| Dick Tracy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Alan James Tay Taylor |
| Produced by | Nat Levine J. Laurence Wickland (Associate) |
| Written by | Morgan B. Cox George Morgan Barry Shipman Winston Miller Chester Gould (comic strip) |
| Starring | Ralph Byrd Kay Hughes Smiley Burnette Lee Van Atta John Picorri Carleton Young Fred Hamilton |
| Music by | Harry Grey |
| Cinematography | William Nobles Edgar Lyons |
| Editing by | Helene Turner Edward Todd William Witney |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 
20 February 1937 (serial)
27 December 1937 (film) |
| Running time | 15 chapters (290 min) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $112,334 (Negative cost: $127,640) |
| Followed by | Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dick Tracy (1937) is a 15-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Tay Taylor.
Plot
Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss, and Masked Mystery Villain, The Spider/The Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring. In the process of various crimes, including using his Flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "Speed Plane", the Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother.
Cast
Main Cast
- Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy
- Kay Hughes as Gwen Andrews
- Smiley Burnette as Mike McGurk
- Lee Van Atta as Junior
- John Picorri as Dr Moloch
- Carleton Young as Gordon Tracy (post-operation in Chapter 1)
- Fred Hamilton as Steve Lockwood
- Francis X. Bushman as Clive Anderson
The above cast members appear in the opening credits as "opticals" - brief film sequences along with their credit.
Supporting Cast
- John Dilson as Ellery Brewster
- Richard Beach as Gordon Tracy (pre-operation in Chapter 1)
- Wedgewood Nowell as H. T. Clayton
- Theodore Lorch as Paterno
- Edwin Stanley as Walter Odette
- Harrison Greene as Cloggerstein
- Herbert Weber as Tony Martino
- Buddy Roosevelt as Burke
- George DeNormand as Flynn
- Byron K. Foulger as Kovitch
The above cast members appear in the opening credits as simply a list of the actor's names.
Chapter titles
- The Spider Strikes (29 min 31s)
- The Bridge of Terror (19 min 11s)
- The Fur Pirates (20 min 25s)
- Death Rides the Sky (20 min 49s)
- Brother Against Brother (19 min 14s)
- Dangerous Waters (16 min 52s)
- The Ghost Town Mystery (20 min 11s)
- Battle in the Clouds (18 min 40s)
- The Stratosphere Adventure (18 min 00s)
- The Gold Ship (18 min 28s)
- Harbor Pursuit (16 min 35s)
- The Trail of the Spider (17 min 39s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
- The Fire Trap (16 min 45s)
- The Devil in White (20 min 35s)
- Brothers United (16 min 59s)
Cliffhangers
- The Spider Strikes: The Bay Bridge, under attack from the Spider's sonic weapon, begins to collapse on top of Dick Tracy.
- The Bridge of Terror: Dick Tracy's plane is damaged damaged by gunfire and crashes into a rail bridge.
- The Fur Pirates: Chasing his brother and the Spider Ring by motorboat, Dick Tracy is crushed between two moored ships moving closer together.
- Death Rides the Sky: Dick Tracy transfers to a unmanned, remote plane to save Junior but it is shot down by the Spider Ring.
- Brother Against Brother: In a roof-top chase, Gordon shoots his brother Dick, sending him into a multi-storey fall.
- Dangerous Waters: Dick Tracy's leg is caught in submarine's mooring line, pulling him under the waves.
- The Ghost Town Mystery: Dick Tracy falls into a pit in a mine tunnel. Spider Ring thugs take aim.
- Battle in the Clouds: Gordon shoots down his brother's plane.
- The Stratosphere Adventure: Dick Tracy is knocked unconscious aboard a burning, crashing Zeppelin.
- The Gold Ship: A steel plate from a ship's hull falls on top of Dick Tracy.
- Harbour Pursuit: Dick Tracy's motorboat has its control s shot out by thugs, crashing into an oncoming ship.
- The Trail of the Spider: The lights go out, the Spider mark shines on Dick Tracy's forehead, several shots are fired.
- The Fire Trap: Dick Tracy falls while escaping a burning ship.
- The Devil in White: Dick Tracy is strapped to an operating table to undergo the same brain operation as his brother Gordon.
Stunts & Effects
Stunts
- George DeNormand as Dick Tracy (doubling Ralph Byrd)
- Loren Riebe (doubling Jack Gardner)
Special Effects
- John T. Coyle
- The Lydecker brothers
Production
Dick Tracy was filmed between 30 November and 24 December 1936 under the working titles Adventures of Dick Tracy and The Spider Ring. The recorded release date for the serial is 20 February 1937 although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges. A 73-minute feature film version, made from serial chapters edited together, was released on 27 December 1937.
In this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man (FBI) in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, original characters used instead. Dick Tracy creator Chester Gould approved the script despite these changes.
There were three sequels to this serial. They were all permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a "series or serial". That meant that, Dick Tracy creator, Chester Gould was only paid for the rights to produce this serial but not for any of the sequels.[1]
References in other films
- The cliffhanger for chapter three, a motorboat chase, is copied in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
- The Spider's Flying wing was reused for the later, unconnected, Republic serial The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938).
See also
- Dick Tracy - Main Character Article
- Dick Tracy Returns - Sequel Serial (1938)
- Dick Tracy's G-Men - Sequel Serial (1939)
- Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc - Sequel Serial (1941)
References
- ^ Dick Tracy article at Images Journal, last checked 19/03/07
- Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8
- Dick Tracy at the Internet Movie Database
External links
- Dick Tracy at the Internet Movie Database
- Dr Hermes Review of Dick Tracy
- Dick Tracy at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
- Dick Tracy Article at Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture
Download or view online
| Preceded by Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) |
Republic Serial Dick Tracy (1937) |
Succeeded by The Painted Stallion (1937) |
| Preceded by none |
Dick Tracy Serial Dick Tracy (1937) |
Succeeded by Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
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