Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc. (1941/VCI Entertainment DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: C Extras: C- Chapters: C+
Ralph
Byrd remains the most successful Dick Tracy in film and TV history, having
landed the role in four serials from Republic, several RKO B-movies that were
not as good and even a little-seen TV series that was a hit in its time. Out of print for a surprisingly long time,
VCI has finally issued Dick Tracy vs.
Crime Inc. (1941) on DVD and it is the last of the four serials with as
much fun to offer as its predecessors as Tracy battles a villain with
invisibility capacities.
Dubbing
himself The Ghost, Tracy fights him and the mob in New York in what is as
amusing as I remembered over 15 chapters.
Though I would recommend you begin with the first serials in release
order, this is fun on its own if you get to it first and like the
character. It has aged well considering
the budgets and time it was made, so if you like Tracy, you’ll want to see it
at least once.
The 1.33
X 1 black and white image looks pretty good throughout from decent prints,
though they can show their age and Video Black can lean towards Gray. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono also shows its
wear, only more so, but dialogue is clear enough. The only extra is an intro by Max Allan Collins
who wrote the strip for years and remains a fan and scholar to this day.
- Nicholas Sheffo
