Main Cast: Ralph Byrd, Boris Karloff, Anne Gwynne, Lyle Latell, June Clayworth, Skelton Knaggs
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 66 minutes
Plot
Befitting his status as a genre star, Boris Karloff earns top billing over leading man Ralph Byrd in RKO's final Dick Tracy caper. The former Frankenstein monster plays an escaped convict masterminding a daring bank robbery. To get in and out of the bank without being noticed, the gang uses an asphyxiating gas that leaves anyone inside momentarily frozen in place. Everyone, that is, except for bank customer Tess Truehart (Anne Gwynne), who is able to contact Dick Tracy (Byrd) from a phone booth in the bank. With little or no clues, Tracy and his man Friday, Pat Patton (Lyle Latell), question the bank customers but none can shed any light on the mysterious goings-on. The disappearance of Dr. A. Tomic (Milton Parsons) and the odd behavior of his associate, Dr. I.M. Learned (June Clayworth), crack the case wide open, however, and Tracy is eventually able to track down both Gruesome and the surprising identity of his boss, L.E. Thal (Edward Ashley). According to some reports, RKO wanted to release Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome as "Dick Tracy Meets Karloff" but that title was vetoed by Karloff himself. The legendary horror star apparently later accepted his own box-office value and a 1949 Universal comedy was released as Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Review
Boris Karloff's unforgettable visage was always larger than life and his stalking appearance in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome remains very much in the spirit of Chester Gould's comic strip. Gone, however, are most of the noir touches that lifted the three previous films out of the rut. Like Karloff's presence, the freezing gas is much in line with Gould's latter-day story-telling but that too is more mindful of action serials than hard-boiled detective fiction. The climax, where Boris Karloff almost becomes the victim of a runaway conveyor-belt, also points in that direction. By 1947, a bit of mental fatigue had set in and instead of fully developed supporting villains, RKO made do with punning character names such as Dr. A. Tomic, Dr. I.M. Learned, L.E. Thal, and Y. Stuffum. The last appears on a sign advertising a taxidermist! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director, Walter E. Keller - Art Director, Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Conductor, James Lane - First Assistant Director, John Rawlins - Director, Elmo Williams - Editor, Paul Sawtell - Composer (Music Score), Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Gordon Bau - Makeup, Albert S. D'Agostino - Production Designer, Walter E. Keller - Production Designer, Frank Redman - Cinematographer, Herman Schlom - Producer, James Altwies - Set Designer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Russell A. Cully - Special Effects, William H. Graffis - Screen Story, Robert Kent - Screen Story, Eric Taylor - Screenwriter, Robertson White - Screenwriter
