Flattop Jones, Sr. is a fictional character, a villain created by Chester Gould for the Dick Tracy comic strip and is the most popular one in the strip's history. His nickname comes from his large head which is perfectly flat on the top.

Background of fictional character

Gould revealed little about Flattop's personal life in the comic strip, but the background references that he did give the character share similarities to real-life Depression-era gangster Pretty Boy Floyd. For example, Flattop claims in the strip to be a freelance hitman from Cookson Hills in Oklahoma. The comic strip also references Flattop's involvement in the "Kansas City Massacre," a 1933 incident in which Floyd was alleged to have been involved.

Appearances in comic strip

Gould's character leads a gang of three hoods and is known as an "Ace Killer" in one newspaper headline shown in the comic strip (having committed five murders). In the storyline in which Flattop is the featured villain, black marketeers hire him to eliminate Dick Tracy for a fee of $5000: five times his regular rate.

Dick Tracy is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. The strip made its debut on October 4, 1931 in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977. Since that time, various artists and writers have continued the strip, which still runs in newspapers today. Dick Tracy has also been the hero in a number of films, notably one in which Warren Beatty played the crime fighter in 1990.

Comic strip

Characters and story

Tracy uses forensic science, advanced gadgetry, and wits, in an early example of the police procedural mystery story—although stories often end in gunfights just the same. Stories typically follow a criminal committing a crime and Tracy's relentless pursuit of the criminal. The strip's most popular villain was Flattop Jones, a freelance hitman hired by black marketeers to murder Tracy. When Flattop was killed, fans went into public mourning, and the Flattop Story was reprinted in DC's series of Oversize Comic Reprints in the 1970s. The villains' small crimes led to bigger, out of control situations, reflecting film noir. Similarly, innocent witnesses were frequently killed, and Tracy's paramour Tess Trueheart was often endangered by the villains. As the story progressed, Tracy adopted an orphan under the name Dick Tracy Jr., or "Junior" for short, who appeared in investigations until becoming a police forensic artist in his father's precinct. He also cultivated a professional partner, ex-steel worker Pat Patton, who gradually became a detective of skill and courage enough to satisfy Tracy's requirements.

Dick Tracy (also known as Dick Tracy, Detective) is a 1945 American Film Noir pulp action film based on the Dick Tracy comic strip created by Chester Gould. The film is the first of four installment of the Dick Tracy film series, released by RKO Radio Pictures.

Plot

Dick Tracy (Morgan Conway), 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). Suspects flourish but Tracy must find the common link of extortion and revenge before more are killed.

Cast

Dick Tracy was an American detective radio drama series based on the popularity of the newspaper comic strip Dick Tracy by Chester Gould.

History

The show first aired in 1934 for the NBC Radio New England region. Himan Brown, then still at college, arranged the radio rights for the comic strip.

On February 4, 1935, it was picked up by CBS Radio, airing in 15 minute episodes four times a week. Returning next season it aired on Mutual Broadcasting System from September 30, 1935 to March 24, 1937. From April 29, 1939, "Dick Tracy" became a half hour long prime time radio serial, airing at 5:00 pm.

When the USA got involved in the Second World War, the show was temporarily cancelled.ABC Blue Network picked it up again from March 15, 1943 to July 16, 1948 and broadcast it on Saturdays. Around this time it was sponsored by Tootsie Rolls, so the music theme was changed to Toot, Toot Tootsie. The musical arrangements were composed by Ray Carter.

Cast

The show was directed by Mitchell Grayson, Charles Powers and Bob White. At Mutual, Bill McClintock did the sound effects. At NBC, Keene Crockett did this job. During its run on ABC, Walt McDonough and Al Finelli were hired for this task.

Dick, Dicks or Dick's may refer to:

See also

As a surname, Dick is the 1,513th most common name in Great Britain with 6,545 bearers. Although found in every part of Britain, the form Dick is especially common in Scotland, and it was from there, in the 17th century, that the surname was taken to Northern Ireland. It is most common in West Lothian, where it is the 78th most common surname with 1,742 bearers. Other notable concentrations include Northumberland (146th, 1,630), Tyne and Wear (335th, 1,738) and Berkshire (365th, 1,704) and in Norfolk.

Currently, in the U.S., it ranks at 1,388 out of 88,799 surnames.

References

Dick is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Andrew Fleming from a script he wrote with Sheryl Longin. It is a parody retelling the events of the Watergate scandal which ended the presidency of Richard ("Tricky Dick") Nixon and features several cast members from Saturday Night Live and The Kids in the Hall.

Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams star as Betsy and Arlene, two warm-hearted but not overly intelligent 15-year-old girls who are best friends, and who, through various twists and turns, become the legendary "Deep Throat" figure partly responsible for bringing down the presidency of Richard Nixon. Dan Hedaya plays Nixon.

Plot

Betsy Jobs (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene Lorenzo (Michelle Williams) are two sweet-natured but somewhat ditzy teenage girls living in Washington D.C. in the early 1970s. Betsy comes from a wealthy family in the Georgetown area, while Arlene lives with her widowed mother in an apartment in the Watergate building. One night, on a quest to mail a letter to enter a contest to win a date with teen idol singer Bobby Sherman, the two girls sneak out of Arlene's home, at the same time as the Watergate break-in. They manage to enter and leave through the parking garage by taping the latch of a door, accidentally causing the break-in to be discovered. They are seen by G. Gordon Liddy (Harry Shearer), who they believe to be committing a jewel robbery; they panic and run away. The security guard, startled by the taped door, calls the police, who immediately arrest the burglars.