Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) User Reviews (23)

Among The Better Entries In the 1940s RKO Film Series

[gftbiloxi · 5/10 · 3 February 2008]

Originated by Chester Gould's syndicated comic strip, Dick Tracy has been a durable cinematic character with appearances ranging from 1930s serials to an over-hyped 1990 blockbuster-style motion picture starring Warren Beatty and Madonna--but the character's film appearances are perhaps most fondly recalled from the 1940s RKO Pictures series. Written with stacco dialogue and seldom running more than an hour, they were welcome "B" movies at almost every matinée.

Clocking in at exactly sixty minutes, DILEMMA plays out a fast clip. A fur heist and insurance scam turns deadly when a criminal employs "The Claw"--and not only does the movie rack up an impressive body count, it has considerably more suspense than the usual Dick Tracy flick. Ralph Byrd, who frequently played Dick Tracy, is quite good, but the edge of this film comes from the supporting cast: Jack Lambeth's the Claw is memorably dark; Ian Keith, a noted stage actor whose film credits include QUEEN Christina, scores as the comic Vitamin Flintheart; and Bernadene Hayes proves memorable in the brief role of Longshot Lillie. The cast is very nicely rounded out by Kay Christopher as a particularly appeal Tess Trueheart and such character actors as Lyle Latell, William B. Davidson, Tony Barrett, and Tom Keene.

High art it isn't, but DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA is fun in and of itself, fast moving, well acted, and well director by "B" movie workhorse John Rawlins. Certainly among the better outings for the famous character, it's very entertaining. Recommended for Dick Tracy fans everywhere.

Had me hooked

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 28 December 2004]

This one has Tracy after a gang of fur-robbers' fence, with a couple of brutal murders thrown in along the way for a good measure.

A quite well made entry in the series, I agree that you don't always need a lot of money to make a well thought-out and entertaining film (the stupefyingly bad Blair Witch Project aside). The script and acting is satisfactorily brisk and logical, with a nice RKO-bound seedy and menacing atmosphere in evidence. Down those mean streets the Falcon never went! What makes it stand out however is the OTT performance by Jack Lambert as the Claw - a potent mix of Rondo Hatton's Creeper from the Pearl of Death and Long John Silver - the education system sure must have gone wrong with him!

As for Byrd for my money he was perfect as Tracy, with his jaw sticking out further than the brim of his hat producing even more shadows!

Dick Tracy thriller with a superior villain

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 4 October 2016]

DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA is my first exposure to the comic book detective and it's a good one. This is a low budget slice of pulp fiction with an emphasis on incident and action which helps the hour-long running time to simply fly past. The story sees the square-jawed detective going up against a sinister killer known only as The Claw who utilises a hook hand to murder his unsuspecting victims.

It's a dark and atmospheric little piece with a simple story that really works. Ralph Byrd was an old hand at playing the part of Tracy and although he could be any generic crime-fighter he does well with the part. The best part of the film though is Jack Lambert's limping villain. Lambert comes across as a mixture of Rondo Hatton and Jack Palance and is one of the most imposing characters of the decade. James Cameron must have been a fan as scenes of Lambert slowly limping after his victims surely inspired the ending of THE TERMINATOR.

The horror aspects of this low budget film work in its favour and make it a dark and brooding production. Ian Keith is on hand to supply some much-needed comic relief as the amateur Shakespeare actor Vitamin who gets involved with the case. DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA is no classic but for a B-movie it's great fun.

Tracy Meets Noir

[dougdoepke · 18 August 2008]

Energetic little programmer in the Tracy series from RKO. Of course, the comic strip appeal came largely from the variety of human grotesques who challenged the square-jawed detective week after week. Here, Tracy battles "The Claw", Jack Lambert in excellent Neanderthal makeup with a claw where his hand ought to be. Something should be said in passing for director John Rawlins who had an obscure career, but still came up with the riveting and offbeat Rogue River (1950) as well as the superior B-Western Fort Defiance (1951). Note the fast-pacing and clever touches in this programmer, such as filming from behind the unplugged fan whose blades run down as Sightless (Jimmy Conlin) expires from The Claw.

There are a number of noir touches in the lighting and suspense, not surprising since the year is 1947. Also, catch the painting behind the bar. It's not in obvious focus, but there it is-- an almost totally nude woman up to something not quite clear. Now a saloon centerfold may be appropriate for a saloon, but in a kid's picture, it must have been someone's idea of a private joke. Be that as it may, Rawlins was an A-picture talent trapped in a B-movie career.

Byrd is excellent as Tracy. In fact the level of performances is better than expected for such a low budget. Speaking of budgets, note how much of the film appears shot from outside studio buildings with their rows of little windows (probably where the writers labored). Note too, how the final chase moves past a mock-up airplane and through what appears to be a prop storage area. Certainly, the cast didn't have to go on location for this one. All in all, it's a good, fast little 60 minutes of the Tracy series. And, oh yes, I don't know who played Tess Trueheart, but if I were the cop, I'd spend less time gum-shoeing and more time around the house.

Dick and The Claw

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 21 July 2009]

Ralph Byrd returns as Dick Tracy in "Dick Tracy's Dilemma," a 1947 B movie with some noirish aspects. It's fast and well-directed.

Here Tracy is after a killer called The Claw, who has a hook for a hand. The plot involves stolen furs, murder, and insurance fraud.

If you thought Tess had nothing to do in the Morgan Conway movies, here Tess is practically an extra. The actress, Kay Christopher, was quite different from Anne Jeffreys. Christopher's Tess is sweet, where Jeffreys had more of a worldliness - it's the ingenue versus the leading lady. I never read the comics, so I don't know which one was more like Tess.

Kudos to Ian Keith, an actor I love, for his portrayal of Vitamin. He was a wonderful actor.

Directed with a brisk pace by John Rawlins, who adds several nice noir touches to this one, including one brilliant shot almost at the end of the film. I won't tell you what it is. You'll know it when you see it.

At least Ralph Byrd is the right Dick Tracy...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 14 March 2007]

RALPH BYRD takes over the Dick Tracy role with good results, looking more like the square-jawed comic book hero than Morgan Conway. He's on the trail of "The Claw" (played very effectively by JACK LAMBERT) and the film is chock full of many noir-like scenes involving "The Claw" and his pursuit of victims, who seems to enjoy using his hook to kill a few unlucky men.

IAN KEITH is back as Vitamin Flintheart, once again upstaging everyone with his theatrical flair for speeches and having a little more to do with the plot and KAY CHRISTOPHER fills in for Anne Jeffreys as Tess Trueheart.

But, in truth, Byrd is given little opportunity to show how well he was cast in the part since most of the crime drama involves the intriguing villain with the hook for a hand who drags his foot and walks the shadowy streets on his hunt for the kill.

Summing up: Good little crime drama about fur thieves proves that low-budget thrillers like this from RKO could be rewarding enough for noir fans.

"I'll protect you from the Hooded Claw."

[zeppo-2 · 5/10 · 5 June 2005]

Rather like the comic strip upon which this series of films were based, the villains are usually the most interesting. Crippled when a robbery went horribly wrong, the Claw is now as twisted in body as he is in mind. "You're a killer, Claw!" screams one of his fellow henchmen at him and he's got it spot on.

When the Claw isn't on screen, the film drops a notch as the good guys aren't that interesting and Tracy is just dull. Still, he gets the job done and the case is solved and the evil Claw meets a fitting end after a thrilling chase through a scrap yard.

Low budget and in black & white these films may be but with their short running time, they never outstay their welcome and are fast and entertaining. Something today's overblown two hour plus films could learn a thing or two from. Less is often more at certain times.

In case anyone is wondering, the above Summary quote is from the song, 'The Power of Love,' by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

The blind man doesn't bluff in this sinister entry.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 7 January 2018]

There's something about seemingly delicate old people in films that steals scenes from the stars, and in this film, it's the always lovable Jimmy Conlin who plays "Sightless", the supposedly blind pencil seller outside a saloon who steals the film. Like Thelma Ritter in the film noir classic "Pick-Up on South Street", he's also an informant, passing along information of what he "see's" to Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd). A sinister limping hook handed human monster (Jack Lambert) stalks Conlin in the spookiest scene in the film, and the fear on Conlin's face is real, making the audience feel it too. Lambert is part of a fur robbery racket, obsessed with cats, and one of the great Dick Tracy villains. This was Byrd's first time out as Tracy after doing the serials, and it seems as if he's never been away, even though Morgan Conway played the part in the first two RKO features right before this.

Chilling and noirish in its structure, this has moments of comedy involving Tracy's associates, bumbling police officers who can barely make a phone call let alone solve a crime. Kay Christopher takes on the role of Tess Truehart but has little to do. Bernadyne Hayes is memorable in a small part as a glamorous fence, decked out in furs and jewels most likely hawked to her illegally. Veteran character Ian Keith hams it up in a tiny role as a melodramatic thesbian in a pointless scene with Christopher that is amusing but has no connection to the plot, although he does get to play Conlin's "ghost". By far, it is Jimmy Conlin who you will remember, pretty much thinking the same speech that Thelma Ritter made when confronted by a killer.

Not the best of the series

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 30 January 2005]

• Stolen furs, a dead night watchman, insurance scams, and a killer with a hook for a hand named The Claw. It's up to Dick Tracy to unravel the mystery.

• I have now seen four of these Dick Tracy movies from the 1940s and this is easily my least favorite. Dick Tracy's Dilemma seems tired and offers very few fresh ideas. It's a shame that a really nasty villain like The Claw wasn't in a movie with a better story. RKO probably did the right thing by ending the Dick Tray series with this movie.

• If your interested in watching one of these older Dick Tracy movies, my recommendation goes to Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome with Boris Karloff.

Pretty good B comic strip crime drama...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 26 September 2020]

... from RKO and director John Rawlins. Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) is on the case when a fur heist turns bad and a security guard is killed. Tracy and his cohorts work together to track down the criminal gang responsible, including the murderous Claw (Jack Lambert).

The third of four low-budget Dick Tracy features, these followed four previous serials which had starred Ralph Byrd. Morgan Conway had played Tracy in the first two movies, but Byrd was brought back for this, and one final film. While several of the characters have comic-strip names, the film itself is comparable to many of the B mysteries and crime pictures being turned out at the time. This one also has some gruesome implications, thanks to the method of murder used by the Claw, namely his prosthetic claw. Lambert is very good as the deformed Claw, and he reminded me a bit of future slasher horror icons Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers in his implacability. Ian Keith, as Vitamin, gets to ham it up with his exaggerated John Barrymore characterization, and I liked seeing character actor Jimmy Conlin in a larger role, as phony blind man Sightless.

Stake out on Hemp Street

[sol-kay · 4/10 · 22 December 2007]

***SPOILER ALERT***Dick Tracy, Ralph Byrd, is hampered in the movie by his butterfingered assistant Pat Patton, Lyle Latell,who's more of a burden to him then anything else. How Patton got a job on the police department and how he got stuck with him should be what Dick Tracy's dilemma in the film really is.

After the robbery of the Flawless Furs company's warehouse it's found out that the night watchman Hawks, Jason Robars Sr, was murdered by what seems like a machete and it's decided, being that a murder is involved with the robbery, that it's a job for the great Dick Tracy. Tracy showing up at the scene of the crime finds a number of clues as well as with the help of his eyes and ears on the streets blind bagger, who's can really see, Sighless, Jimmy Conlin, that the furs are to be exchanged at the corner of Hemp Street for $20,000.00 with Longshot Lillie, Bernadene Hayle, being the fence.

It's when Longshot Lillie is taken into custody that she, realizing that she may face a murder charge, tells Tracy that she's involved with this one handed wacko, he has a hook for his right hand, "The Claw" ( Jack Lambert) in the fur robbery. "The Claw" who together with his two partners Sam & Fred, Tony Barrett & Al Bridge, are really second stringers in the murder/robbery with he Big Cheese,????, planning to exploit the crime on both sides of the law. After getting the expansive furs the Big Cheese plans on selling them back, through Longshot Lillie, to the owner of Flawless Furs Mr. Humphries, Charles Mrash. It's then that the Big Cheese is to collect, through "The Claw", the $50,000.00 in insurance from the furs underwriter Peter Permium, William B. Davidson,of the Honesty Insurance Company.

The movie really never takes off with Dick Tracy just gong through the motions and not as much as getting his hands dirty in the movies final confrontation between him and "The Claw" that takes place in a deserted power plant. "The Claw" himself is anything but formidable, in giving Tracy a run for the money, but just a first-class dud and screw-up in his messing up his job by first getting spotted by Sightleess, whom he ended up slicing to death, and then getting shot and wounded, as he made his escape, by the couldn't hit the broad side of a barn Pat Patton. This all happened when Tracy's partner and sidekick Patton blew any chance of getting "The Claw" by going after the dangerous hood on his own and leaving Tracy, who was totally in the dark to what Patton was up to, standing alone with a befuddled look on his face and with his famous yellow fedora in his hand.

Even though the movie ended with "The Claw" getting juiced, by 33,000 bolts of electricity, the mastermind of the fur robbery and eventually insurance fraud seemed to have gotten away Scot-free since, after he gets put to sleep, were never really shown what exactly happened to him. This even though the Big Cheese identity was discovered by non other that bumbling jerk Patton, who phoned him, who didn't even have the presence of mind to remember his phone number or even have his phone traced!

Dick Tracy Vs The Claw

[TheFearmakers · 8/10 · 2 March 2024]

It's true that comic book heroes are only as good as the villains, even way back in the 1940's with the Dick Tracy films, where this the third and penultimate by RKO, and the second with returning star Ralph Byrd... and is where Jack Lambert's Claw not only steals the picture, but is pretty much everything...

The longest, most suspenseful scene... combining dark, noir-aesthetic and impending horror-genre doom... takes up almost half the picture as Lambert's eerie, limping heavy... with a hunched gait and hiding his clawed-hand in a seedy jacket until revealing it before he kills... hunts down a mousy, fake-blind beggar named Sightless...

After which, while Byrd's somewhat passively on the case of a fur heist, Lambert... even more dilapidated after getting beaten up... makes a more sinister foe, even going after his own henchman...

And by the time it's the inevitable face-off with the hero, DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA felt like the continuous plight of a formidable killer played by a busy noir-baddie... in a franchise not considered noir yet with all the shadowy attributes intact, and then some.

Dick Tracy goes after 'The Claw'

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 7 December 2014]

When the hook-handed thug known as 'The Claw' kills two security guards during a robbery it isn't long before Dick Tracy is on the case. The Claw and his two accomplices made off with a valuable shipment of fur coats but it seems unlikely that they will have the wherewithal to fence them themselves. Tracy gets a lead with 'blind' informant Sightless overhears the criminals talking and tells Vitamin Flintheart… unfortunately Sightless is killed before Tracy can talk to him himself but clues at the scene lead to The Claws identity. It is only a matter of time before Tracy gets the killer but will he be able to catch his boss too?

This is an entertaining enough and The Claw was a suitably despicable villain. While I'm sure nobody watching will doubt that Tracy will get the bad guys it was still fun to watch and there were some surprisingly tense moments; most notably when The Claw followed poor Sightless into a dead end alley. The acting was OK with Ralph Byrd doing a decent job as Tracy and Jack Lambert made a good villain. It was a pity this instalment didn't include many amusing names; the only obvious one being Peter Premium the insurance man… not as good as Dr A Tomic and IM Learned from 'Dick Tracy meets Gruesome'! Overall it was an entertaining and undemanding way to pass an hour though with a decent mix of drama and comedy.

Must Have Disappointed the Comic Strip Crowd

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 2 January 2008]

When I was growing up, there was a hard edge to the Dick Tracy comic strip. I remember Flat Top's acne and the viciousness of the other adversaries. Most of the surreal appeal of these villains is badly lost in these old films. The Warren Beatty film was also a major disappointment. I would love someone like Tim Burton to take it on sometime. Put Tracy among all that weirdity and make the villains sort of sick. That said, this is a real ho-hummer. The cops and the sidekicks aren't all that bright. The main character is a guy with a hook who apparently can dismantle just about anyone with the thing. The acting is stiff. Tess Truehart is her usual bland self. I'm sure that few remember Dick Tracy as it was, but maybe some day they will find it and make it right.

Dick Tracy vs The Claw

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 25 January 2014]

The third in RKO's short Dick Tracy series of movies from the '40s. This one features Ralph Byrd as Tracy. Byrd reprises his role from the Republic Dick Tracy serials he was famous for. Morgan Conway had played Tracy in the first two RKO films. I thought he was fine but admittedly Byrd is better. It's just a rare case of perfect casting as Byrd really does seem like Tracy physically. The plot to this film is about Tracy investigating a series of crimes, including murder, linked to The Claw. He's a villain that, you guessed it, has a metal claw in place of one of his hands. Fun, fast-paced detective story with more of the interesting characters I expect from a Dick Tracy story. In addition to the killer The Claw and my favorite Vitamin Flintheart (Ian Keith), there's a blind beggar appropriately named Sightless and a fence named Longshot Lillie. Fun stuff.

better than the first two

[flange-47562 · 7/10 · 10 November 2017]

The actors are different from the first two movies (out of 4) and Vitamin plays a bigger role. But I felt sorry for the Claw. Yes he is a vicious uncaring killer but he is a cat lover and in some ways a result of a bad upbringing and some bad role models. Dick shows him no mercy and hunts him down in a most ungentlemanly way. I missed Junior from the first two movies. It is not explained in the film who he actually is but he added a certain bizarre incongruous domesticity. I have no idea why Tess puts up with Dick he really is a bit of a dick.

Stupefyingly stupid!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 15 March 2007]

While I understand that this B-movie was NOT intended to be Shakespeare or the next contender for an Oscar, it is amazing that such a horribly written and pointless film came out by RKO Studios. I would expect this sort of bad film to be instead produced by Monogram or some other poverty row studio--it was THAT bad.

Why was the film so bad? Well, although the acting was just awful (with Dick Tracy being MUCH more animated in the Chester Gould comic strips), the writing is straight from the "too stupid to live school of film making". In other words, again and again and again, the characters do things that no rational person would do--showing that the script must have never been edited or even read before it was given to the actors!! Logical errors abound--so much that even Ed Wood, Jr. would say the film is bad!! Let's start by talking about Tracy's moronic sidekick, Pat. When the evil villain (The Claw) is seen running up a flight of stairs, Pat chases them and doesn't bother to tell his boss (who is standing next to him on the phone)! Now The Claw had already killed several people and was responsible for a major robbery and Pat decides to take him alone! Also, throughout the film, Pat said the most non-sensical and pointless comments that made him seem as if he was suffering from a traumatic brain injury--and so you'd think he'd be the last person you'd make a cop and give a gun!!! Well, fortunately for Pat's ego, he was not the only imbecile in the film. "Sightless" (a really awful name for a guy who pretends to be a blind beggar) finds out who is responsible for the crimes and goes to tell Tracy. But on the way, The Claw chases him and Sightless barely escapes. Sightless then goes to Tracy's home to tell him. When Tracy isn't home, Sightless just goes home--even though the killer knows who he is and already tried to kill him! Why didn't he just go to the police station and wait there? Any THINKING person would have done this! Let's continue on my rant about the brainless characters, shall we?! Next is "Vitamin". He's a hammy actor who is about a subtle in his style as a brick in the face--and he's even dumber than Sightless! When Sightless shows up at Tracy's house, Vitamin answers the door and Sightless tells him about the criminals. Vitamin totally ignores him and pushes him out the door--despite the fact that Sightless is screaming at him about murders! Then later, when Sightless goes under cover to help atone for this HUGE blunder, he seems to do a pretty good job--until he does movie cliché #47--when he's safely hiding in another room to avoid detection by The Claw, he stumbles over a trashcan and alerts the murderer of his presence!!! Not convinced that everyone in the film is stupid?! Okay,...later two of the Claw's assistants find The Claw and he looks almost dead. Instead of trying to determine if he really is dead or dying, they stand right next to him and talk about how they will betray the Claw--and then leave. Of course no one is surprised when The Claw then gets up, follows them and kills them.

About the only people you don't assume are totally stupid are Tess and Tracy. Tess only has about 3 or 4 lines--so she doesn't have the opportunity to reveal her inner stupidity. As for Tracy, he's a pretty passive guy throughout most of the film and has the personality of a ball of lint. Stupid,...maybe not,...but he also doesn't seem like he's all that smart--just some dullard who is along for the ride.

About the only reason I didn't give this turkey a score of 1 is that has SOME entertainment value--but not much. It's really a shame, as the first films of the series (DICK TRACY DETECTIVE and DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL) were pretty good films. The basic problem with these two Ralph Byrd films is the writing--it's horrendously bad.

"There's nothing so difficult to do as nothing."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 26 November 2011]

Probably the coolest thing about this picture is the classy intro with the newspaper comic images of Dick Tracy's expansive cast of villains. The one that shows up in this picture is 'The Claw', a rough looking chap with a hook for a hand menacingly portrayed by Jack Lambert. A lot of the picture belongs to the villain as he skulks around back alleys taking out anyone who might get in his way. A couple of times an off screen villain by the name of Hatchet Harry is mentioned. Wouldn't it have been cool to see a Hatchet go up against The Claw? Wishful thinking I guess.

As far as mysteries go, this one is pretty transparent as a robbery of the Flawless Fur Company turns out to be an inside job with the thieves actually using the combination of the fur vault to make their entry! I was pretty amazed to see the Honesty Insurance guys show up in the middle of the night and at the drop of a hat to investigate the claim. That's what you call service!

Ralph Byrd fills the bill nicely as detective Dick Tracy, though I had to wonder why Tess Trueheart (Kay Christopher) had to show up for this one. Tracy barely acknowledged her in the few scenes they were in together, but I guess it made sense to have familiar names from the comic strip show up. What I missed in this film were the pun inspired names for characters like you had in "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" - Dr. A. Tomic and his assistant I.M. Learned. Longshot Lillie was a neat character, but she really didn't stick around too long.

Anyway, Ralph Byrd is back after Morgan Conway played Tracy in the first two films of this franchise. Most folks prefer Byrd over Conway, and I'd have to second that. Overall, this one's just rather OK, but the telegraphed ending was a blast, once you realize The Claw's metal hand is somehow going to engage an electrical transformer for a literal lights out. Earlier, I couldn't help thinking that perhaps the villain's loping foot drag might have been the inspiration for Keyser Soze a half century later.

a meeting in Hemp Street

[kidboots · 5/10 · 15 July 2009]

Ralph Byrd was the ultimate Dick Tracy - he even looked like the comic strip crime fighter. He had portrayed him initially in several serials in the late 30s and early 40s, then put the role behind him as he pursued character parts - Morgan Conway took over the role but it wasn't the same, he didn't look anything like Dick Tracy!!! "Dick Tracy's Dilemma" was the first Dick Tracy film that Byrd did after his break.

A nightwatchman turns up dead, the killer should be easy to catch - he has a club foot and a claw for a hand!!! He is "The Claw" and Dick Tracy is put on the case. All he has to go on is a scrawled message - "Daisy, three of them - truck" written as the nightwatchman lay dying. The warehouse, full of furs has been robbed and Tracy radios all cars to be on the look-out for a truck with the word "Daisy" on the side. Tracy's informant "Sightless" (Jimmy Conlin, a familiar film face) finds the crook's hideout and is hunted down but not before he gives Tracy valuable information about a meeting in Hemp Street. They find Longshot Lily, the fence, waiting there for a consignment of furs - but she claims she knows nothing about anything!!! Vitamin Flintheart wants to help - he had sent "Sightless" away and feels responsible for the peddler's death.

I thought the film was okay - even Lyle Latell looked like the "real" Pat Patton and Jack Lambert as "The Claw" was a ghastly looking villain. Ian Keith was the most prestigious actor in the film. He was a popular Broadway actor in the 20s and always preferred the stage. Just after this film he had a good role as Joan Blondell's alcoholic husband in "Nightmare Alley" with Tyrone Power. Kay Christopher was lovely as Tess Trueheart - it seems to be a case of why didn't she become a bigger star as this seems to be one of her few credited roles.

"You know I run a respectable joint".

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 6 July 2020]

That's what they all say. But we all know better.

The 'Dilemma' is a crisp, shadowy, well-paced minor b-picture Dick Tracy serial with a striking villain in the shape of Jack Lambert as "The Claw". He's very memorable in appearance and of course his unsparing actions, like the use of his claw and how he drags his foot as he goes about stalking his victims. Despite some dark and atmospheric passages with film noir shades. There's a real quirkiness to some of the characters (eg Pat & Vitamin) and dialogue exchanges. But it seems to effortlessly fit.

Ralph Byrd returns as Tracy, after Morgan Conway portrayed the character in the previous films. Byrd gives the part a bit more charm and character, but I do prefer the psychical appearance/presence of Conway. So I'm caught right in the middle here.

A fine Dick Tracy pic.

Dick Tracy's Dilemma

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 8 January 2023]

As usual with these hour long cop thrillers, the storyline is almost incidental to the ensemble effort by a jobbing cast of professionals muddling though whatever script they were given this week. This time Ralph Byrd is our eponymous detective on the trail of the great Fur Coat robbery. Could someone be expecting a bad winter; or could it be a giant insurance fraud - well "Dick" along GIRLFRIEND with "Tess" (Kay Christopher) and the usual gang of brilliantly named stalwarts are soon on the case of "The Claw". It's a fun little investigative yarn, with some good efforts all around and about as much suspense as the sun coming up in the morning...

Dick Tracy Vs. The Claw

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 25 November 2010]

3rd of 4 RKO films. Okay, but not as good as the previous two. Vitamin's back, but dumber than before. Pat's still there, as dumb as ever. NO Junior. And classy Tess has been replaced with cutie Tess. (You wish they'd hold onto the same actors for the duration of a series, don't you?) The big change is... Morgan Conway was replaced by the guy HE replaced, Ralph Byrd, allegedly, because the "exhibitors" made a stink and INSISTED on it.

I dunno. "Everybody" says Byrd's the best, Byrd "looks just like Tracy". The jaw, maybe. Conway's got THE EYES. And more... Conway had LOTS MORE personality and charisma. It didn't matter in the serial I saw-- that was 90% ACTION, ACTION, ACTION! But put Tracy in a film-noir murder mystery with the actual cast of characters from the comics, and you need more that that. But I guess I'm in the minority.

But hey. I liked TIMOTHY DALTON as Bond, too. (AND George Lazenby!)

These run very formula. Mystery, character humor, lots of brutal killings, and a sicko doing most of them who gets his in the end. Last time the guy was HIT by a SPEEDING TRAIN! This time, it's ELECTROCUTION. By accident. Bet that hurt!

Wouldn't you know it? I can't find my copy of DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME. Seems every time I try to watch a set of tapes, at least ONE of them goes missing. (Grrrrrrrr.)