Film Snail

5.4

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

NR·1947·65m

Action

Crime

Mystery

Thriller

Action

Crime

Mystery

Thriller

Summary

A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take him to the morgue, where he later revives and escapes. This puzzling incident attracts the interest of Dick Tracy, and when the criminals later use the gas to rob a bank, Tracy realizes that he must devote his entire attention to stopping them.

Cast

Boris Karloff

Gruesome

Ralph Byrd

Dick Tracy

Anne Gwynne

Tess Trueheart

Edward Ashley

Dr. L.E. Thal

June Clayworth

Dr. I.M. "Irma" Learned

Lyle Latell

Pat Patton

Tony Barrett

Melody

Skelton Knaggs

X-Ray

James Nolan

Dan Sterne

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)

George Cooper

Stone (Bank Teller) (uncredited)

Suzi Crandall

Blonde Bank Customer (uncredited)

William Gould

Pop (uncredited)

Ben Hall

Luke (Police Stooge) (uncredited)

Harry Harvey

Humphrey (Bank Guard) (uncredited)

Tom Keene

Dr. Frankey (uncredited)

George Lloyd

Owner of the Hangman's Knot (uncredited)

Robert Malcolm

Doctor (uncredited)

Sean McClory

Officer Carney (uncredited)

Lew Meehan

Police Driver in Montage (uncredited)

Bruce Mitchell

Police Sgt. in Montage (uncredited)

Lee Phelps

Detective (uncredited)

Lorin Raker

Insolvent Borrower (uncredited)

Bert Roach

Crandall (uncredited)

Jason Robards Sr.

Bank Officer (uncredited)

Harry Strang

Tim (uncredited)

Tex Swan

Policeman (uncredited)

Crew

Director

John Rawlins

Characters

Chester Gould

Screenplay

Eric Taylor

Screenplay

Robertson White

Story

Robert E. Kent

Story

William Graffis

Reviews

Geronimo1967

July 7, 2022

Now this made me laugh - it is certainly one of the more preposterous of these adventure yarns. Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) and Tess Trueheart (Anne Gwynne) are called in to investigate a series of intriguing bank robberies where the customers/staff are poleaxed by a nerve gas that enables the robbers to calmly rob the place without anyone even knowing. Of course, at the bottom of the dastardly scene is "Gruesome" - one of the livelier outings for Boris Karloff that I've seen. The script is terrible, and the still-life effects are pretty cheap and cheerful photographic freezes, but you can tell that they - including the wonderful research scientist "I.M. Learned" and Skelton Knaggs ("X-ray") - are having a good time on set. They are there to entertain us, and that they do.