Dick Tracy Returns (1938)

Dick Tracy battles spies and saboteurs in his efforts to bring to justice the Stark gang, a criminal family led by the vicious Pa Stark.

Directors:

John English, William Witney

Writers:

Barry Shipman (original screenplay), Franklin Adreon (original screenplay),

Stars:

Ralph Byrd, Lynne Roberts, Charles Middleton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Byrd	...	Dick Tracy
Lynne Roberts	...	Gwen Andrews (as Lynn Roberts)
Charles Middleton	...	Pa Stark
Jerry Tucker	...	Junior
David Sharpe	...	Agent Ron Merton
Lee Ford	...	Mike McGurk
Michael Kent	...	Agent Steve Lockwood
John Merton	...	Champ Stark
Ray Bennett	...	Trigger Stark (as Raphael Bennett)
Jack Roberts	...	Dude Stark
Ned Glass	...	Kid Stark [Chs. 1, 13]
Eddie Foster	...	Joe Hanner, Taxi Driver [Chs. 1, 13] (as Edward Foster)
Alan Gregg	...	Jimmy 'Snub' Madison, thug
Reed Howes	...	Agent Rance
Bob Terry	...	Agent Reynolds (as Robert Terry)

Storyline

Dick Tracy battles spies and saboteurs in his efforts to bring to justice the Stark gang, a criminal family led by the vicious Pa Stark.

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Plot Keywords:

saboteur | spy | gang | revenge motive | kidnapper | 

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Taglines:

Original screen play by Barry Ship,am, Franklyn Aderon, Ronald Davidson, Rex Taylor, Sol Shor (original posters)

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Genres:

Action | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Return of Dick Tracy

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$156,991 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

260 min 254 min (15 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The budget (expected cost) of this serial was $156,991. The actual cost (negative cost) came in at $170,940.

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Connections

Followed by Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc. (1941)

User Reviews

One of the best serials

There are good serials and there are mostly bad ones. The bad ones are cheaply made and very boring and use lots of "stock footage". This is the exception. The storyline is very original and is full of action. There are also lots of location scenes and the special effects were used here for the first time and not made for some other serial and reused here. I can see why serials were discontinued around the early fifties. TV came along and by then the serials were nothing like this one. It would be nice to get a nice print on a DVD of this one. My only problem and the reason I would give this a 9 instead of a 10 is the background music. For most of the scenes it is great but when they start fighting it goes to some speeded up uncomprehensible music that should only be used in a cheap western, otherwise it is terrific.