Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME is the last of the four cheap and cheerful Dick Tracy films made by RKO. Ralph Byrd returns to the role of the titular detective hero, this time battling against a creepy-looking villain who uses nerve gas to commit bank robberies. At an hour in length this is snappy, effective adventure filler, benefiting immensely from a villainous turn from the excellent Boris Karloff whose presence alone lifts it above the others in this series in terms of entertainment value.

A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take him to the morgue, where he later revives and escapes. This puzzling incident attracts the interest of Dick Tracy, and when the criminals later use the gas to rob a bank, Tracy realizes that he must devote his entire attention to stopping them. Never saw a Dick Tracy movie before and wow.This one with Boris Karloff is just amazing.Very tight and well directed.But it's Karloff who makes the film. Playing Gruesome, he's like no other Karloff you've seen in movies.

Like many low-budget serials, this one is about as bad as you'd expect, looking more like some of the flaky stuff that had been done ten years previously. The one shining light in this thing is, of course, Karloff. Watch it for him, and it's good for a grin.Bear in mind, this has no relation to actual law or police procedure! Tracy and his pal whip out those .38's and fire, no matter what the surroundings, and for little reason. He breaks into a professor's house and searches it, all without benefit of a warrant. There are dozens of other things that real cops wouldn't get away with today -- and I don't think they did back then, either!But as long as you're not expecting "Gone With The Wind," it's good for a bit of fun.

I have long been familiar with Dick Tracy through first his comic strip when I was a kid in the '70s, then an Archie series that showcased animated comic strips, then an early '60s cartoon series from UPA, then Warren Beaty's 1990 movie and now from the last of four RKO Tracy movies from the '40s. As he had in some late '30s Republic serials and the previous RKO entry, Ralph Byrd plays the title character whose nemesis here is the other title character played by the legendary Boris Karloff. It involves a gas that paralyzes people for several minutes that makes it easy for Karloff and his cohorts to come in an rob a bank. Also in the bank is Tess Truehart (Anne Gwynne) who happens to be in a phone booth when the gas goes off so she isn't affected and calls boyfriend Tracy as the robbery takes place. Nicely dramatic and comedic use of freeze-frame throughout with subsequent action sequences an added bonus. Very good performances from Karloff and his cohorts Skelton Knaggs as X-Ray and Tony Barrett as Melody. The good guys aren't so bad either! I liked Pat's line about doing business with Boris Karloff the best. Well worth seeing for fans of '40s series programmers. P.S. Jason Robards, Sr. plays the bank vice president here.