Complete credited cast: | |||
Ralph Byrd | ... | Dick Tracy | |
Lyle Latell | ... | Pat Patton | |
Kay Christopher | ... | Tess Trueheart | |
Jack Lambert | ... | Steve 'The Claw' Michel | |
Ian Keith | ... | Vitamin Flintheart | |
Bernadene Hayes | ... | Longshot Lillie the Fence | |
Jimmy Conlin | ... | Sightless | |
William B. Davidson | ... | Peter Premium | |
Tony Barrett | ... | Sam | |
Tom Keene | ... | Fred (as Richard Powers) |
Dick Tracy investigates the theft of a fortune of fur coats, a possible insurance swindle and several murders, all linked to a huge thug who wears a hook in place of his right hand.
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!