Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
1946
Action / Crime / Family / Mystery

Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
1946
Action / Crime / Family / Mystery
Plot summary
A police detective uses his girlfriend to track down a homicidal maniac.
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
NOT one of the 50 worst films of all-time
Filthy Flora and Vitamin Flintheart
The second of RKO's Dick Tracy movie series from the '40s. This is the last one featuring Morgan Conway as Tracy. The plot this time involves some stolen diamonds and a bald killer named Cueball (Dick Wessel). Cueball strangles his victims with a braided leather hatband. Why the writers gave him such a specific weapon instead of just a rope or piano wire or something I don't know but it's interesting. Cueball is not big on people double-crossing him, which several characters in the movie find out firsthand. Like the others in the series, this is an enjoyable "B" picture. I was very happy to see Vitamin Flintheart, one of my favorite characters from the Dick Tracy comic strip, show up here. He's wonderfully played by Ian Keith as a sort of send-up of John Barrymore. Another fun character was Filthy Flora (Esther Howard), who runs the Dripping Dagger bar. Interesting characters are what set the Dick Tracy film series (as well as the comic strip) apart from other detective stories.