Movie Review: Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947)
Synopsis: When a truckload of furs is stolen from a warehouse and the security guard is killed, Dick Tracy is called in to investigate. With the help of an informant who loses his life as a result, Tracy is able to trace the crime to a gang led by a criminal who calls himself "the Claw" because of a prosthetic hook hand. However, instead of arresting the Claw, he lays out a sting to find out who the criminal is working for.
Who's in it? The movie stars Ralph Byrd, Lyle Latell, Kay Christopher, Jack Lambert and Ian Keith.
Review: So, as it turns out, I watched the Dick Tracy movies in the wrong order. Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome was the fourth and last movie in the series, not the third. As a result, I corrected the problem this morning by watching Dick Tracy's Dilemma. I am going to say it was a good choice for a film.
To be honest, the plot of the film isn't anything overly complicated. There is at least an attempt to create a bit of a mystery surrounding the stolen furs and who hired the Claw (Lambert). However, since there is only one person in the movie who stands to profit from the furs being stolen, it wasn't all that difficult to figure out.
I also have to say I was disappointed this movie, like Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, barely has Tess Trueheart (Christopher) in it. She went from a semi-major character in the first two movies (when played by Anne Jeffreys) to appearing in just three or four scenes and having absolutely nothing to do with the main story.
The movie does make up for this a bit by having the character Vitamin (Keith) have an expanded role, along with Tracy's somewhat intriguing informant, Sightless (Jimmy Conlin). I just wish the previous films would have done a better job developing those characters so their contribution (and in the case of one, death) would have meant more.
What really wins this movie over for me is the main bad guy. The Claw looks and acts like a character out of a horror movie and Lambert plays him to full effect. Again, it may have been better to have slightly more background about him, but he was one of the few characters from this movie series that I believed could kill Tracy (Byrd) even if the detective had a gun and he just had a hook. This made the final fight between the two a lot more suspenseful than expected.
Final Opinion: This film arguably has the movie series' best villain and that is enough to make it worth taking the time to watch even if there are parts of the plot that are a bit weaker than some of the other films.
My Grade: B
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Here are some reviews of other 1940s detective movies:
Movie Review: The Big Sleep (1946)
Movie Review: The Living Ghost (1942)
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