Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

Director: John Rawlins John Rawlins

Overview

Befitting his status as a genre star, Boris Karloff earns top billing over leading man Ralph Byrd in RKO's final Dick Tracy caper. The former Frankenstein monster plays an escaped convict masterminding a daring bank robbery. To get in and out of the bank without being noticed, the gang uses an asphyxiating gas that leaves anyone inside momentarily frozen in place. Everyone, that is, except for bank customer Tess Truehart (Anne Gwynne), who is able to contact Dick Tracy (Byrd) from a phone booth in the bank. With little or no clues, Tracy and his man Friday, Pat Patton (Lyle Latell), question the bank customers but none can shed any light on the mysterious goings-on. The disappearance of Dr. A. Tomic (Milton Parsons) and the odd behavior of his associate, Dr. I.M. Learned (June Clayworth), crack the case wide open, however, and Tracy is eventually able to track down both Gruesome and the surprising identity of his boss, L.E. Thal (Edward Ashley). According to some reports, RKO wanted to release Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome as "Dick Tracy Meets Karloff" but that title was vetoed by Karloff himself. The legendary horror star apparently later accepted his own box-office value and a 1949 Universal comedy was released as Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/13/2022
UPC:	0827421038296
Original Release:	1947
Source:	Cheezy Flicks Ent
Language:	English
Sales rank:	40,837

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ralph Byrd	Dick Tracy
Boris Karloff	Gruesome
Anne Gwynne	Tess
Edward Ashley	L.E. Thal
Lyle Latell	Pat
June Clayworth	I.M. Learned
Milton Parsons	Dr. A. Tomic
Skelton Knaggs	X-Ray
Tony Barrett	Melody
Jim Nolan	Dan Sterne
Joseph Crehan	Chief Brandon
Lex Barker	Ambulence Driver
Lee Phelps	Police Detective
Sean McClory	Carney, Beat Cop
Harry Harvey	Bank Guard
Harry Strang	Tim, Hospital Room Guard
William Gould	Hospital Entry Guard
George Lloyd	Bar Manager
Jason Robards Sr.	Bank Manager
Robert Clarke	Fred, police analyst
Harry Harvey Jr.	Humphrey, a guard
Ernie Adams	Bartender at Hangman's Knot
Phil Arnold	Sneezing customer
Bert Roach	Crandall, a customer
Bela Lugosi	Actor
Morgan Conway	Actor
Anne Jeffreys	Actor
Constantin Bakaleinikoff	Conductor
Paul Sawtell	Composer

Technical Credits

Eric Taylor

Robertson White

John Rawlins	Director
Eric Taylor	Screenwriter
Robertson White	Screenwriter
Herman Schlom	Producer
Russell A. Cully	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

Boris Karloff's unforgettable visage was always larger than life and his stalking appearance in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome remains very much in the spirit of Chester Gould's comic strip. Gone, however, are most of the noir touches that lifted the three previous films out of the rut. Like Karloff's presence, the freezing gas is much in line with Gould's latter-day story-telling but that too is more mindful of action serials than hard-boiled detective fiction. The climax, where Boris Karloff almost becomes the victim of a runaway conveyor-belt, also points in that direction. By 1947, a bit of mental fatigue had set in and instead of fully developed supporting villains, RKO made do with punning character names such as Dr. A. Tomic, Dr. I.M. Learned, L.E. Thal, and Y. Stuffum. The last appears on a sign advertising a taxidermist!