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Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.
Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.
Directed by	William Witney; John English
Written by	Ronald Davidson; Norman S. Hall; William Lively; Joseph O'Donnell; Joseph Poland; Chester Gould (comic strip)
Produced by	William J. O'Sullivan
Starring	Ralph Byrd; Michael Owen; Jan Wiley; John Davidson; Ralph Morgan; Kenneth Harlan; John Dilson; Howard C. Hickman
Cinematography	Reggie Lanning
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release dates	December 27, 1941 (U.S. serial); October 8, 1952 (U.S. re-release);
Running time	15 chapters / 269 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$174,539 (negative cost: $175,919)

Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip.^[2] 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 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.^[3]

Cast

Main cast

Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy
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 as Police Lt Cosgrove
John Dilson as Henry Weldon
Howard C. Hickman as Stephen Chandler
Robert Frazer as Daniel Brewster
Robert Fiske as Walter Cabot
Jack Mulhall as Jim Wilson
Hooper Atchley as Arthur Trent
Anthony Warde as John Corey
Chuck Morrison as Trask
Forrest Taylor as Netzikoff's Butler

Production

Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. cost $175,919 (a $1,380 overspend).^[1]

It was filmed between 17 September and 24 October 1941 under the working titles Dick Tracy Strikes Again and Dick Tracy's Revenge.^[1] The serial's production number was 1097.^[1]

The scenes of giant waves hitting New York were recycled from the RKO Pictures film Deluge.^[4]

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.^[5]

Release

Theatrical

Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.'s official release date is 27 December 1941, during Christmas week 1941,^[5] although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges.^[1]

The serial was re-released on 8 October 1952, under the title Dick Tracy vs. Phantom Empire, between the first runs of Zombies of the Stratosphere and Jungle Drums of Africa.^[1]

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."^[5] He goes on to describe Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. as one of the most outstanding of all serials.^[6]

This was a popular serial when first released, and in the opinion of Harmon and Glut, the best of the Dick Tracy serials.^[4]

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:^[1]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 58–59. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
^ Kinnard, Roy (1998). Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhangers. McFarland & Co. p. 98. ISBN 978-0786437450.
^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
^ ^a ^b Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "The Detectives "Gangbusters!"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. pp. 172–174. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cline, William C. (1984). "In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 37. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 231–232. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

Preceded by King of the Texas Rangers (1941)	Republic Serial Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941)	Succeeded by Spy Smasher (1942)
Preceded by Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939)	Dick Tracy Serial Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941)	Succeeded by none
Preceded by King of the Texas Rangers (1941)	Witney-English Serial Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941)	Succeeded by none