Dick Tracy (also known as Dick Tracy: Detective) was a 1945 feature film released by RKO Pictures. It starred Morgan Conway as the titular detective. It was directed by William A. Berke and produced by Herman Schlom. It was the first of four "Dick Tracy" feature films produced by RKO in the 1940s.
Plot Summary[]
Dick Tracy must solve a series of gruesome murders with the aid of his partner Pat Patton. He encounters several eccentric and mysterious suspects during the course of his investigation and eventually discovers that the killer is Splitface.
Notes[]
- This was the first "Dick Tracy" feature film ever produced. A number of serials had been produced during the 1930s and early 1940s.
- The film adds a new element to the Dick Tracy mythos- Tracy's live-in housekeeper Mrs. Caraway. She had not appeared in the strip before and did not appear in the strip (or subsequent films) afterwards.
- The opening credits feature static images of several prominent characters from the strip's recent history, including Flattop, Little Face, Pruneface, Vitamin Flintheart, Breathless Mahoney, and B.O. Plenty. None of these characters appear in the film.
- The film features an instance of Junior jumping onto the back of the vehicle of an escaping criminal, a frequent occurrence in the strip which was also included in the 1990 Dick Tracy feature film.
- The film was released in theaters on December 20th, 1945. At that time in the comic strip, Dick Tracy was concluding his encounter with Itchy.
- The film is now in the public domain and can be viewed for free at several venues.