Grade: D+
Synopsis: Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) tries to foil a criminal (Boris Karloff) who robs banks with a paralyzing gas.
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is watchable thanks to a deliciously cold performance from star Boris Karloff.
Karloff is a tour de force, stopping at nothing to get what he wants, and killing anyone who gets in his way. Never mind the cheesy freeze-frame effect director John Rawlins uses for the nerve gas, Karloff makes up for it by doing a drive by on a woman! Don’t let the supporting cast’s shabby acting get you down, Karloff overcomes it by cremating a flunky!
Karloff is so good, you end up rooting for him over Tracy, which isn’t that hard considering Ralph Byrd seems more like a poor man’s Pat O’Brien than a star in his own right. Byrd simply can’t carry the picture the way Karloff can, and it’s a shame, as watching Karloff’s Gruesome go toe to toe with an equally charismatic Tracy would have been something special. Still, at just over an hour, there’s not much time for regret.
Bottom Line: Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome will please Karloff fans, but others should probably skip it.
