''Dick Tracy'' (also known as ''Dick Tracy, Detective'') is a 1945 American action film based on the

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (character), 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 ''De ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

created by

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. Ea ...

. The film is the first of four installment of the Dick Tracy film series, released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

Plot

Dick Tracy (

Morgan Conway Morgan Conway (born Sidney Conway, March 16, 1903 – November 16, 1981) was an American actor, best known for his portrayals of Dick Tracy. Early life and career Conway was educated at Columbia University in New York City. He had a bro ...

), a supremely intelligent police detective, must solve a series of brutal murders in which the victims, all from different social and economic backgrounds, are viciously slashed to pieces by the one known as Splitface (

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

). Suspects abound but Tracy must find the common link of extortion and revenge before more are killed.

Cast

as Dick Tracy, the tough detective, who lets nothing stand in the way of justice. *

Anne Jeffreys Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She was noted as the female lead in the 1950s TV series '' Topper''. Career Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichae ...

as Tess Trueheart, Tracy's girlfriend, who often falls victim to her boyfriend's workaholism. *

as Alexis "Splitface" Banning, a psychotic ex-con who seeks revenge. His weapon is a sharp surgical knife. He has a big disfiguring scar across his face. *

Jane Greer Jane Greer (born Bettejane Greer; September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001) was an American film and television actress best known for her role as ''femme fatale'' Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir '' Out of the Past''. In 2009, ''The Guardian'' ...

as Jane Owens, a suspect. *

Lyle Latell Lyle Latell (born Lyle Zeiem; April 9, 1904 – October 24, 1967) was an American character actor. He was perhaps best known for playing Pat Patton in the ''Dick Tracy'' film series. Biography Latell was born Lyle Zeiem on April 1904 in ...

as Pat Patton, Tracy's bumbling assistant. *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as Chief Brandon, the reliable chief of police. *

Mickey Kuhn Theodore Matthew Michael Kuhn Jr. (September 21, 1932 – November 20, 2022) was an American actor. He started his career as a child actor, active on-screen during the Golden Age of Hollywood from the 1930s until the early 1950s. He is noted fo ...

as Junior, Tracy's adopted son. *

Trevor Bardette Trevor Bardette (born Terva Gaston Hubbard; November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of '' Adventures of S ...

as Prof. Linwood J. Starling, a strange medium, and also a suspect. *

Morgan Wallace Morgan Wallace (born Maier Weill, July 26, 1881 – December 12, 1953) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1914 and 1946, including W.C. Fields' '' It's a Gift'' (1934) Introduction by Arthur Knight where he p ...

as Steve Owens, a stern businessman. *

Milton Parsons Ernest Milton Parsons (May 19, 1904 – May 15, 1980) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 160 films and television shows between 1939 and 1978. In 1927, Parsons performed with The Strolling Players of Boston acting co ...

as Deathridge the Undertaker, a mysterious, skeletal suspect. * William Halligan as Mayor, the worried mayor of Chicago. * Jason Robards Sr. as Motorist (uncredited)

Production

Getting the rights to produce ''Dick Tracy'' from the character's creator,

, cost RKO pictures $10,000. This was the first in a series of ''Dick Tracy'' films produced by RKO.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dick Tracy (1945 Film) 1945 films 1945 crime films American black-and-white films Dick Tracy films 1940s English-language films Film noir Films scored by Roy Webb Films about organized crime in the United States Films based on American comics Films directed by William A. Berke RKO Pictures films 1940s police procedural films American crime films 1940s American films