Warren Beatty

Al Pacino

Madonna

Dustin Hoffman

James Caan

Charlie Korsmo

Glenne Headly

Mandy Patinkin

Seymour Cassel

James Keane

Charles Durning

William Forsythe

James Tolkan

Ed O'Ross

Dick Van Dyke

R.G. Armstrong

Michael J. Pollard

Paul Sorvino

Henry Silva

Tom Signorelli

Stig Eldred

Jim Wilkey

Neil Summers

Chuck Hicks

Lawrence Steven Meyers

Tony Epper

Estelle Parsons

Allen Garfield

John Schuck

Charles Fleischer

Mary Woronov

Kathy Bates

Ian Wolfe

Henry Jones

Catherine O'Hara

Robert Beecher

Lew Horn

Michael Donovan O'Donnell

Marvellee Cariaga

Michael Gallup

Robert Costanzo

Jack Kehoe

Marshall Bell

Mike Hagerty

Arthur Malet

Jack Goode Jr.

Ray Stoddard

Hamilton Camp

Ed McCready

Colm Meaney

Bert Remsen

Frank Campanella

Sharmagne Leland-St. John

Bing Russell

Tom Finnegan

Billy Clevenger

Ned Claflin

John Moschitta Jr.

Neil Ross

Walker Edmiston

Mike Mazurki

Rita Maye Bland

Lada Boder

Dee Hengstler

Liz Imperio

Karyne Ortega

Karen Russell

Michelle Johnston

Tamara Carrera

Bernie Jones

Sheila Lussier

Bruce Mahler

Jerry St. John

Vittorio Storaro

Richard Marks

Jack Epps Jr.

Jim Cash

Jim Van Wyck

Enrico Umetelli

Rodney Liber

Rick Simpson

Giuseppe Alberti

Princess O'Mahoney

Dennis Drummond

Bradford Ralston

Harrison Ellenshaw

Thomas Causey

Harold Michelson

William H. Burton Sr.

Joseph F. Brennan

Jamie Anderson

Michael Lloyd

Jon Landau

Lynda Gurasich

Jackie Burch

Bob Badami

Ana Maria Quintana

Frank L. Brown

Jeffrey Thorin

Deborah Morgan

Steven C. McGee

Lawrence J. Cavanaugh

Kevin J. Lang

David Moritz

Patrick Drummond

Gary Tandrow

Bernie Schwartz

C.J. Maguire

R. Bruce Steinheimer

Jacqueline George

Mike Higelmire

Steve Bartek

Eric W. Orbom

Carlo La Bella

Pat Newcomb

David E. Campbell

Doug Hemphill

Roger Irvin

Steve Pederson

Donah Bassett

Greg Orloff

Laura Gary

Ellen Heuer

John Roesch

Barbara Harris

Chris Jenkins

Paul Sharpe

Richard Williams

Gene LeBell

Danny Elfman

Stephen Sondheim

Milena Canonero

Cheri Minns

Gilbert B. Combs

Bob Herron

Art Linson

Richard Sylbert

Jeffrey Hornaday

Judianna Makovsky

Robert Chase

Bruce R. Hogard

Elisabetta Beraldo

Alice Daniels

Bernadene Morgan

Diah Wymont

John Melvin Young

Hallie D'Amore

Virginia G. Hadfield

Kevin Haney

John Caglione Jr.

Doug Drexler

Ve Neill

Craig Reardon

Hank Sheppherd

James J. Murakami

Henry Alberti

Wayne Fitzgerald

Bill Decker

Adventure

Comedy

Crime

Dick Tracy

Touchstone Pictures

Mulholland Productions

Silver Screen Partners IV

United States of America

A bit too mellow yellow.

Dick Tracy is directed by Warren Beatty and written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. Based on Chester Gould’s comic strip creation of the same name, it stars Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Dustin Hoffman, Charlie Korsmo, Charles Durning and William Forsythe. Music is by Danny Elfman, with songs by Stephen Sondheim, and cinematography is by Vittorio Storaro.

Punk Rock band X-Ray Spex once sang about The Day The World Turned Day-Glo, Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy was exactly that. The live action cartoon is a feast for the eyes, as the city backdrop for this cops and gangsters tale is a fountain of bright, lurid primary colours. The characters are drawn brilliantly, where the good guys are very much human, but the bad guys are a bunch of grotesques, like a mutant gathering under one coalition banner. All star casting, striking costuming, amazing effects work, quality songs and a brisk musical score (Elfman reworks his score for Batman from the previous year), Dick Tracy as a production is grade “A” stuff. It also did very well at the box office, where although it didn’t reach Disney’s expectation levels financially, it coined to the tune of over $100 million in profit Worldwide. Not bad for a film some still think was a flop!

It’s a film that feels a lot better watching it now than it did back on release, to be able to view it as a smart technical accomplishment for the time it was made. The cast factor also makes it something of a fascinating experience, watching legends like Pacino and Hoffman absolutely buy into the cartoon excess on show. However, the old problem with it just will never go away. Yes the plot is very simple, but that’s easy to accept these days, it was after all a gangster movie made for all the family, it’s that Beatty’s portrayal of Tracy is too under played. He’s a good guy, we know that, we are on his side, but it’s a flat characterisation, he’s never pushed to be anything other than a cool dude. This of course lets the monstrous villains take the film by the scruff of the neck, as most villains tend to anyway, but for a film carrying his name, you expect a bit more from Dick Tracy the man.

Still, Dick Tracy is a fun movie experience, not all it can be, but enjoyable regardless. 7/10

I'm heartily disappointed that this didn't produce sequels. If any fine actor/director of the period was perfect for the role of Dick Tracy, it was Beatty. He does very good work here. It's as if he took Tim Burton's template for 'Batman' and simply adjusted it for his comic-book picture. Madonna isn't bad here either, simply because she's pretending to be Marilyn Monroe, something she'd been wanting to do all of her career to that point. And the rogues gallery here is perhaps second in quality only to the aforementioned DC Caped Crusader. In retrospect, that perhaps was the picture's weakest link--no true criminal really dominated proceedings and stuck in one's mind. Had they tried the time-tested hookup of two baddies to get in Dick's hair just enough to rile him, it may have worked better. Still one of the most enjoyable, and underrated, comic-book pictures of the past three decades.

CinemaSerf

Debonair and brightly clad detective “Dick Tracy” (Warren Beatty) is out to stop an all out war breaking out in the city after mobster “Big Boy” (Al Pacino) slays “Lips” (Paul Sorvino) with a view to running the whole show. Part of that cunning plan is to unite all the criminal fraternities and get rid of this pesky cop. Meantime, “Tracy” alights on the permanently hungry “Kid” (Charlie Korsmo) whom he has to look after as well as his girlfriend “Tess” (Glenne Headly) as the bullets fly and things become seriously perilous for all three of them. He’s also got to figure out just what angle nightclub chanteuse “Breathless Mahoney” (Madonna) has in all of this - and is she at all to be trusted? Oh, and there’s also the malevolent “Blank” to deal with too. In many ways this brightly coloured series of escapades reminded me of “Bugsy Malone” (1976) only without the custard pies. It’s decently enough paced and there is the odd action sequence, for I found it to be just a bit too stylistic with not enough emphasis on the characters or on the story. Indeed, that last element is really pretty weak as none of the acting talent seem to quite know whether to play the menacing or the pantomime. There are a few moments from Pacino that raise it’s game now and again, but for the most part this is all a pale imitation of Edward G. Robinson or Robert Mitchum on a bad day. It’s all disappointingly tame and Madonna’s contributions - musically or otherwise, show her limitations as an actor all too clearly, too.

English

Dick Tracy (1990) - Original Theatrical Trailer