Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

"Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" was the last of the Dick Tracy films, but the series ends on a high note, with Boris Karloff as Gruesome, and he's true to his name. It's not clear why this series didn't continue.

The premise is a funny one - bank robbers use this freezing spray to stop people mid-sentence and mid-movement. Tess Truheart (Anne Gwynne) is in a phone booth when the robbers spray, so she's able to crawl to a telephone and call Dick. Gruesome is the head honcho, but he's not going to be easy to catch.

The characters in the film all have the grotesque look of the comic strip characters and the same crazy names, I.M. Learned, A. Tomic (physicist) etc. Gwynne is more like Anne Jeffreys was - beautiful and street smart, more of a leading woman than the ingénue cast in another of the films. I think that characterization of Tess as good-looking and sharp works better for the character than a sweet girl next door type.

This Dick Tracy was more expensive the others and stars the preferred Tracy, Ralph Byrd, who also did the Dick Tracy TV series.

Enjoyable.