Dick Tracy

If you had given Dick Tracy's name to any police type in any movie of the forties, it would be indistinguishable. The fact is that while this is a modestly entertaining movie, the comic strip being of it is just not there. Where is the technology, the distinctive sense of the comic strip? It's just not there. There is some semblance of humor, the byplay among the other detectives and Tess's frustration with dating the great detective (she never gets to go to dinner), but it still doesn't reproduce the comic strip. All that considered, it's a decent movie with an interesting plot. Like so many Tracy characters, Split Face is carrying around his angst, wanting to get back at those who convicted him. He is nasty, but has the fatal flaw of carelessness. Tracy is pretty dull, but I was a religious reader of the comic strip as a child and liked his silence. His romantic relationship always seemed forced to me. A real comic book hero shouldn't have time for women, right.

The first of four Dick Tracy films that were made by RKO Studios in the Forties is a straight action filled drama so unlike the live cartoon that Warren Beatty did and cast with a bunch of Hollywood names. Morgan Conway plays the square jawed detective with Anne Jeffreys as the eternally faithful and eternally exasperated Tess Truehart. If ever a man was wed to his job it was Dick Tracy as a homicide cop.

The villain here is Mike Mazurki excellently cast as Splitface and one look at him and you know why he's named that. He's responsible for a string of brutal stabbings and those scars he bares both give the city fright, but also make him impossible to trace since they were acquired in prison and render him unrecognizable. He's picked a cross section of citizens as his targets and while I think the viewer will figure it out before Conway puts it together, it's still a lot of fun.

A subsidiary villain in the film is Trevor Bardette playing a con man astrologer and hypnotist. Bardette has a real field day with the part.

Dick Tracy Detective is a fairly good B film from RKO Studios and the cast looks like they're having a good time.

Don't expect elaborate make-up effects or musical numbers from this installment in the original Dick Tray series, and you won't be disappointed. The plot is a whole lot goofier and creepier than Warren Beatty's version and the villains are just as perverse. Tracy's refreshingly pedestrian approach to crime-solving and his bizarre domestic situation add quirky appeal to this film.

It's kind of funny that the Warren Beatty Dick Tracy movie and Tim Burton's Batman movie were released so close to each other. Each movie tried valiantly to recreate the atmosphere of their respective comics with high impact visuals. However, Batman did a much better job carrying the comic's look and feel over to the big screen. The new Dick Tracy movie's wild colors and cheesy backdrops took away from the all-star cast that the producers put together. The original Dick Tracy movie featuring Morgan Conway is much more realistic and doesn't try as hard to be a live action comic strip and is the better movie for it.

First off, things must be said about Morgan Conway's portrayal of everyone's favorite detective. He bears a decent resemblance to his 2-D counterpart, but not one nearly as uncanny as Ralph Byrd's look. Nevertheless, Conway does a good job getting across Tracy's tough as nails yet sympathetic family-oriented character. You can't help but think that Conway looks and sounds too much like Humphrey Bogart to be Dick Tracy though.

Anne Jeffries and Mickey Kuhn as Tess and Junior do decent jobs as well. Pat Patton is a little deemphasized though, something that would remedied in future films. The scarred Splitface doesn't have the personality that some of the comic strip characters do, but he's passable as an original character. The whole movie doesn't try to be exactly like the comic as the 1960's Batman and the latest Dick Tracy movie did later. Rather, it's more true-to-life with some subtle hints of its comic roots. It keeps the stereotypical police department, the daring feats of courage by the heroes and the rogues gallery of characters from the strip while giving Dick Tracy's world a more real feel. That real-world feel puts this movie a cut above the 1990 movie.

The first installment in RKO's short Dick Tracy series of films in the 1940s. This one sees Tracy (Morgan Conway) working on a case involving a string of murders committed by Splitface (Mike Mazurki). This series was churned out quickly and cheaply. So don't expect an "A" production from them. That being said, it's a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an hour. Fast-paced, fun detective stories with action and some comedy. Mike Mazurki is a great villain. Conway does fine as Tracy. Lyle Latell plays Tracy's bumbling sidekick Pat Patton. He's the movie's comic relief. Anne Jeffreys plays his Tracy's girlfriend Tess Trueheart. Also an early role for Jane Greer. Give it a shot and I'm sure you'll find it an enjoyable time-killer.