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Dick Tracy - 15-Episode SerialRating:
Release Date: 28 August, 2001 Retail Price: $9.99 OUR Price: $8.99 You SAVE: $1.00! Cast: Complete Cast (8 total) |
Dick Tracy - 15-Episode Serial Reviews
Great adaptation of the comic strip
There are lots of familiar faces in this one, such as Smiley Brunette, Lee Van Atta, Carleton Young (who was Ellery Queen on radio), Francis X. Bushman. But part of the charm of this serial comes from the sprinkling of rather bizarre characters such as the clown, the demented scientist, the miner, and of course the principal bad guy, the Lame One.
Anyone who has seen FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS will notice lots of similarities and for this reason, I suggest getting DICK TRACY first. The other serial used a lot of footage from this one. The flying wing, the hunchback scientist, Carleton Young, the crushing ship chapter ending are all in the later serial.
Ralph Byrd is the definitive Dick Tracy. I didn't remember his being a G man, but the serial does predate my acquaintance with the comic strip.
All in all, this is definitely one of the better serials. As an earlier Republic serial, you won't see as much stunt action, choreographed fights and telegraphed chapter endings as in the later ones, but the elements are still there. This is one of the times I wish there was a 4 and a half star designation.
Chester Gould's 1937 "Dick Tracy serial" comes to DVD!!
This is a great treat for Dick Tracy fans. Before television we had to go to the Saturday morning movie matinees to see our action heros.
Cartoonist Chester Gould created this action hero in the early 1930's and by the middle 30's the FBI and gangsters were in all the newspaper & radio headlines. So Gould countered with Dick Tracy G-man (in the movie serials) & Dick Tracy cop hero in the comic strip.
The "Dick Tracy" (1937) Republic Pictures 15 episode action serial launched Ralph Byrds career as the super crime solving G-man/Sherlock Holmes sleuth. The movie version was always the international view while the comic strip was the local city crime storyline.
Thanks to VCI Entertainment for a great restoration job & super loaded 2 DVD package.
This 15 episode action packed serial is over 290 mins long and is presented with great picture & sound.
Extra features include: a background Commentary by famous Dick Tracy writer Max Allan Collins who penned the comic strip for 15 years after Goulds retirement. Special photo montage & Photo Gallery. Bonus 1945 Radio Show: Dick Tracy in B-Flat - a musical rendition of Dick Tracy with the voice of Bing Crosby as Tracy, Dinah Shore as Tesh Trueheart, Bob Hope as Flathead and many more big radio stars of the 40's. This is fun stuff.
Summary: Action serials are always more about the action packed journey & how our hero escapes the bad guys at the cliff hanging ending chapters than the actual story. We need to have a thrill filled 20 minutes each week and then painfully wait until next week for the continuing saga to take us to more excitement until the finale on chapter/week 15.
Dick Tracy delivers all we expect in an action hero and this being one of the first serials gives us a taste of the world of 1937. Enjoy.
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