Main Cast: Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Mike Mazurki, Jane Greer, Mickey Kuhn, Lyle Latell
Release Year: 1945
Country: US
Run Time: 62 minutes
Plot
Dick Tracy, Detective (originally just Dick Tracy) was the first of four RKO Radio B-pictures based on Chester Gould's classic comic strip. Though Ralph Byrd is most closely associated with the role of Tracy, the title character is played herein by Morgan Conway (Byrd would be seen as Tracy in the last two series entries). The jut-jawed detective takes on a vicious criminal named Splitface (Mike Mazurki), who upon escaping from jail vows to murder the jurors who found him guilty and their alternates. He manages to knock off three before the police force figures out what's happening. Galvanized into action, Dick Tracy and his partner Pat Patton (Lyle Latell) track Splitface to a deserted riverboat (a leftover set from the 1945 RKO feature Man Alive) where the villain is holding Tracy's girlfriend Tess Truehart (Anne Jeffreys) and adopted son Junior (Mickey Kuhn) captive. When asked about Dick Tracy Detective in 1990, Anne Jeffreys flatly denied she'd ever played Tess Trueheart until she caught up with the film on videotape. She'd completely forgotten the whole experience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although he bears little physical resemblance to Chester Gould's comic strip hero, Morgan Conway plays Dick Tracy with a tough no-nonsense approach worthy of Humphrey Bogart and his is perhaps the closest screen interpretation of any comic strip-to-movie character, Warren Beatty's Tracy version included. Thanks to director William Berke and cameraman Frank Redman, Dick Tracy has much of the same feel as a typical 1940s noir. At the same time, and although he is a creation of the RKO writers, Mike Mazurki's Splitface fully adheres to Gould's archetype villainy. Anne Jeffreys' Tess Truehart and Lyle Latell's Pat Patton are also perfect casting and the RKO stock company provides plenty of atmosphere. There are quite a few interesting camera angles at work here and the famous brownstone set from such films as The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and Cat People (1943) adds production gloss to what essentially is a lower-grade B-picture. Audiences never warmed up to Morgan Conway's interpretation, however, and the final two films in the series starred the original serial Dick Tracy, Ralph Byrd. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Ralph Berger - Art Director, Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director, Clem Beauchamp - First Assistant Director, William A. Berke - Director, Ernie Leadlay - Editor, Sid Rogell - Executive Producer, Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score), Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Frank Redman - Cinematographer, Herman Schlom - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Jean L. Speak - Sound/Sound Designer, Terry Kellum - Sound/Sound Designer, Eric Taylor - Screenwriter
