RKO’s four Dick Tracy films are just wonderful. Produced between 1945 and ’47, the first two star Morgan Conway as the detective, while the second two saw the return of Ralph Byrd, who’d starred in four Dick Tracy serials at Republic. They’re more faithful to the comic strip than the serials, and they do a great job of bringing common Tracy characters to the screen. In some ways they seem geared to kids, but the violence and darker themes will make you wonder. A friend calls them “kid noir.”
While these Tracy pictures have been languishing in PD Hell for years, VCI had the best-looking set by far. And now they’re bringing them to Blu-Ray, which is a reason to celebrate. (I absolutely adore these movies.)
Dick Tracy (1945)
Directed by William A. Berke
Starring Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Mike Mazurki, Lyle Latell
Morgan Conway is Dick Tracy and Mike Mazurki is an escaped convict, Splitface, who’s out for revenge. He ends up kidnapping Tracy’s girl, Tess (Anne Jeffreys).
Dick Tracy Vs. Cueball (1946)
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Starring Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Lyle Latell, Rita Corday, Ian Keith
Cueball (Dick Wessel) starts taking out some of his partners in crime, then figures it might be a good idea to get rid of Dick Tracy, too. Gordon Douglas’s direction is typically solid and economical.
Dick Tracy’s Dilemma (1947)
Directed by John Rawlins
Starring Ralph Byrd, Kay Christopher, Lyle Latell, Jack Lambert, Ian Keith
The Claw (Jack Lambert) is part of a gang responsible for stealing a fortune in furs from a warehouse and killing the night watchman. Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) and his partner Pat Patton (Lyle Latell) go from suspecting insurance fraud to wondering if there’s a serial killer on the loose. The Claw is creepy, the killings are pretty brutal and the film has a more shadowy, noir-ish look than the other three. Probably the best of the series.
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)
Directed by John Rawlins
Starring Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne, Lyle Latell, Skelton Knaggs
While Dick’s Tracy’s Dilemma might be the best, Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome boasts the most star power. Here, Byrd takes second billing behind the great Boris Karloff. This time, Gruesome (Karloff, naturally) uses a paralyzing gas to pull off a bank heist, while Tess Truehart (Anne Gwynne) is there! Karloff looks like he’s having a good time making this one.
From introductions to galleries to commentaries, there are all sorts of extras on the way for this new Blu-Ray set. I’m doing commentaries for the two Byrd films. Judging from the work-in-progress files I was sent to work with, this is going to be quite nice. Highly recommended.
The Hannibal 8 
After some diversions the H8 returns to what it does best-at least as far as us B Movie junkies are concerned. I’ve been watching some of that old Kit Parker (BTW what’s he up to these days) Lippert stuff (bad Westerns (generally) good thrillers) and I wonder if any of those would be worth a HD upgrade.
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Kit Parker has his official YouTube channel called “The Sprocket Vault”. Well worth dipping into, especially for some of those good/bad Lippert films, and plenty more interesting stuff.
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Yes Mike some super stuff there and great to see you here on the H8. There’s some amazing stuff on you tube there’s a high def colorized version of WOMAN IN THE DARK (1934) which is jaw dropping. Generally I’m against colorizing old movies especially classics like RED RIVER or THE BIG SLEEP but Fay Wray looks so wonderful in color and the B & W versions of this picture are wretched. Of course Fay can be seen in color in the amazing DOCTOR X but most of her vintage films are in B & W.
I’m also looking forward to the forthcoming Imprint version of BLACK MOON which also included the rare sepia version. I wish more vintage Fay and Jack Holt were available on Blu Ray especially.
Speaking of colorized films there’s also a really nice version of DANGER ROUTE one of 3 films George Raft made for Lippert. The London locations look stunning in really good color. Our MIA buddy,Jerry would appreciate.
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I bought a Dick Tracy DVD box set many years back, the picture quality on all 4 films was quite good. I’ve still got the set because I never thought there would be anything to replace it. This blu ray set seems to be the perfect upgrade for me. But must wait for price and the extras first.
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The extras from the DVD will be carried over, along with new commentaries for each (two from me). Poster/still galleries, too. Maybe more, not sure.
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Toby, thanks for the info, my PD box set didn’t have any extras, not even a trailer, so it will be all new to me.
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