Dick Tracy's Dilemma

Originated by Chester Gould's syndicated comic strip, Dick Tracy has been a durable cinematic character with appearances ranging from 1930s serials to an over-hyped 1990 blockbuster-style motion picture starring Warren Beatty and Madonna--but the character's film appearances are perhaps most fondly recalled from the 1940s RKO Pictures series. Written with stacco dialogue and seldom running more than an hour, they were welcome "B" movies at almost every matinée.

Clocking in at exactly sixty minutes, DILEMMA plays out a fast clip. A fur heist and insurance scam turns deadly when a criminal employs "The Claw"--and not only does the movie rack up an impressive body count, it has considerably more suspense than the usual Dick Tracy flick. Ralph Byrd, who frequently played Dick Tracy, is quite good, but the edge of this film comes from the supporting cast: Jack Lambeth's the Claw is memorably dark; Ian Keith, a noted stage actor whose film credits include QUEEN Christina, scores as the comic Vitamin Flintheart; and Bernadene Hayes proves memorable in the brief role of Longshot Lillie. The cast is very nicely rounded out by Kay Christopher as a particularly appeal Tess Trueheart and such character actors as Lyle Latell, William B. Davidson, Tony Barrett, and Tom Keene.

High art it isn't, but DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA is fun in and of itself, fast moving, well acted, and well director by "B" movie workhorse John Rawlins. Certainly among the better outings for the famous character, it's very entertaining. Recommended for Dick Tracy fans everywhere.

This one has Tracy after a gang of fur-robbers' fence, with a couple of brutal murders thrown in along the way for a good measure.

A quite well made entry in the series, I agree that you don't always need a lot of money to make a well thought-out and entertaining film (the stupefyingly bad Blair Witch Project aside). The script and acting is satisfactorily brisk and logical, with a nice RKO-bound seedy and menacing atmosphere in evidence. Down those mean streets the Falcon never went! What makes it stand out however is the OTT performance by Jack Lambert as the Claw - a potent mix of Rondo Hatton's Creeper from the Pearl of Death and Long John Silver - the education system sure must have gone wrong with him!

As for Byrd for my money he was perfect as Tracy, with his jaw sticking out further than the brim of his hat producing even more shadows!

Ralph Byrd returns as Dick Tracy in "Dick Tracy's Dilemma," a 1947 B movie with some noirish aspects. It's fast and well-directed.

Here Tracy is after a killer called The Claw, who has a hook for a hand. The plot involves stolen furs, murder, and insurance fraud.

If you thought Tess had nothing to do in the Morgan Conway movies, here Tess is practically an extra. The actress, Kay Christopher, was quite different from Anne Jeffreys. Christopher's Tess is sweet, where Jeffreys had more of a worldliness - it's the ingenue versus the leading lady. I never read the comics, so I don't know which one was more like Tess.

Kudos to Ian Keith, an actor I love, for his portrayal of Vitamin. He was a wonderful actor.

Directed with a brisk pace by John Rawlins, who adds several nice noir touches to this one, including one brilliant shot almost at the end of the film. I won't tell you what it is. You'll know it when you see it.

... from RKO and director John Rawlins. Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) is on the case when a fur heist turns bad and a security guard is killed. Tracy and his cohorts work together to track down the criminal gang responsible, including the murderous Claw (Jack Lambert).

The third of four low-budget Dick Tracy features, these followed four previous serials which had starred Ralph Byrd. Morgan Conway had played Tracy in the first two movies, but Byrd was brought back for this, and one final film. While several of the characters have comic-strip names, the film itself is comparable to many of the B mysteries and crime pictures being turned out at the time. This one also has some gruesome implications, thanks to the method of murder used by the Claw, namely his prosthetic claw. Lambert is very good as the deformed Claw, and he reminded me a bit of future slasher horror icons Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers in his implacability. Ian Keith, as Vitamin, gets to ham it up with his exaggerated John Barrymore characterization, and I liked seeing character actor Jimmy Conlin in a larger role, as phony blind man Sightless.

RALPH BYRD takes over the Dick Tracy role with good results, looking more like the square-jawed comic book hero than Morgan Conway. He's on the trail of "The Claw" (played very effectively by JACK LAMBERT) and the film is chock full of many noir-like scenes involving "The Claw" and his pursuit of victims, who seems to enjoy using his hook to kill a few unlucky men.

IAN KEITH is back as Vitamin Flintheart, once again upstaging everyone with his theatrical flair for speeches and having a little more to do with the plot and KAY CHRISTOPHER fills in for Anne Jeffreys as Tess Trueheart.

But, in truth, Byrd is given little opportunity to show how well he was cast in the part since most of the crime drama involves the intriguing villain with the hook for a hand who drags his foot and walks the shadowy streets on his hunt for the kill.

Summing up: Good little crime drama about fur thieves proves that low-budget thrillers like this from RKO could be rewarding enough for noir fans.