Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John Rawlins

Writers:

Chester Gould (comic strip characters)
William Graffis (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 September 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Horror Man Traps Super-Sleuth !

Plot:

Dick Tracy goes up against a villain who robs banks using a nerve gas.

Plot Keywords:

Dick Tracy | Nerve Gas | Detective | Super Villain | Cult Favorite

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Gruesome
Ralph Byrd	...	Dick Tracy
Anne Gwynne	...	Tess Truehart
Edward Ashley	...	Dr. Lee Thal
June Clayworth	...	Dr. I.M. Learned (Irma), Prof. Tomic's Assistant
Lyle Latell	...	Pat Patton, Plainclothesman
Tony Barrett	...	'Melody' Fiske
Skelton Knaggs	...	X-Ray
James Nolan	...	Dan Sterne, Newspaper Reporter (as Jim Nolan)
Joseph Crehan	...	Chief Brandon
Milton Parsons	...	Dr. A. Tomic, State U. Physicist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Adams	...	Bartender at Hangman's Knot (uncredited)
Phil Arnold	...	Sneezing Bank Customer (uncredited)
Lex Barker	...	City Hospital Driver (uncredited)
Eddie Borden	...	Bank customer (uncredited)
Robert Bray	...	Sarge (Cop at Tracy's) (uncredited)
Robert Clarke	...	Fred, police analyst (uncredited)
George Cooper	...	Stone, bank teller (uncredited)
Suzi Crandall	...	Blonde Customer (uncredited)
William Gould	...	'Pop', hospital Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Ben Hall	...	Luke - Police Stooge (uncredited)
Harry Harvey	...	Humphrey, Bank guard (uncredited)
Tom Keene	...	Dr. Frankey (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	Manager of the 'Hangmans Knot' (uncredited)
Robert Malcolm	...	Dr. Carver (police doctor) (uncredited)
Sean McClory	...	Officer Carney (uncredited)
Lew Meehan	...	Police Driver in montage (uncredited)
Bruce Mitchell	...	Police Sgt. in montage (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Detective in Car (uncredited)
Lorin Raker	...	Insolvent Bank Customer (uncredited)
Bert Roach	...	Crandall, a bank customer (uncredited)
Jason Robards Sr.	...	Mr. Fax, 1st National Bank V.P. (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Tim, Tracy's Hospital Guard (uncredited)
Tex Swan	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
John Rawlins

Writing credits
Chester Gould		(comic strip characters)
William Graffis		(story) (as William H. Graffis) &
Robert E. Kent		(story)
Robertson White		(screenplay) &
Eric Taylor		(screenplay)

Produced by
Herman Schlom	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
Frank Redman

Film Editing by
Elmo Williams

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
Walter E. Keller

Set Decoration by
James Altwies		(as James Altweis)
Darrell Silvera

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Lane	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Terry Kellum	....	sound technician
Jean L. Speak	....	sound technician

Special Effects by
Russell A. Cully	....	special effects

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical)
• VCI Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• BFS Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• BFS Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Roan Group, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Admit One Video (video)
• Grapevine Video (video)
• Nostalgia Video (video)
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Rhino Video (video)
• Silver Screen Video (video)
• United American Video (video)
• Video Yesteryear (video)

Other Companies

• Screen Time Images  audio restoration
• Screen Time Images  film restoration

Also Known As:

Dick Tracy Meets Karloff
Dick Tracy's Amazing Adventure (UK)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1990) | USA:Approved (PCA #12377)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Quotes:

Pat Patton: I'm sitting here, see, writing out this report on the stiff. All of a sudden, blackout! Something hit me here: a crowbar or a small bulldozer.

Movie Connections:

Follows Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)

Get that cat out of here!

What is that cat doing in the bank, again?

Lex Barker, soon to become Tarzan is here in an ambulance driver role. He looks so good everyone forgets the plot. Meanwhile Gruesome gets away.

The chatty bank guard is good.

Boris Karloff wanted to be gruesomer than usual so he decided to copy Moe's hairstyle from the Three Stooges. It works. Karloff is excellent but you wouldn't want Gruesome for a piano bar date. The piano player/mobster never plays piano. They should have had Liberace in that role. It really would have worked.

The newspaper reporter could have tried for a spin-off.

I see this movie all the time at the 99 Cent Store. It is a great bargain. It is a good print of the film. The car chases are much better than today's chases. In the forties if a policeman saw a car driving away from somewhere, he could just shoot at it or shoot out the tires so it would crash into a taxidermy shop. Today they don't shoot at big crowds of people. Everyone in this movie has a gun.

All the sets are fun to imagine as being real. The hospital, the chemist's lab, the conveyor belt. The cars were beautiful back in the '30s and '40s. There is a lot to enjoy here. I saw this when I was a kid of about 8. It was great then, it is fun today.

Now get that cat out of the bank.

Tom Willett