Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd & Anne Gwynne in "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (1947)

Description:

Just out of jail, Gruesome (Boris Karloff) goes to the Hangman's Knot saloon, where his old crime crony, Melody (Tony Barrett), is now playing piano. Gruesome takes him to a plastics manufacturer, where X-Ray (Skelton Knaggs) and a mysterious mastermind are in possession of a secret formula and hatching a sinister plot. Ignoring a warning not to touch anything, Gruesome sniffs the gas from a mysterious test tube; he escapes the toxic fumes but collapses upon returning to the Hangman's Knot and is taken to the city morgue, where his body stiffens dramatically. Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) is at headquarters speaking with college professor Dr. A. Tomic (Milton Parsons), a scientist who suspects someone has been following him. At the morgue, Tracy's sidekick Pat (Lyle Latell) has his back turned when Gruesome wakes up and knocks him out. Pat describes him to Tracy as looking a lot like the actor Boris Karloff (a gag cribbed from Arsenic and Old Lace). At a bank where Tess Trueheart (Anne Gwynne) happens to be, Gruesome and Melody drop a grenade with the gas into a wastebasket; when it goes off, everyone but Tess freezes in place. They rob the place of more than $100,000 and shoot a cop on the sidewalk before Tracy and his men arrive. Gruesome demands half of the loot from X-Ray .... or else. Tracy tries to learn the secret of the formula from Dr. Tomic's top assistant, Professor Learned (June Clayworth), before going after Gruesome and his gang. Over the course of the film, Learned is shot dead, and Melody dies in a car accident. As an offhand comment, Tess quips "dead men tell no tales", which gives Tracy an idea: since Gruesome will resort even to murder to keep his secret weapon a secret, if he thinks Melody is alive, he will hunt Melody down to prevent any leaks. Tracy decides to run a false flag operation: put out word that Melody has been captured alive, and pose as Melody hoping Gruesome will show up. Gruesome takes the bait and abducts what he thinks is Melody from the hospital. In a climactic shootout at the plastic factory, Tracy shoots Gruesome in the back. Tracy retrieves one last gas grenade with the intent of analyzing the contents. Back at the office, in the closing scene, the grenade inadvertently goes off, freezing everyone in place just as Dick and Tess are about to kiss. A 1947 American Black & White crime action mystery drama thriller film (aka "Dick Tracy vs. the Gruesome Gang", "Dick Tracy Meets Karloff", "Dick Tracy vs. Dr. Nerves", and "Dick Tracy's Amazing Adventure") directed by John Rawlins, produced by Herman Schlom, screenplay by Robertson White and Eric Taylor, story by William Graffis and Robert E. Kent, based on the cartoon strip "Dick Tracy" created by Chester Gould, cinematography by Frank Redman, starring Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne, Skelton Knaggs, Edward Ashley, June Clayworth, Lyle Latell, Tony Barrett, James Nolan, Joseph Crehan, Milton Parsons The fourth and final installment of the classic "Dick Tracy" film series released by RKO Radio Pictures, and the only one in which Ralph Byrd takes second billing. He previously starred in the four Dick Tracy serials from Republic Pictures released from 1937 to 1941 and the one feature before this. He would continue playing the character on television, until his untimely death in 1952. Several of the character initials combined with the last name are a play on words: Dr. L.E. Thal (Dr. Lethal), Professor I.M. Learned (Prof. I'm Learned), and Dr. A. Tomic (Dr. Atomic). The name of the taxidermist is Y. Stuffum. Anne Gwynne (1918-2003), Marguerite Gwynne Trice in Waco, Texas, was an American actress who was known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films. Gwynne was also one of the most popular pin-ups of World War II. She is the maternal grandmother of actor Chris Pine. After her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, she attended Stephens College, where she studied drama. While accompanying her father to a convention in Los Angeles, Gwynne obtained a job modeling for Catalina Swimwear. She soon began acting in small theaters and appeared in a newsreel and a charity short. In June 1939, she signed a contract with Universal. Universal cast her in a variety of genres including film noir and musical comedy. She is remembered by fans of horror films for her work in several pictures made in the 1940s. Gwynne was a television pioneer, appearing in TV's first filmed series, Public Prosecutor (1947–48). Gwynne married Max M. Gilford in 1945, and had two children: Gregory, a recording artist on Dunhill Records; and Gwynne, an actress. Gwynne Gilford and her husband, actor Robert Pine, have two children, actors Katherine and Chris Pine. The best of the Dick Tracy series. A fast-moving B-Movie with no pretensions. A comic strip carefully made into a movie, managing to be thorough, smooth and playful. Fun, campy entertainment for everyone. Grab a bowl of popcorn, and be entertained.