Dick Tracy Returns (1938)

One of the best films i have seen

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

DICK TRACY RETURNS is a follow up to the original DICK TRACY, with Ralph Byrd returning to the title role alongside some of his peers. I watched the condensed film version of the story, which cuts out all of the cliffhanger endings and endless recaps of the previous instalments and makes for a more fluid watch, even if you lose some of the material at the same time.This time around, Tracy locks horns with the criminal Stark clan, presided over by the delightfully sinister Charles Middleton as Pa Stark. Middleton was well known for playing Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials and he makes for a good adversary here. Overall, the serial feels more polished than its predecessor, with plentiful action and special effects which hold up even in the 21st century. It has all of the humour, thrills, and spectacle you could wish for, and there's very little faffing about to boot.

This second entry of the Tracy serials is finally on DVD courtesy of VCI entertainment. Having viewed the first five chapters,it appears that its an improvement over the tape.Sound is Dolby Digital , sharp and crisp.Picture quality varies from chapter to chapter,but is very good overall.If the remaining chapters are the same,it would appear that VCI has done a commendable job restoring this serial,one of the best of the Tracy serials. For the time it was made, this is hard edge story telling. Charles Middleton plays Pa Stark,leader of the notorious Stark gang. He and his sons rob payrolls,deal in hot cars,and cause havoc until Tracy and his G Men get on their trail. In the opening chapter a rookie G man played by stunt ace David Sharpe is shot from behind by one of the Starks during a robbery. He survives and is placed in an iron lung. Fearing that he will identify the shooter,Pa without any remorse,unplugs the iron lung,killing the agent.This is gritty stuff for a serial in 1938! The cast is headed by Ralph Byrd who is perfect in the title roll. Mike McGurk,Junior,Steve Lockwood and Gwen return from the first entry,all played by different actors.The supporting cast,headed by Middleton are all excellent. There is extensive location shooting,chapter endings and resolutions are exciting and for the most part believable. The one downside is the music ,which from time to time, does not fit the action. Over all this long serial ,254 minutes, is fast paced and under the direction of the masters of serial making, William Witney and John English, offers fifteen chapters of non stop action. A must see for anyone who wants to see one of the best of the serial genres .

In this sequel to the 1937 serial ( and a heck of a lot better ), Tracy is on the trail of Pa Stark ( Charles Middleton gives a great performance ) and his five sons. After killing a rookie G-Man, Tracy goes after the youngest son ( aptly named the Kid ) and through out the serials he battles the enemy agents and saboteurs Stark is mixed up with to bring the master criminal to justice. Very action packed, but it does contain some corny scenes, but anything was better than the previous entry. In terms of serials, 8 out of 10.

There are good serials and there are mostly bad ones. The bad ones are cheaply made and very boring and use lots of "stock footage". This is the exception. The storyline is very original and is full of action. There are also lots of location scenes and the special effects were used here for the first time and not made for some other serial and reused here. I can see why serials were discontinued around the early fifties. TV came along and by then the serials were nothing like this one. It would be nice to get a nice print on a DVD of this one. My only problem and the reason I would give this a 9 instead of a 10 is the background music. For most of the scenes it is great but when they start fighting it goes to some speeded up uncomprehensible music that should only be used in a cheap western, otherwise it is terrific.