mark.waltz One of the fifty worst films of all time? No. The worst of the four "Dick Tracy" feature films? Yes, but that doesn't make this a bad film, unlike what a 1978 film history book insinuated. It's still fast moving, action packed, often funny and more than just a passable time filler. This time, Dick Tracy (Morgan Conway) is on the lookout for Cueball (Dick Wessel), a bald ex-con still pulling jobs, now committing murders in a diamond theft racket. Tess Trueheart (Anne Jeffreys) disguises herself as a socialite to find some stolen gems and crack the racket, while Dick Tracy searches for Cueball who is cracking necks. The supporting characters continue to be fascinating, with Ian Keith as a ham actor adept at imitating the common man you see on the street every day, Esther Howard as a saloon "madam" (who still looks like a waterfront bag lady) hiding Cueball, and Byron Foulger and Rita Corday as the brains behind the smuggling racket.While I rank this lower than others in the four part series, it isn't by much, with only a few minor flaws to keep it from being just as good. Esther Howard, who would score big in the film noir classic "Born to Kill", is unforgettable here, playing the same type of roles Thelma Ritter would later excel at (most similarly Ritter's part in "Pick-Up on South Street"), gets the showiest role and steels the film, and Corday is quite good in a scene where she bravely stands up to the much larger Wessel. Jeffreys once again proves herself the best of the Tess Trueheart's, putting on an uppity demeanor when decked out in furs and jewels. The conclusion is one that might have been pretty horrifying to watch in its day, absolutely gruesome in its insinuations. This was the end of the line for Conway as Tracy, making only one more film and replaced by serial Dick, Ralph Byrd.

Leofwine_draca DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL is one of four fast-paced Dick Tracy movies made by RKO in the mid 1940s. These clocked in at just an hour in length and have plenty of death, adventure, and incident in them, so they don't tend to outstay their welcome. The memorable villain of this one is a hulking, bald former con who enjoys killing anyone who dares to cross his path.Tracy - played by Morgan Conway instead of the usual Ralph Byrd - does his usual heroic stuff while wearing his trademark hat and teaming up with his usual allies. The women are glamorous and the bad guys are brutes, and everyone gets chased all over the city while peripheral cast members are bumped off. It's a cheap and cheerful affair, one which never becomes tiresome.

MartinHafer For years, one of my favorite books about films has been Harry Medved's "The Fifty Worst Films Ever Made". It is super-intelligently written (he was only 17 at the time it was published) and clever. And as a result, I have tried to see as many of the 50 I could find, though many are so obscure I doubt if I'll ever find them. However, while I love the book, I must admit that a few of the films weren't THAT bad and a couple were even mildly entertaining (such as THAT HAGAN GIRL and DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL).Now I DID see DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL a long time ago and found it was pretty bad. However, decades later, I watched it again with my daughter and we both felt it was a decent film with a few excellent moments. Now this ISN'T a glowing endorsement, but I found I did need to go back to my reviews of other Tracy films I reviewed a few months back and remove any negative references to this film. So, for lovers of B-movies and especially series detective movies, this IS worth a look.So why did I like it on second viewing? Well, it wasn't because of the villain, played by Dick Wessel. His bald wig was at times obvious but the biggest problem was he had the charisma of a wet sock and said very little other than "I oughta kill you" or other such bland threats. A tuna might have made a better villain. However, Morgan Conway's Dick Tracy was a lot better Ralph Byrd (who starred in the next two films). Sure, Conway's face looked pot-marked and he was, to put it charitably, "not handsome"....but he COULD deliver his lines and he had a nice voice. Though he looked nothing like the cartoon character--which is probably why they replaced him with the super-wooden Byrd. I also liked the small role by Vitamin. He was completely annoying and mindless in DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA, but here the same actor was actually given some good lines and wasn't asked to play the character as a complete moron.At only about an hour, it's a tidy and interesting little film. Not great, but not bad at all. And if you like this one, be sure to see the first film (DICK TRACY, DECECTIVE)--it's even better.By the way, look for the slimy little guy with greasy hair and super-thick glasses. Other than Rondo Hatton, he is perhaps the ugliest character actor from 1940s film.

Spondonman First time of viewing: this is a no-frills man's film, to my senses a better version of a comic strip than Sin City and non-cartoon, albeit in a far more tired looking condition!Dumb Cueball only just out of prison robs and kills his way into Tracy's orbit, stealing a necklace worth USD 30,000 - a mere bagatelle in 1946 surely! The problem is: how to get rid of it? Old Mrs Bucket-Of-Mud from Farewell My Lovely also breezes in but blows out again rather hurriedly thanks to the charming mental processes of Cueball. Tracy does manage to stop the film descending into a bloodbath, his sidekick Pat has some amusing scenes at the end of blackjacks, Tess (good) and Mona (bad) both looked suitably glamorous. Some very good scenes, such as at the hastily arranged midnight autotopsy or the rather strange hidden basement at Simon's place. But sorry! I preferred the more familiar Ralph Byrd and his hat in the role of Tracy, Morgan Conway kept reminding me of a serious Milton Berle. And was there only one place in America selling hatbands in 1946?But I thoroughly enjoyed it for all that, wished it had been 2 hours long and will it put on my list of films to watch again. I just hope there's a good print around instead of the TV dupe I saw