Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)
Dick Tracy tracks a ruthless mob boss who has hired a hulking, near-indestructible henchman named Gruesome and armed him with an experimental gas that freezes victims in their tracks. As the gang plans a bank heist under cover of the gas, Tracy races to stop them before the whole city is put to sleep.
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome closed out RKO’s Dick Tracy series by casting horror icon Boris Karloff as the title heavy, giving the detective franchise’s final entry a genuinely eerie edge its three predecessors had mostly played as straight action.
Background
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome was directed by John Rawlins and released by RKO in 1947, closing out the studio’s run of Dick Tracy films starring Ralph Byrd. Boris Karloff plays the title villain, a hulking, near-indestructible henchman hired by a mob boss. Karloff, known for his horror roles, gives the film an eerier edge than its predecessors. The series was based on Chester Gould’s comic strip and was produced as a low-budget B picture. Ralph Byrd had played the detective across the earlier RKO films, which followed the comic strip’s crime-fighting format.
What to watch for
The villain is an unstoppable henchman armed with a freezing gas, and Karloff’s presence makes him the most unsettling figure in the series. Watch the gas sequences, in which victims are frozen in place, and the bank heist that Tracy must stop. The pace is brisk, typical of the series, and the detective’s pursuit of the gang moves through the city’s streets and hideouts. Karloff’s restrained menace contrasts with Byrd’s straightforward heroism, which gives the picture a different feel from the earlier entries. The comic-strip roots show in its bold villain and gadget-driven plot. The plot is tight, built around a single gas and a single heist, which keeps the running time focused on the chase.
