Customer Reviews

Dick Tracy

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All the movies (and serial) in this 3 DVD set have been digitally restored and it shows. The movies fare the best, with beautifully pristine prints free of scratches, reel changes and the usual other problems one encounters with films from this era. They really have been cleaned up superbly. The original 15 episode serial is also very clean, although the white levels are a little too high, but this is a fairly minor quibble. Only the Boris Karloff movie "Dick Tracy Versus Gruesome" is a little less clean than the others, exhibiting slightly more grain. But overall it's a very fine job. Audio is clear and free of hiss.

This dvd features four episodes from the 1950s TV show of "Dick Tracy." This was a very low budget show and you can tell. There are very few sets and action pieces (usually one major action sequence towards the end of each episode) while the majority of time is filled with ongoing dialog. I didn't mind, but others may find it to be very boring. Each episode runs about 25 minutes. Ralph Byrd, who played Dick Tracy in earlier serials and some films, returns as the character. I'm a big fan of his earlier stuff, so it was great to see him as Tracy one last time. Byrd died in 1952, so the show only lasted two years.

The V/A quality on this disc resembles that of an EP vhs tape. Sound is low and slightly muffled, but with the lack of music, it's easy to hear if you just turn up the volume. Video is soft, lacking detail and contrast is off at times. There is an Alpha watermark on the bottom right of the screen for a few seconds at the end of each episode. Not annoying, but is noticeable.

Fans of DT may want to check this out, but if you're new to the DT world, I recommend Dick Tracy Vs Gruesome (film) or one of the older serials.

On a side note, I emailed Alpha to see if any future volumes were planned, and unfortunately they are not.