, outside a bar called "Hangman's Knot". A man enters, a couple dances. Gruesome meets Melody. They go to a business "Wood Plastics". Gruesome inspects the safe, he was warned about the contents. The police pick up his body. Dick Tracy is called. A scientist tells of his fears. That body comes to life and slugs Pat. Where is he? The gang watches the bank. The gas bomb goes off, people are frozen in place. [But the villains are not affected!] Tess Truehart is unaffected and calls Dick Tracy about the bank robbery. A guard is shot. The police question the people. This news must be censored to prevent bank runs! News reporter Dan agrees to delay his report. This gas has unknown chemistry.
Physicist Dr. A. Tomic has disappeared. His assistant Professor Irma M. Learned helps Dick Tracy. "X-Ray" meets Gruesome and Melody, but Gruesome wants a bigger cut. "It's him, Dick!" The villains escape, a car chase provides action until the car crashes into the "Y. Stuffum" taxidermy shop. [Comic relief.] Gruesome escaped. The witnesses are questioned. We learn about another villain working with this gang. "We can't risk being seen together." Dick Tracy has a hunch about Prof. Learned, and warns her. She calls her friend and leaves. Gruesome meets her, she won't talk. "What would you do without me?" Gruesome can't be easily fooled. "They're on there way up." [Was that Lex Barker in that white coat?] "Start up the fire." Can Dick Tracy escape? Shots are fired. Gruesome falls. The last scene provides some comedy.
Note the cast of villains in this film. The criminals in the cartoon all had some distinctive feature, a fantasy from some criminologist that is long out of date. [This was copied in some of the "James Bond" stories.] This cartoon strip appealed to adults like some cartoons on TV today. Some claimed the character and face of "Dick Tracy" was based on Eliot Ness. The background of these stories show life in the 1940s.
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