Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy” (1990) arrived just when comic book movies were about to become a priority for major film studios.
This was largely because of the incredible box office earnings and enthusiastic fan response to Tim Burton’s “Batman” (1989) and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (1990).
The thing about Beatty’s film, which was made while “Batman” was conquering the world, is that it doesn’t play like a mainstream, franchise-building action movie. Now 35 years old and aging far better than expected, “Dick Tracy” is an art film disguised as a popcorn movie, a personal, thrillingly stylish and wonderful approximation of its Chester Gould source material.
Gould’s comic strip turned the likes of Eliot Ness and Al Capone into pure-hearted, incorruptible (and yes, untouchable) Dick Tracy and vile, connected Big Boy Caprice. The comic strip, even at its goofiest and most fanciful, resembled a film noir presented as a surrealistic crime story for kids.
Beatty takes it further, as the film isn’t in black and white (though the opening credits briefly suggest it might be) but with every scene, set and costume presented in primary colors. Beatty’s film is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.
Even today, with some of the optical effects showing their age, the film is still radiant, as the color always pops.
In simpler terms, Beatty’s character Tracy, who is middle-aged, fights crime without rest and wears a distinctive bright yellow hat and coat. Tracy maintains a relationship with Tess Truehart (Glenn Headley), but is unexpectedly drawn to nightclub singer Breathless Mahoney (Madonna).
The problem is that Mahoney has become the arm candy of Caprice (Al Pacino in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Tracy has suddenly found himself as the surrogate father of a tough homeless child he calls The Kid (Charlie Korsmo).
There are lots more actors paired with wild characters to mention, like Dustin Hoffman as the incomprehensible but obviously guilty Mumbles, James Caan as an ill-fated rival of Caprice, William Forsythe’s vivid, nasty Flattop and Paul Sorvino’s “Lips” Manliss, who is unlucky enough to take a “bath” as his punishment.
In addition to the sets and costumes, there’s also the make-up, in which all of the villains are presented as grotesque monsters, their inner rot visible in their colorful expressions.
“Dick Tracy” won Academy Awards for art direction, make-up and best original song, though “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” is just one of the great songs here penned by Stephen Sondheim. Despite respectable box office, rave reviews and the Oscars, “Dick Tracy” was not the mega-hit the studio expected, though Disney certainly tried.
The months leading up to the film’s release saw Disney mimicking the media saturation that Warner Bros. utilized to pull in audiences salivating over “Batman.” In addition to the marketing blitz that included action figures and Topps trading cards, Disney actually sold T-shirts that worked as an opening night ticket that first-show audiences would wear as they entered the theater.
The message on the shirts: “I Was There First.”
TIDBIT OF INTEREST: In 1990, “Dick Tracy” grossed $103 million in U.S. cinemas, placing it ninth among the year’s top earners. The top spot went to “Ghost.
Additionally, Madonna released an album titled “I’m Breathless,” which was a massive success and contained one of her iconic songs, “Vogue.” However, despite the grand expectations set by its pre-release buzz, the movie it was based on turned out to be less sensational than anticipated.
For starters, “Dick Tracy” really moves, hitting the ground running from the start and establishing character and world building as the credits briskly splash across the screen. The story by screenwriters Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. (who co-authored “Top Gun,” making them a weird choice for this film) is square and fairly straight forward.
Unraveling the true identity of a villain known as “The Nameless One” is the movie’s most intriguing mystery.
Otherwise, it feels like a state-of-the-art enhancement of the original “Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome” (1947), where Tracy was played by Ralph Byrd and the title villain was played by Boris Karloff. That’s the beauty of Beatty’s film – as exciting and funny as it is, there’s nothing remotely contemporary about it.
DICK TRACY (1990)
— One Perfect Shot (@OnePerfectShot) December 2, 2021
The goal was to encapsulate the spirit of Gould’s comic strip and craft a tale centered around a dedicated detective who unexpectedly finds himself entering his later years.
Beatty was 53 when the film was released and a year away from marrying Annette Bening and settling down. The parallels between Beatty and Tracy are obvious, but a more important aspect is how “Dick Tracy” fits with his other directorial choices.
Like “Reds” (1981), “Bulworth” (1998), “Heaven Can Wait” (1978) and “Rules Don’t Apply” (2016), “Dick Tracy” is also about a character who struggles to find himself while fighting against the system.
Beatty is ideal in the lead, though he has given better performances. Madonna’s iconic status serves her well here (and, it goes without saying, the musical numbers are wonderful) and Pacino, sort-of spoofing his outsized turn in “Scarface” (1983), is dynamic, hilarious and nasty.
A caveat – Pacino’s wild turn in this movie was Oscar nominated and not his soulful, anguished turn in the same year’s “The Godfather Part III” (1990).
“Dick Tracy” has a similar content problem as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988) from the same studio – both movies are masterpieces but, despite their PG ratings, too sleazy and grownup for kids and a little too silly for some adults.
My mother did not appreciate having to explain to me why Breathless seductively refers to the title character as “Dick” and that it had nothing to do with his real name being Richard.
Perhaps Disney was afraid of potentially alienating its audience and scaring anyone away with a more appropriate PG-13. All that to say – I’d hesitate to show it to young children, due to the violence as much as the innuendos.
For everyone else, “Dick Tracy” is still dynamite.
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As a comic book adaptation, the approach feels like George A. Romero’s living comic book approximation of “Creepshow” (1981) blended with the richness of Robert Rodriguez’s “Sin City” (2005), minus the gleeful, ghoulishness and gore of the former and the nihilism of the latter. Beatty clearly loves Gould and the world he nurtured from 1931-1977.
The radiant cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, crisp editing by Richard Marks and scoring by Danny Elfman are all at a master-class level. “Dick Tracy” may no longer be a priority at the Mouse House, but this is one of the few summer “event” films that is overdue for the Criterion Collection and a re-release, so everyone can see how amazing the film still looks on the biggest screen possible.
It would be great if Dick Tracy makes a comeback in cinemas, welcoming a fresh generation of viewers who have grown up watching films based on the Marvel Universe and DC Comics.
If Disney has the moxie to make this happen, I promise to wear my “I Was There First” T-shirt a second time…or maybe just a yellow overcoat.
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2025-03-15 21:06