Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The actors are different from the first two movies (out of 4) and Vitamin plays a bigger role. But I felt sorry for the Claw. Yes he is a vicious uncaring killer but he is a cat lover and in some ways a result of a bad upbringing and some bad role models. Dick shows him no mercy and hunts him down in a most ungentlemanly way. I missed Junior from the first two movies. It is not explained in the film who he actually is but he added a certain bizarre incongruous domesticity. I have no idea why Tess puts up with Dick he really is a bit of a dick.

When the hook-handed thug known as 'The Claw' kills two security guards during a robbery it isn't long before Dick Tracy is on the case. The Claw and his two accomplices made off with a valuable shipment of fur coats but it seems unlikely that they will have the wherewithal to fence them themselves. Tracy gets a lead with 'blind' informant Sightless overhears the criminals talking and tells Vitamin Flintheart… unfortunately Sightless is killed before Tracy can talk to him himself but clues at the scene lead to The Claws identity. It is only a matter of time before Tracy gets the killer but will he be able to catch his boss too?This is an entertaining enough and The Claw was a suitably despicable villain. While I'm sure nobody watching will doubt that Tracy will get the bad guys it was still fun to watch and there were some surprisingly tense moments; most notably when The Claw followed poor Sightless into a dead end alley. The acting was OK with Ralph Byrd doing a decent job as Tracy and Jack Lambert made a good villain. It was a pity this instalment didn't include many amusing names; the only obvious one being Peter Premium the insurance man… not as good as Dr A Tomic and IM Learned from 'Dick Tracy meets Gruesome'! Overall it was an entertaining and undemanding way to pass an hour though with a decent mix of drama and comedy.

Ralph Byrd was the ultimate Dick Tracy - he even looked like the comic strip crime fighter. He had portrayed him initially in several serials in the late 30s and early 40s, then put the role behind him as he pursued character parts - Morgan Conway took over the role but it wasn't the same, he didn't look anything like Dick Tracy!!! "Dick Tracy's Dilemma" was the first Dick Tracy film that Byrd did after his break.A nightwatchman turns up dead, the killer should be easy to catch - he has a club foot and a claw for a hand!!! He is "The Claw" and Dick Tracy is put on the case. All he has to go on is a scrawled message - "Daisy, three of them - truck" written as the nightwatchman lay dying. The warehouse, full of furs has been robbed and Tracy radios all cars to be on the look-out for a truck with the word "Daisy" on the side. Tracy's informant "Sightless" (Jimmy Conlin, a familiar film face) finds the crook's hideout and is hunted down but not before he gives Tracy valuable information about a meeting in Hemp Street. They find Longshot Lily, the fence, waiting there for a consignment of furs - but she claims she knows nothing about anything!!! Vitamin Flintheart wants to help - he had sent "Sightless" away and feels responsible for the peddler's death.I thought the film was okay - even Lyle Latell looked like the "real" Pat Patton and Jack Lambert as "The Claw" was a ghastly looking villain. Ian Keith was the most prestigious actor in the film. He was a popular Broadway actor in the 20s and always preferred the stage. Just after this film he had a good role as Joan Blondell's alcoholic husband in "Nightmare Alley" with Tyrone Power. Kay Christopher was lovely as Tess Trueheart - it seems to be a case of why didn't she become a bigger star as this seems to be one of her few credited roles.

When I was growing up, there was a hard edge to the Dick Tracy comic strip. I remember Flat Top's acne and the viciousness of the other adversaries. Most of the surreal appeal of these villains is badly lost in these old films. The Warren Beatty film was also a major disappointment. I would love someone like Tim Burton to take it on sometime. Put Tracy among all that weirdity and make the villains sort of sick. That said, this is a real ho-hummer. The cops and the sidekicks aren't all that bright. The main character is a guy with a hook who apparently can dismantle just about anyone with the thing. The acting is stiff. Tess Truehart is her usual bland self. I'm sure that few remember Dick Tracy as it was, but maybe some day they will find it and make it right.