This 1937 cliffhanger serial (not to be confused with the 1945 feature film of the same name) was the first of four serial featuring our man Dick, and was followed by four feature films. And dang, I've yet to see a one of them. I'd better get cracking. This would be a rare opportunity to see Smiley Burnette clowning around in a fedora instead of a cowboy hat. In this one, for reasons unknown to me, Dick is a G-Man instead of a police detective.
More Overlooked Films (most of which I have ALSO personally overlooked) at Sweet Freedom.
Wait¿ The Spider? i think Richard Wentworth have something to say... But, jokes aside, this seems to be at least entertaining.
ReplyDeleteA local theater here started showing chapters of the Ralph Byrd Tracy serials every week in the seventies. I loved 'em!
ReplyDeleteI'd presume the G-Man instead of cop was because of the G-Men being in the news all the time. Byrd, while he looked little like the classic Tracy look, was kind of a James Cagney type and Cagney, of course, was hot in G-man flicks (on both sides of the law) at Warner Brothers.
I haven't seen this one either, Evan.
ReplyDeleteThe first (1945) feature film was sometimes shown under the title "Dick Tracy, Detective." Of the four features, the first two starred Morgan Conway, the last two starred Ralph Byrd. They were somewhat closer to the comic strip than Republic's serials were. Tracy was a detective with a city police department, and several supporting characters from the strip appeared in them (Tess, Pat, and Vitamin Flintheart). I've only seen a few episodes of the 1937 serial (on TCM). Fans of the strip may have been annoyed by the changes, but it had enough fights and chases to entertain the kids.
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