Dick Tracy (1937)

A master criminal called The Spider puts the famous detective's brother under a hypnotic spell and turns him against Dick.

Directors:

Alan James, Ray Taylor

Writers:

Chester Gould (based on cartoon strip by), Barry Shipman (screenplay)

Stars:

Ralph Byrd, Kay Hughes, Smiley Burnette

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Byrd	...	Dick Tracy
Kay Hughes	...	Gwen Andrews
Smiley Burnette	...	Mike McGurk
Lee Van Atta	...	Junior
John Picorri	...	Moloch (as John Piccori)
Carleton Young	...	Gordon Tracy, After
Fred Hamilton	...	Steve Lockwood
Francis X. Bushman	...	Chief Clive Anderson
John Dilson	...	Ellery Brewster [Chs. 1, 12]
Richard Beach	...	Gordon Tracy, Before [Chs. 1, 12]
Wedgwood Nowell	...	H.T. Clayton [Chs. 8-9]
Theodore Lorch	...	Patorno [Chs. 1, 12]
Edwin Stanley	...	Walter Odette
Harrison Greene	...	Cloggerstein / Durston
Herbert Weber	...	Tony Martino [Ch. 1]

Storyline

A master criminal called The Spider puts the famous detective's brother under a hypnotic spell and turns him against Dick.

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Plot Keywords:

brother vs. brother | damsel in distress | cigarette smoking | deception | double cross | 

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Taglines:

THRILLS blast across the screen when your National Hero No. 1 - Dick Tracy - springs to exciting life in 15 trigger-fast episodes of the serial you've always wanted to see (original poster)

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Adventures of Dick Tracy

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

290 min (15 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (R C A Victor "High Fidelity" Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gould's contract specified further Tracy films be a series or serials. As they were both, author Gould received no further payment for the use of his character.

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Goofs

Chapter 13: Whitey does not remember Dick Tracy, having been arrested by him.

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Quotes

Moloch: Brother against brother - one good, one evil. Ahh, I wonder which will win?

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Crazy Credits

"Oscar & Elmer" are given final cast credits in the opening sequence.

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Connections

Referenced in Witless Protection (2008)

User Reviews

Has Anyone Seen Dick Tracy in this Serial?

I've watched only 4-5 serials, so I don't have a lot to compare this

to, but so far it's easily the worst of the lot. The overlap from

chapter to chapter is too great (too much material repeated in the

new episode that was seen in the previous episode). The acting is

poor, especially Ralph Byrd (if he stood still for a moment, he'd be

attacked by a woodpecker). The "comedy" of Smiley Burnett is

nothing to smile about (he's even worse here than in the Gene

Autry movies). The character with the most brains in this serial is

actually the 12 year old kid, played by Lee Van Atta. And perhaps

most of all, has anybody seen Dick Tracy in this film? I must have

missed him, because no one in this movie even remotely

resembled the comic strip character. Low budget is not enough of

an excuse for low tech here. At least the director could have put a

watch on Ralph Byrd's wrist, & pretended it was radio controlled.

The two low budget jungle serials I watched with Phyllis Coates

("Panther Girl of the Congo" & "Jungle Drums of Africa") were way

better than this, & so was a low budget jungle serial with Clyde

Beatty ("Lost Jungle"). Not that those were great serials, but they

were better than this one, so tells you something about Dick Tracy.

If you'd like to watch a better crime serial, I recommend "The Green

Archer." That & the serial I'm in the middle of now, "Captain

Marvel," are far superior to Dick Tracy. I rate it 3/10.