Dick Tracy Returns
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dick Tracy Returns | |
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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 Rex taylor Chester Gould (comic strip) |
| Starring | Ralph Byrd Lynne Roberts Charles Middleton Jerry Tucker David Sharpe Lee Ford |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  1938 |
| Running time | 15 chapters (260 min) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $156,991 (negative cost: $170,940) |
| Preceded by | Dick Tracy (1937) |
| Followed by | Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dick Tracy Returns (1938) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was the eleventh of the sixty six serials Republic produced and a sequel to the 1937 serial Dick Tracy, with Ralph Byrd reprising his role as the title character. It was successful enough that two further sequels were released, in 1939 and 1941, and Byrd become so connected with the character he went on the play him in a subsequent television series.
This serial charts Tracy's efforts to capture the Stark Gang of Pa Stark (Charles Middleton, more famous for his serial role of Ming the Merciless in Universal's Flash Gordon serials) and his sons.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy
- Lynne Roberts as Gwen Andrews
- Charles Middleton as Pa Stark
- Jerry Tucker as Junior
- David Sharpe as Agent Ron Merton
- Lee Ford as Mike McGurk
- Michael Kent as Agent Steve Lockwood
- John Merton as Champ Stark
- Raphael Bennett as Trigger Stark
- Jack Roberts as Dude Stark
- Ned Glass as Kid Stark
- Jack Ingram as Slasher Stark
[edit] Chapter titles
- The Sky Wreckers
- The Runway of Death
- Handcuffed to Doom
- Four Seconds to Live
- Death in the Air
- Stolen Secrets
- Tower of Death
- Cargo of Destruction
- The Clock of Doom -- Re-Cap Chapter
- High Voltage!
- The Missing Witness
- The Runaway Torpedo
- Passengers to Doom -- Re-Cap Chapter
- In the Hands of the Enemy
- G-Men's Drag-Net
Note: This was one of two 15-chapter Republic serials of 1938 (with The Lone Ranger). The other two were only 12 chapters long.
[edit] Production
Dick Tracy Returns was budgetted for $156,991 but the final negative cost was $170,940, an overspend of $13,949 (or 8.9%). It was therefore the most expensive Republic serial of 1938 and also the most expensive Republic had ever produced at that time (only to be beaten by The Lone Ranger Rides Again in early 1939). It was the second most expensive of the four Dick Tracy serials (the most expensive was the last, Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc at $175,919).
As with the other three serials in the Republic series, Tracy is depicted as a West Coast FBI agent rather than as the local police detective for a large Midwestern city he is in the original comic strip.
This serial, like all the sequels to the original 1937 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] Stunts & effects
[edit] Special effects
The special effects were created by Republic's in-house team, the Lydecker brothers
[edit] Stunts
- Earle D. Bunn
- Yakima Canutt
- George DeNormand as Dick Tracy (doubling Ralph Byrd)
- Duke Green
- George Magrill
- Eddie Parker
- Allen Pomeroy
- Loren Riebe
- Ted Wells
- Bud Wolfe
[edit] See also
- Dick Tracy - Main Article
- Dick Tracy - Earlier Serial (1937)
- Dick Tracy's G-Men - Sequel Serial (1939)
- Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc - Sequel Serial (1941)
[edit] References
- ^ Dick Tracy article at Images Journal, last checked 19/03/07
- Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8
- Dick Tracy Returns at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] External links
- Dick Tracy Returns at the Internet Movie Database
- Dick Tracy Returns at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
| Preceded by The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) |
Republic Serial Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
Succeeded by Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) |
| Preceded by Dick Tracy (1937) |
Dick Tracy Serial Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
Succeeded by Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) |
| Preceded by The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) |
Witney-English Serial Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
Succeeded by Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) |
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