mark.waltz A nefarious murderer known to Dick Tracy (Morgan Conway) only as "splitface" has a target of 14 victims, and it's up to Tracy, his bumbling associates and the feisty Tess Trueheart (Anne Jeffreys) to find and stop him. There's spooky hypnotists, a creepy mortician (any other kind in old movies?) and a mysterious femme fatale (Jane Greer) whose nightclub owner father may or may not be hiding the hideous fiend (Mike Mazurki). Dick has an adopted son, here, a science wiz kid played with amusing over confidence (in the character, not the actor) played by Mickey Kuhn. Milton Parsons, playing the aptly named coroner "Deathridge", is totally deadpan and hysterical.The film starts off on a creepy note with a young woman being strapped on the street, deathly afraid as Splitface face, unseen, approaches. While no real motive other than revenge is given for these gruesome murders, that is insignificant in the way it that the film is presented. There are some terrific elements in the dark photography, and the final confrontation between Dick Tracy and Splitface is exciting. Morgan Conway, cast as the title character, was not as well accepted as the previous actor, Ralph Byrd, and after only two films would be let go from that part, but he does a good enough job in this film that I could have seen him continuing. Anne Jeffreys is definitely the best test to heart that I have ever seen, and her intermingling with the smartly made up Greer is delightfully catty. I can see how film producers would thus cast Greer as Femme fatales in the genre of film noir where she excelled. While the series only lasted for four films, I found all of them to be extremely enjoyable and fast-moving. It certainly could have lasted another half dozen or so.

Leofwine_draca Previously, the DICK TRACY features I've been watching were the Republic serials starring Ralph Byrd; this 1945 film saw RKO take over production and reduce the running times to one-hour pictures. They also have a new hero here in the form of Morgan Conway, who isn't quite as much fun as Byrd was. The good news is that this fast-paced crime outing has a top villain the form of the hugely imposing 'Splitface', a nightmarish-looking creation who'd give Rondo Hatton a run for his money. The thrills and spills that follow are slick and surprisingly adult-themed in places, particularly that vicious opening murder sequence.

Rainey Dawn This is a really good and fun comic crime thriller. It's worth watching if you like comic heroes and superhero type of films. This particular film might appeal to those that like crime noir.Dick Tracy is after a man calling himself Splitface. Splitface is a serial killer - and out to get 14 people in remembrance of his jury trial when he was put in prison for murder. Splitface is out of prison and now out to get revenge on those that put him there.Some interesting scenes with lots of action. The film is comic book-ish in it's way but not so much so that fans of crime noir could not enjoy the film. I'd say the film is more noir-ish than comic book-ish.8/10

arfdawg-1 Dick is faced with a series of brutal murders in which the victims, all from different social and economic backgrounds, are viciously slashed to pieces. Suspects abound but Tracy, getting a clue that there will be fifteen murders in all, must find the common thread among the victims before more are killed. These RKO B pictures are really good. I've very surprised that given Hollywood's lack of creativity these days that no one is developing a Dick Tracy series. The movie will not change your life, but it's satisfying and a decent watch.