Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

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Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, and Anne Gwynne in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

Dick Tracy goes up against a villain who robs banks using a nerve gas.Dick Tracy goes up against a villain who robs banks using a nerve gas.Dick Tracy goes up against a villain who robs banks using a nerve gas.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Top cast35

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Boris Karloff

Gruesome

Ralph Byrd

Dick Tracy

Anne Gwynne

Tess Trueheart

Edward Ashley

Dr. L. E. Thal

June Clayworth

Dr. Irma M. Learned

Lyle Latell

Pat Patton

Tony Barrett

Melody

Skelton Knaggs

X-Ray

James Nolan

Dan Sterne
(as Jim Nolan)

Joseph Crehan

Chief Brandon

Milton Parsons

Dr. A. Tomic

Ernie Adams

Waiter at Hangman's Knot
(uncredited)

Phil Arnold

Sneezing Bank Customer
(uncredited)

Walter Bacon

Bar Patron
(uncredited)

Lex Barker

City Hospital Driver
(uncredited)

Eddie Borden

Bank Customer
(uncredited)

Robert Bray

Sergeant
(uncredited)

Robert Clarke

Fred - Police Analyst
(uncredited)

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Dick Tracy

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Filmed April 1-late April 1947, the last of RKO's four classic Dick Tracy features released from 1945 to 1947, and the only one in which Ralph Byrd takes second billing. He previously starred in the four Dick Tracy serials from Republic Pictures released from 1937 to 1941 and the one feature before this. He would continue playing the character on television, until his untimely death in 1952.

Goofs
Too much stock footage involving automobiles results in more than the usual mix-up of year models and lack of consistency in body styles.

Quotes
Pat Patton: I tell you, if I didn't know better I'd swear we were doing business with Boris Karloff.

Connections
Edited into Who Dunit Theater: Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (2015)

User reviews54

Review

Featured review

Karloff Excels in a Solid Dick Tracy Feature

Ralph Byrd is well-suited to the role of Dick Tracy, and this is a solid B-feature overall. But it is Boris Karloff, in the role of "Gruesome", who lifts the movie above the norm for its genre. He makes his character come vividly to life, and makes him into a believable and formidable foe for Tracy.

The story is enjoyable, if a bit on the wacky side, with a gang of criminals taking advantage of a gas that is supposed to cause temporary paralysis in anyone who breathes it. Tess and Pat also get their moments as they help Tracy track down the gang.

Karloff was an impressive and unusual talent, using his appearance, voice, and mannerisms in all kinds of ways, generally relying on the little things and on understated actions to create his character. He was certainly in a number of movies of far greater stature than this one, but in this, as in almost all of his roles, he is very interesting to watch, and he adds a great deal to the movie.