Dick Tracy vs. Cueball

The second of RKO's Dick Tracy movie series from the '40s. This is the last one featuring Morgan Conway as Tracy. The plot this time involves some stolen diamonds and a bald killer named Cueball (Dick Wessel). Cueball strangles his victims with a braided leather hatband. Why the writers gave him such a specific weapon instead of just a rope or piano wire or something I don't know but it's interesting. Cueball is not big on people double-crossing him, which several characters in the movie find out firsthand. Like the others in the series, this is an enjoyable "B" picture. I was very happy to see Vitamin Flintheart, one of my favorite characters from the Dick Tracy comic strip, show up here. He's wonderfully played by Ian Keith as a sort of send-up of John Barrymore. Another fun character was Filthy Flora (Esther Howard), who runs the Dripping Dagger bar. Interesting characters are what set the Dick Tracy film series (as well as the comic strip) apart from other detective stories.

Aficionados of forgotten "B" Pictures should enjoy this one, which for some unaccountable reason is listed by Medved as one of the fifty worst films of all time. Photographed stylishly by George Diskant and directed imaginatively by the under-rated Gordon Douglas (who would go on to direct both Elvis and Sinatra) this film is far superior in look to many of the better known low-budget film noirs of the same period. RKO Studios spent a lot more money building sets and dressing them than did their B picture rivals. Douglas took advantage of the superior production values to invent some very unusual shots often using a subjective camera technique usually not associated with these programmers. Despite the wooden acting of Morgan Conway as Tracey, the cast includes some of Hollywood's best character actors, among them the eternally frowzy Esther Howard as the proprietress of the Dripping Dagger café; Ian Keith hamming it up delightfully as Vitamin Flintheart, and Jason Robards Sr., father of the great Eugene O'Neill actor, Jason Jr., briefly seen as the captain of the S.S. Palomar.

Dick Tracy vs. Cueball starts at the comic strip level and then zips along with some finely turned performances (mostly by the supporting characters). Dick Tracy comes off a little wooden and bland."Cueball" , looks so perplexed and worried through the whole film that you kinda feel sorry for him , even though he goes around choking people to death .He does give his victims(most of them) the chance to talk it over or play it straight-above board, but they don't .They take him for a big goof.. er cue-ball...and well, they get what's coming to them.The visuals in this film are superior. Kudos go to cinematographer George Diskant and director Gordon Douglas for his interesting camera placements etc...Gotta love "The "Dripping Dagger"sign. If you like that "1940's Hollywood look", this film is worth a look.

Dick Tracy must solve the murder of the courier of $300,000 worth of diamonds. Only clue of the strangulation are bits of a material embedded in the neck. Soon two more killings and the same material. Tracy discovers that a specially ordered hat with a band around it is the murder weapon. From this Tracy deduces the killer - Cueball, that bald and passionless man. Friend or foe, old or young, no one is immune from the clutches of Cueball.

Most of the scenes are at night which lead to a dark and gloomy feeling of dread in the city. This feeling adds to the sense of evil that Dick Tracy battles. A fine film with a fitting outcome for Cueball.

This is one of the best Dick Tracy films I've seen. This one has a great villain, Cueball. Cueball has got to be one of the most menacing villains that Tracy has encountered.

Cueball is out of prison and back in town with his old gang. The gang has talked Cueball into stealing some rare diamonds but when Cueball finds out he has a very small cut of what the diamonds are worth he kills the gang members - and the more he is betrayed the angrier he gets. It's up Dick and Pat to solve this case and put and end to Cueball and the gang.

Never mind someone's opinion that this is one of the worst films of all times - like any film, you have to watch it for yourself to know if YOU like the film or not - don't let someone else ruin a film for you.

9/10