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Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

Name: Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Released: 1947-09-26
Duration: 65 min
Rating: 5.5
Cast: Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne, Edward Ashley, June Clayworth

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947), directed by John Rawlins, starring Boris Karloff and Ralph Byrd.

09/26/1947 BR Action, Crime, Mystery and Thriller 1h 5m

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Synopsis

A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take him to the morgue, where he later revives and escapes. This puzzling incident attracts the interest of Dick Tracy, and when the criminals later use the gas to rob a bank, Tracy realizes that he must devote his entire attention to stopping them.

Frank RedmanCinematography
John RawlinsDirector
Elmo WilliamsEditing
Herman SchlomProducer

Dick Tracy Collection

The franchise in release order. 8 films.

Dick Tracy, o Detetive 1937
Dick Tracy Returns 1938
Dick Tracy's G-Men 1939
Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc. 1941
Dick Tracy, O Audacioso 1945
O Punhal Sangrento 1946
Dick Tracy em Luta 1947
Dick Tracy Contra o Monstro 1947 · you are here

About the film

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (also known as Dick Tracy Meets Karloff and Dick Tracy's Amazing Adventure (UK) ) is a 1947 American thriller film directed by John Rawlins and starring Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd and Anne Gwynne. The film is the fourth and final installment of the Dick Tracy film series released by RKO Radio Pictures.

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Plot

Just out of jail, Gruesome goes to the Hangman's Knot saloon, where his old crime crony, Melody, is now playing piano. Gruesome takes him to a plastics manufacturer, where X-Ray and a mysterious mastermind are in possession of a secret formula and hatching a sinister plot.

Ignoring a warning not to touch anything, Gruesome sniffs the gas from a mysterious test tube; he escapes the toxic fumes but collapses upon returning to the Hangman's Knot and is taken to the city morgue, where his body stiffens dramatically.

Dick Tracy is at headquarters speaking with college professor Dr. A. Tomic, a scientist who suspects someone has been following him. At the morgue, Tracy's sidekick Pat has his back turned when Gruesome wakes up and knocks him out. Pat describes him to Tracy as looking a lot like the actor Boris Karloff (a gag cribbed from Arsenic and Old Lace).

At a bank where Tess Trueheart happens to be, Gruesome and Melody drop a grenade with the gas into a wastebasket; when it goes off, everyone but Tess freezes in place. They rob the place of more than $100,000 and shoot a cop on the sidewalk before Tracy and his men arrive. Gruesome demands half of the loot from X-Ray .... or else.

Tracy tries to learn the secret of the formula from Dr. Tomic's top assistant, Professor Learned, before going after Gruesome and his gang. Over the course of the film, Learned is shot dead, and Melody dies in a car accident. As an offhand comment, Tess quips "dead men tell no tales", which gives Tracy an idea: since Gruesome will resort even to murder to keep his secret weapon a secret, if he thinks Melody is alive, he will hunt Melody down to prevent any leaks. Tracy decides to run a false flag operation: put out word that Melody has been captured alive, and pose as Melody hoping Gruesome will show up. Gruesome takes the bait and abducts what he thinks is Melody from the hospital. In a climactic shootout at the plastic factory, Tracy shoots Gruesome in the back.

Tracy retrieves one last gas grenade with the intent of analyzing the contents. Back at the office, in the closing scene, the grenade inadvertently goes off, freezing everyone in place just as Dick and Tess are about to kiss.

Cast

Boris Karloff as Gruesome

Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy

Anne Gwynne as Tess Truehart

Skelton Knaggs as Rudolph X-Ray

Edward Ashley as Dr. Lee Thal

June Clayworth as Dr. I.M. Learned

Lyle Latell as Pat Patton

Tony Barrett as 'Melody' Fiske

James Nolan as Dan Sterne

Joseph Crehan as Chief Brandon

Milton Parsons as Dr. A. Tomic

Legacy

In 2007, Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome was shown on the horror hosted television series Cinema Insomnia. Apprehensive Films later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD.

On October 16, 2014, writer Mike Curtis and artist Joe Staton introduced a version of the Gruesome character into the Dick Tracy comic strip. They introduced a character inspired by Melody (Mel O. Dee) on October 27 of that year. The cartoonists carry the joke further. Gruesome had had plastic surgery done to change his appearance, by a Dr. Einstein and Gruesome gets drafted to portray Jonathon Brewster in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace.

US band Poet Named Revolver, from Nashville, Tennessee, released an album called Meets Gruesome. Recorded in 2007, first released in 2008, and reissued in 2014 by No Kings Record Cadre, with visual references to the film.

References

External links

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome at IMDb

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome on YouTube

Text from Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy_Meets_Gruesome

Trivia

It premiered on September 26, 1947, a Friday.
It runs 1h05 — short for a feature film.
It is film 8 of 8 in the Dick Tracy franchise.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Artiflix.
This film's quiz has 11 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosRKO Radio Pictures
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

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Based on

Dick Tracy

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Crew

Frank Redman Cinematography
John Rawlins Director
Elmo Williams Editing
Herman Schlom Producer
Paul Sawtell Original music
Eric Taylor Screenplay
Robert E. Kent Story
Robertson White Screenplay
William Graffis Story

Questions about this film

What is Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome about?

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome: A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take hi…

Who directed Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome?

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome was directed by John Rawlins in 1947.

Who stars in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome?

The cast of Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome includes Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne, Edward Ashley and June Clayworth.

How long is Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome?

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome runs for 65 minutes, or 1h05.

Where can I watch Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome?

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is available on Artiflix. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

What is Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome based on?

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is based on Dick Tracy.

What is the correct order of the Dick Tracy Collection films?

The Dick Tracy Collection franchise has 8 films in the catalogue. In release order: Dick Tracy, o Detetive; Dick Tracy Returns; Dick Tracy's G-Men; Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.; Dick Tracy, O Audacioso; O Punhal Sangrento; Dick Tracy em Luta; Dick Tracy Contra o Monstro.