GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #30

DICK TRACY

Chester Gould, born in Pawnee, Oklahoma in 1900, left for Chicago in 1921 to make his mark on the world.  He worked for every newspaper in the city, in their art departments, doing advertising and light-hearted comic strips - but it was the formidable Chicago Tribune that Gould had set his sights upon.  The self-proclaimed World's Greatest Newspaper had the greatest comic strips in America, and young Gould wanted to be associated with that elite group.  When Chester came to Chicago, Al Capone and the mobs operated with impunity, defying Prohibition and other vices.  This provided the inspiration for Dick Tracy.  As Gould said, "I decided that if the police couldn't catch the gangsters, I'd create a fellow who would."  Gould called his creation "Plainclothes Tracy" and submitted it to Captain Joseph Medill Patterson of the Chicago Tribune - New York Daily News Syndicate.  Patterson liked the idea but hated the name.  Detectives were called "dicks" - Why not call him "Dick Tracy"?  And the most famous comic strip detective was created, a detective who fought criminals on his own terms - using fists and guns.

"I imagined what Sherlock Holmes would look like in the clothes of a 1931 American police detective," explained Gould.  So the square-jawed, hawk-nosed sleuth traded a deerstalker cap and Inverness cape for a snappy fedora and trenchcoat.  Tracy debuted on Sunday, October 4, 1931 in the Detroit Mirror.  A week later on October 12 the first daily strip appeared and dealt with the murder of Tess Trueheart's father and Tracy's vow to avenge the man's death.  The comic strip introduced blood and gun violence to the newspaper "funny pages" and the public loved it.  Tracy proved to be a rugged, two-fisted, no-nonsense detective who was tough enough to handle the most vicious criminals.  Tracy began appearing in the Tribune on March 22, 1932.  At the peak of his popularity tracy appeared in 1200 newspapers worldwide with a readership of 100 million.  Only "Blondie" and "Peanuts" was more popular.  He was second only to Sherlock Holmes as the best known detective throughout the world.  And a 1949 poll showed that more people knew who Dick Tracy was than they did Bing Crosby - President Truman came in third.

Part of the appeal was the colorful criminals that Gould created for Tracy to do battle with.  In the early days many of the characters were based on real hoodlums - Big Boy was Al Capone, Lips Manlis was John Dillinger - while others were modeled after Hollywood celebrities - Stooge Viller (Edward G. Robinson), Jimmy White (James Cagney), Jean Penfield (Claudette Colbert), and Trigger Doom (Clark Gable).  But eventually Gould created Dickensian villains whose names resembled their appearance - The Mole, Little Face, B.B. Eyes, Pruneface, Flattop, the Brow, Itchy, Breathless, Shaky, Pearshape, Shoulders, and Mumbles were among the bad guys.  The most popular was Flattop, who drowned, and whose death prompted readers to wire condolences, hold mock funerals, and facetiously try to claim the body.  Another facet of the Tracy stories was the use of actual criminology and police procedural methods that the public found fascinating.  The Crimestoppers Textbook was an added feature that offered advice on avoiding becoming a victim of crime as well as instruction in criminology.  This was the beginning of the nationwide Crimestoppers movement.

But much of the popularity had to be the introduction of a comedic supporting cast that tempered the violence with humor.  First was Vitamin Flintheart, a has-been ham actor first introduced to readers during the Flattop episode.  Next was an unkempt hag named Gravel Gertie who hid the Brow from the police and went to prison for her crime.  Then in 1945 came B.O. Plenty, a bewhiskered, tobacco-chewing malodorous hayseed who runs afoul of the law.  In 1946 Gould had B.O. and Gravel Gertie get married and their union resulted in a miraculously beautiful daughter with waist-length golden hair.  They called her Sparkle Plenty and the Ideal Company manufactured a doll that sold over 32,000 in the first two weeks it debuted at Gimbel's in NYC.  The Sparkle doll became the bestselling doll ever (up to that time, even besting Shirley Temple).

Dick Tracy introduced the 2-way wrist radio in 1946, about 60 years ahead of the real thing.  After 18 years of courtship Tracy finally married his sweetheart Tess Trueheart on Christmas Day of 1949.  In addition to Junior, Tracy's adopted son, they had a daughter named Bonny Braids.  Tracy's assistant Pat Patton became the Chief of Police when Chief Brandon resigned, and Tracy acquired a new assistant, Sam Catchem.  In the mid-1950s a policewoman, Lizz, was added to the cast.  Diet Smith, the millionaire manufacturer who produced the 2-way wrist radio, invented other gadgets over the years to assist Tracy in his war on crime.  Gould retired in 1977 and his longtime assistant Rick Fletcher took over the drawing of the strip.  Fletcher died in 1983 and the strip has passed through several hands since, but none have equaled the popularity of the Gould years when Dick Tracy was on top of the Chicago Tribune mountain.  Gould died in 1985.

BOOKS & COMIC BOOKS

In 1932 Whitman Publishing released "The Adventures of Dick Tracy" the very first Big Little Book.  BLBs were roughly four inches square with cardboard covers and consisted of 300-430 pages with one page of text accompanied by a captioned illustration.  43 books were produced over the next decade with a 44th in 1967, "Dick Tracy Encounters Facey".  Most of the BLBs were reprints of the Gould comic strips but a couple were tie-ins to the Republic Studio movie serials and some were based on radio dramas with non-Gould artwork.  Whitman also printed four Big Big Books - normal-size hardcover editions - and two of the four were original stories and art.

In 1936 Dell's Popular Comics title began reprinting the strips in comic book format.  Tracy was a regular feature through issue #21.  The first self-titled comic books were published by David McKay beginning in May 1937.  These were called Feature Books and characters rotated in appearance.  Tracy appeared in four books through 1938 then Dell took over the Feature Book line and printed six more Tracy titles.  Beginning in 1938 Dick Tracy was one of the regular comics reprinted in Dell's monthly Super Comics title, remaining as part of the publication until 1948.  Also in 1939 Tracy was the sole feature in the very first Dell Four-Color Comics series.  In January 1948 Dell launched Dick Tracy Monthly which reprinted the newspaper strips in chronological order, beginning in the 1930s.  The series ran for 145 issues, the first 24 by Dell and subsequent issues by Harvey Comics until 1961.

Other books have been published over the years including a hardcover case of the Brow in 1946.  Dell paperbacks published "Dick Tracy and the Woo Woo Sisters" in 1947 - this was unnumbered and did not feature the usual mapback on the rear cover.  Numerous paperbacks and hardcover collections have been printed over the years including an impressive series by IDW of the Chester Gould years.

RADIO

The "Dick Tracy" radio series first aired in 1934 for NBC in the New England area of the country, but on February 4, 1935 it was picked up by CBS for nationwide broadcast - 15 minute episodes four times a week.  The next season it aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System, September 30, 1935 - March 24, 1937.  It went back to NBC in January 1938 with Quaker Oats as a sponsor, airing five times a week until April 1939.  Beginning April 29, 1939, "Dick Tracy" became a half-hour radio drama airing at 5 pm.  The ABC Blue Network ran the show March 15, 1943 - July 16, 1948, broadcast on Saturdays and sponsored by Tootsie Rolls.  Like many popular kid's shows of the time Dick Tracy had its own fan club and offered premiums through its' sponsors.  Ned Weaver was most often heard as Tracy, with Walter Kinsella as Pat Patton, Helen Lewis as Tess, Jackie Kelk as Junior, and Howard Smith as Chief Brandon.

On February 15, 1945, "Command Performance" a show broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network, they did an original musical comedy called "Dick Tracy in B-Flat", with Bing Crosby as Tracy, Bob Hope as Flattop, Dinah Shore as Tess, and featuring Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, the Andrew Sisters, and Jimmy Durante.  In the show (subtitled "Is He Ever Going to Marry That Girl"), Tracy's wedding to Tess is repeatedly interrupted as Dick chases one villain after another.

FILMS

"Dick Tracy" Republic, 15-chapter serial, 1937.  Ralph Byrd (Dick Tracy), Kay Hughes, Smiley Burnette, Lee Van Atta (Junior), John Piccori.  Directors: Ray Taylor & Alan James.  Tracy's brother is transformed into a depraved criminal by a brain operation performed by a mysterious limping fiend known as both the Spider and the Lame One.  From his futuristic aircraft, The Flying Wing, the villain tries to collapse the Golden Gate Bridge by using a sonic vibrator.

"Dick Tracy Returns" Republic, 15-chapter serial, 1938.  Byrd, Lynn Roberts, Charles Middleton, Jerry Tucker (Junior).  Directors: William Witney & John English.  G-Man Tracy is assigned to stop the activities of a criminal family - Pa Stark and his five hulking sons - who, while robbing an armored car, have killed a fellow FBI officer.

"Dick Tracy's G-Men" Republic, 15-chapter serial, 1939.  Byrd, Irving Pichel, Phyllis Isley (later known as Oscar-winner Jennifer Jones), Walter Miller.  Directors: Witney & English.  International spy and anarchist Zarnoff, supposedly executed in the gas chamber, is revived by drugs and continues his frenzied sabotage of American defenses.

"Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc." Republic, 15-chapter serial, 1941.  Byrd, Michael Owen, Jan Wiley, John Davidson, Ralph Morgan.  Directors: Witney & English.  Tracy is pitted against an invisible adversary called the Ghost, who is determined to eliminate NYC's mayor and city council for allowing his gangster brother to be sent to the electric chair.  At the end of the first chapter the Ghost is about to eliminate NYC altogether by causing, via offshore explosions, a tidal wave to sweep in on Manhattan.

The Republic serials, while entertaining and successful, had little in common with the comic strip.  But Ralph Byrd gave the definitive screen portrayal of Tracy.  When RKO launched a series of Dick Tracy feature films they brought characters from the strip to the screen including Tess Trueheart and Vitamin Flintheart.  Morgan Conway started out playing Tracy in the first two movies, but fans wanted Ralph Byrd and he returned to the familiar role for the final two entries.

"Dick Tracy" RKO, 1945.  Morgan Conway (Tracy), Anne Jeffreys (Tess), Jane Greer, Mike Mazurki, Joseph Crehan (Chief Brandon), Lyle Latell (Pat), Mickey Kuhn (Junior).  Director: William Berke.  A school teacher is stabbed on a lonely street.  Splitface (Mazurki), who has vowed to kill the members of the jury who convicted him of murder years before, is responsible.

"Dick Tracy vs. Cueball" RKO, 1946.  Conway, Jeffreys, Dick Wessel (Cueball), Rita Corday, Douglas Walton, Ian Keith (Vitamin), Latell, Crehan, Jimmy Crane (Junior).  Director: Gordon M. Douglas.  Cueball, a bald strangler, murders a messenger who was carrying a fortune in jewelry and is pursued by Tracy through the dark corners of the underworld.

"Dick Tracy's Dilemma" RKO, 1947.  Byrd, Latell, Jimmy Conlin, Jack Lambert, Keith, Kay Christopher (Tess).  Director: John Rawlins.  A notorious one-armed killer, "the Claw" (Lambert), whose iron hook replaces a missing hand, engineers a fur robbery and murders a supposedly blind beggar who had been assigned by Tracy to spy on him.

"Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" RKO, 1947.  Byrd, Boris Karloff, Anne Gwynne (Tess), Edward Ashley, Latell.  Director: Rawlins.  A disfigured escaped convict, Gruesome (Karloff), comes into possession of a gas that causes temporary paralysis and he uses it to rob banks.

"Dick Tracy" Disney, 1990.  Warren Beatty produced, directed and starred in this star-studded production.  Beatty (Dick Tracy), Al Pacino (Big Boy), Madonna (Breathless), Glenne Headly (Tess), Charlie Korsmo (Junior), James Keane (Pat), Seymour Cassel (Sam), Charles Durning (Brandon), Dustin Hoffman (Mumbles), William Forsythe (Flattop), Ed O'Ross (Itchy), Mandy Pantinkin (88 Keys), R.G. Armstrong (Pruneface), Henry Silva (Influence), Paul Sorvino (Lips Manlis), Chuck Hicks (The Brow), Catherine O'Hara (Texie Garcia), Dick Van Dyke (District Attorney).  Mike Mazurki, who played Splitface in the 1945 film, makes a cameo as a hotel resident.

TELEVISION

"Dick Tracy" ABC, September 13, 1950 - April 7, 1951.  39 half-hour episodes.  Shot at the Sam Goldwyn Studios in Los Angeles.  Ralph Byrd returned to the small screen as Dick Tracy in a fairly faithful adaptation of the comic strip.  Angela Greene (Tess), Martin Dean (Junior), Joe Devlin (Sam), Pierre Watkin (Chief Patton), Thurston Hall (Diet Smith), Si Jenks (B.O. Plenty), Almira Sessions (Gertie).  Filming of the show was strenuous, with low budgets and long hours of shooting. Criticized for its violence, the show was very popular.  Popular enough that a second season was planned but Ralph Byrd died of a heart attack in August 1952.  He was only 43.  The show was particularly popular because it brought many of the comic strip villains to life, including Breathless, Shoulders, the Mole, Coffyhead, Flattop, Influence, B.B. Eyes, the Brow, Pruneface, Heels Beals, Shaky, 88 Keys, and Big Frost.

UPA produced "The Dick Tracy Show", an animated series 1960-1961.  Tracy, voiced by veteran actor Everett Sloan, would contact the supporting cast to go after various villains - Flattop, Oodles, Mumbles, Stooge Viller, B.B. Eyes, Mole, Itchy, Pruneface, Brow, and Sketch Paree.  130 five-minute cartoons were produced, designed and packaged for syndication to local children's shows.

Filmation did a series of Dick Tracy animated features as part of their 1971 "Archie's TV Funnies" show on Saturday mornings.  The animation was crude, typical of the studio's production standards.

A pilot for a proposed series was produced in 1967 by William Dozier, following in the success of "Batman".  Produced by 20th Century Fox, the pilot had Ray MacDonnell as Tracy, Davey Davison as Tess, Jan Shutan (Lizz), Monroe Arnold (Sam), Ken Mayer (Chief Patton), Jay Blood (Junior), Eve Plumb (Bonny Braids - she went on to be Jan Brady on "The Brady Bunch"), and Victor Buono (Mr. Memory).  Super villain Mr. Memory attempts to derail NATO and Chief Patton sends Tracy to save the day.  The themesong was performed by The Ventures.