''Dick Tracy's G-Men'' (1939) is a 15-Chapter

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

based on the ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''Detroit Mirror'', and it ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the '' Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. ...

. It was directed by

William Witney William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: ''Dick Tracy Returns'', ''G-Men vs. the Black ...

and John English. This serial was the fifteenth of the sixty-six produced by Republic and the third Dick Tracy serial (there would be one more, ''

Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. ''Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.'' (1941) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was directed by the team of William Witney and John English with Ralph Byrd reprising his role from the earlier serials. It was the last ...

'', in 1941). As with all four Dick Tracy serials,

Ralph Byrd Ralph Byrd (April 22, 1909 – August 18, 1952) was an American actor. He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television. Early life and career The son of George and Edna May ...

plays the lead. This time he faces

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended Pittsburgh Cent ...

as the spy with a vendetta, Zarnoff. Future

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winner

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...

co-stars as Gwen Andrews. "

G-Man ''G-man'' (short for "government man", plural ''G-men'') is an American slang term for agents of the United States Government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ''G-man'' is also a term ...

" is a contemporary slang term for an agent of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

. In the

, Dick Tracy is actually a

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

in the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

force of an unnamed

Midwestern The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

city resembling

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. This was changed for the serial.

Plot

International

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

, Zarnoff, in the employ of "The Three Powers" (presumably a fictionalized reference to the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

) is captured by Dick Tracy at the start of the serial, tried and sentenced to death. However, through the use of a rare drug embedded by his agents in the evening newspaper, he escapes from the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Histor ...

. His men pick up his "corpse" by ambushing the hearse and administering another counter-drug. He continues his

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

plans, while taking the opportunity of

revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

on Tracy.

Cast

as Nicolas Zarnoff * Ted Pearson as Steve Lockwood * Phyllis Isley as Gwen Andrews. Phyllis Isley went on to win an

Academy Award for best actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

four years later in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

for '' The Song of Bernadette'', under the screen name

. * Walter Miller as Robal, one of Zarnoff's

henchmen A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies pri ...

. This was Walter Miller's last serial, he died shortly afterwards. * George Douglas as Sandoval, one of Zarnoff's

Production

''Dick Tracy's G-Men'' was budgeted at $159,876 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural h ...

was $163,530 (a $3,654, or 2.3%, overspend). Although the previous serial, ''

Daredevils of the Red Circle ''Daredevils of the Red Circle'' (1939) is a 12-chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, Herman Brix (better known under his subsequent stage name, Bruce Bennett), Carole Landis, Miles Mander (in a dual role) an ...

'', came in under budget that was an exception to the rule. Most Republic serials were slightly overbudget and this one was not significantly so in comparison. It was filmed between 17 June and 27 July 1939 under the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''Dick Tracy and his G-Men''. The serial's production number was 896. This serial, like all the sequels to the 1937 original Dick Tracy serial, was permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a "series or serial". Therefore,

was not paid again for the right to produce this serial.

Release

Theatrical

''Dick Tracy's G-Mens official release date is 2 September 1939, although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges. The serial was re-released on 19 September 1955 following the release of Republic's final serial, ''

King of the Carnival ''King of the Carnival'' (1955) is a Republic movie serial that contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial ''Daredevils of the Red Circle''. It is the 66th and final serial produced by Republic and is ofte ...

''. ''Dick Tracy's G-Men'' began a series of re-releases that accounted for all of Republic's remaining serial releases, finishing with a re-release of ''

Zorro's Fighting Legion ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against t ...

'' in March 1958. VCI released the serial on 2 dvd discs in 2008. It was later released together with the other three Dick Tracy serials in a boxed dvd set by VCI in 2013.

Critical reception

Movie serial historian William C. Cline states that the Dick Tracy serials were "unexcelled in the action field," adding that "in any listing of serials released after 1930, the four Dick Tracy adventures from Republic must stand out as classics of the suspense detective thrillers, and the models for many others to follow."

Chapter titles

# The Master Spy (29min 55s) # Captured (16min 42s) # The False Signal (16min 38s) # The Enemy Strikes (16min 44s) # Crack-up! (16min 39s) # Sunken Peril (16min 39s) # Tracking the Enemy (16min 40s) # Chamber of Doom (16min 41s) # Flames of Jeopardy (16min 37s) # Crackling Fury (16min 40s) # Caverns of Peril (16min 39s) # Fight in the Sky (16min 39s) # The Fatal Ride (16min 40s) - a re-cap chapter # Getaway (16min 38s) # The Last Stand (16min 41s) _Source:

References

External links

* *
Dick Tracy's G-Men at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{William Witney 1939 films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials Dick Tracy films Films directed by William Witney Films directed by John English American mystery films 1930s mystery films 1930s crime films 1930s police procedural films 1930s American films