''Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.'' (1941) is a

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

Movie serial based on the

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick 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 was distributed by the Chicago T ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of 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 terminology#Captio ...

. It was directed by the team of

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

and John English with Ralph Byrd reprising his role from the earlier serials. It was the last of the four Dick Tracy serials produced by Republic, although Ralph Byrd went on to portray the character again in two features and on television.

Plot

Dick Tracy and his allies find themselves up against a villain known as ''The Ghost'', with the impossible ability of becoming invisible.

Cast

Main cast

* Ralph Byrd as

*Michael Owen as Bil Carr * Jan Wiley as June 'Eve' Chandler * John Davidson as Lucifer * Ralph Morgan as J.P. Morton/the Ghost

Supporting cast

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was a popular American actor during the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer roles. His career extended into the sound film era, but during that span he rarely c ...

as Police Lt Cosgrove * John Dilson as Henry Weldon * Howard C. Hickman as Stephen Chandler *

Robert Frazer Robert Frazer (born Robert William Browne, June 29, 1891 – August 17, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Unive ...

as Daniel Brewster * Robert Fiske as Walter Cabot *

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

as Jim Wilson *

Hooper Atchley Lemuel Hooper Atchley (April 30, 1887 – November 17, 1943) was an American film actor. Atchley was the son of Mr. and Mrs. P. S. Atchley. He was a 1908 graduate of the Knoxville, Tennessee, school system. Atchley's first professional ac ...

as Arthur Trent *

Anthony Warde Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was an American actor who appeared in over 150 movies from 1937 to 1964. Early years Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year's Day 1909 ...

as John Corey *Chuck Morrison as Trask *

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from Silent film, silents through Sound film, talkies to the advent of Color motion picture fil ...

as Netzikoff's Butler

Production

''Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.'' cost $175,919 (a $1,380 overspend). It was filmed between September 17 and October 24, 1941 under the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

s ''Dick Tracy Strikes Again'' and ''Dick Tracy's Revenge''. The serial's production number was 1097. The scenes of giant waves hitting

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

were recycled from the

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

film ''

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

''.

Cliffhangers

Most of the cliffhangers were stock footage from previous Dick Tracy serials. However, the reuse of the highlights of previous Dick Tracy serials actually added to this serial, making it seem like a "best of" compilation.

Release

Theatrical

''Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.s official release date is December 27, 1941, during Christmas week 1941, although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges. The serial was re-released on October 8, 1952, under the title ''Dick Tracy vs. Phantom Empire'', between the first runs of '' Zombies of the Stratosphere'' and '' Jungle Drums of Africa''. 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

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." He goes on to describe Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. as one of the most outstanding of all serials. This was a popular serial when first released, and in the opinion of Harmon and Glut, the best of the Dick Tracy serials.

Chapter titles

#The Fatal Hour ''(28 min 12s)'' #The Prisoner Vanishes ''(16 min 51s)'' #Doom Patrol ''(16 min 52s)'' #Dead Man's Trap ''(16 min 44s)'' #Murder at Sea ''(16 min 41s)'' #Besieged ''(16 min 42s)'' #Sea Racketeers ''(16 min 58s)'' #Train of Doom ''(16 min 48s)'' #Beheaded ''(16 min 46s)'' #Flaming Peril ''(16 min 58s)'' #Seconds to Live ''(16 min 41s)'' #Trial by Fire ''(16 min 41s)'' #The Challenge ''(16 min 45s)'' #Invisible Terror ''(16 min 40s)'' #Retribution ''(16 min 43s)'' _Source:

References

External links

*
Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc. at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick Tracy Vs. Crime, Inc. 1941 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials Dick Tracy films Films directed by William Witney Films directed by John English 1941 crime films 1940s police procedural films Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland Films about invisibility 1940s American films English-language crime films