... from RKO and director John Rawlins. Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) is on the case when a fur heist turns bad and a security guard is killed. Tracy and his cohorts work together to track down the criminal gang responsible, including the murderous Claw (Jack Lambert).
The third of four low-budget Dick Tracy features, these followed four previous serials which had starred Ralph Byrd. Morgan Conway had played Tracy in the first two movies, but Byrd was brought back for this, and one final film. While several of the characters have comic-strip names, the film itself is comparable to many of the B mysteries and crime pictures being turned out at the time. This one also has some gruesome implications, thanks to the method of murder used by the Claw, namely his prosthetic claw. Lambert is very good as the deformed Claw, and he reminded me a bit of future slasher horror icons Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers in his implacability. Ian Keith, as Vitamin, gets to ham it up with his exaggerated John Barrymore characterization, and I liked seeing character actor Jimmy Conlin in a larger role, as phony blind man Sightless.
The third of four low-budget Dick Tracy features, these followed four previous serials which had starred Ralph Byrd. Morgan Conway had played Tracy in the first two movies, but Byrd was brought back for this, and one final film. While several of the characters have comic-strip names, the film itself is comparable to many of the B mysteries and crime pictures being turned out at the time. This one also has some gruesome implications, thanks to the method of murder used by the Claw, namely his prosthetic claw. Lambert is very good as the deformed Claw, and he reminded me a bit of future slasher horror icons Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers in his implacability. Ian Keith, as Vitamin, gets to ham it up with his exaggerated John Barrymore characterization, and I liked seeing character actor Jimmy Conlin in a larger role, as phony blind man Sightless.