Dick Tracy's G-Men
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| Dick Tracy's G-Men | |
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| Directed by | William Witney John English |
| Produced by | Robert M Beche |
| Written by | Franklin Adreon Ronald Davidson Barry Shipman Sol Shor Chester Gould (comic strip) |
| Starring | Ralph Byrd Irving Pichel Ted Pearson Phyllis Isley Walter Miller George Douglas |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  1939 |
| Running time | 15 chapters (270 min) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $159,876 (negative cost: $163,530) |
| Preceded by | Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
| Followed by | Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc (1941) |
| IMDb profile | |
Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) is a 15-Chapter Republic Movie Serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by William Witney and John English.
This serial was the fifteenth of the sixty-six produced by Republic and the third Dick Tracy serial (there would be one more, Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc, in 1941). As with all four Dick Tracy serials, Ralph Byrd plays the lead. This time he faces Irving Pichel as the spy with a vendetta, Zarnoff. Future Academy Award winner Jennifer Jones co-stars as Gwen Andrews.
"G-Man" is a contemporary slang term for an agent of the FBI. In the comic strip, Dick Tracy is actually a detective in the police force of an unnamed Midwestern city resembling Chicago. This was changed for the serial.
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[edit] Plot
Zarnoff, foreign spy and mad scientist, escapes from the gas chamber and swears vengeance against the man who put him there, Dick Tracy, who must chase him down again in return.
[edit] Cast
- Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy
- Irving Pichel as Nicolas Zarnoff
- Ted Pearson as Agent Steve Lockwood
- Phyllis Isley as Gwen Andrews. Phyllis Isley went on to win an Academy Award for best actress four years later in 1943 for The Song of Bernadette, under the screen name Jennifer Jones.
- Walter Miller as Robal, one of Zarnoff's henchmen
- George Douglas as Sandoval, one of Zarnoff's henchmen
[edit] Production
Dick Tracy's G-Men was budgetted for $159,876 but the final negative cost was $163,530 (an overspend of $3,654 or 2.3%). Although the previous serial, Daredevils of the Red Circle, came in under budget that was an exception to the rule. Most Republic serials were slightly overbudget and this one was not significantly so in comparison.
This serial, like all the sequels to the 1937 original Dick Tracy serial, was permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a "series or serial". Therefore, Chester Gould was not paid again for the right to produce this serial.[1]
[edit] Chapter titles
- The Master Spy
- Captured
- The False Signal
- The Enemy Strikes
- Crack-Up!
- Sunken Peril
- Tracking the Enemy
- Chamber of Doom
- Flames of Jeopardy
- Crackling Fury
- Caverns of Peril
- Fight in the Sky
- The Fatal Ride -- Re-Cap Chapter
- Getaway
- The Last Stand
[edit] See also
- Dick Tracy - Earlier Serial (1937)
- Dick Tracy Returns - Earlier Serial (1938)
- Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc - Sequel Serial (1941)
[edit] References
- ^ Images Journal Article, last checked 19/03/07
- Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8
- Dick Tracy's G-Men at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] External links
- Dick Tracy's G-Men at the Internet Movie Database
- Dick Tracy's G-Men at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
| Preceded by Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) |
Republic Serial Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) |
Succeeded by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) |
| Preceded by Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
Dick Tracy Serial Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) |
Succeeded by Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc (1941) |
| Preceded by Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) |
Witney-English Serial Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) |
Succeeded by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) |
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