View source for Dick Tracy vs. Cueball

{{short description|1946 film by Gordon Douglas}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
| image          = Dick Tracy vs. Cueball.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical poster
| director       = [[Gordon Douglas (director)|Gordon M. Douglas]]<br>[[James Anderson (director)|James Anderson]] (assistant)
| story          = [[Luci Ward]]
| screenplay     = [[Dane Lussier]]<br>[[Robert E. Kent]]
| based_on       = {{based on|characters in ''[[Dick Tracy]]''|[[Chester Gould]]}}
| starring       = [[Morgan Conway]]<br>[[Dick Wessel]]<br>[[Esther Howard]]
| producer       = [[Herman Schlom]]
| music          = [[Phil Ohman]]
| cinematography = [[George E. Diskant]]
| editing        = [[Philip Martin (editor)|Philip Martin]]
| studio         = [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]]
| distributor    = [[RKO Radio Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1946|11|22|New York City|1946|12|18|U.S.| ref1=<ref name="American Film Institute">{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24762| title=Dick Tracy vs. Cueball: Detail View | publisher=American Film Institute | access-date=April 29, 2014}}</ref>|ref2=<ref name="American Film Institute">{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24762| title=Dick Tracy vs. Cueball: Detail View | publisher=American Film Institute | access-date=April 29, 2014}}</ref>}}
| runtime        = 62 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
}}

'''''Dick Tracy vs. Cueball''''' is a 1946 American [[action film]] based on the [[Dick Tracy|1930s comic strip character of the same name]] created by [[Chester Gould]].<ref name=V>{{cite web|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Review: 'Dick Tracy vs Cueball'|author=Variety Staff|date=December 31, 1945|url=https://variety.com/1945/film/reviews/dick-tracy-vs-cueball-1200414773/}}</ref> The film stars [[Morgan Conway]] as [[Dick Tracy]] in the second installment of the [[Dick Tracy#Early feature films|''Dick Tracy'' film series]] released by [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]]. The villain, Cueball, is a murderous diamond thief who gets his monicker for his big, round head.

==Plot==
Aboard an ocean liner that has just docked is Lester Abbott, carrying diamonds he intends to sell to gem dealer Jules Sparkle. Before he can leave the ship, he is robbed and strangled by [[ex-con]] Cueball, who was alerted to Abbott's arrival by two accomplices, Simon Little and Mona Clyde, who work for Sparkle. Little and Clyde have arranged with crooked antique dealer Percival Priceless to pay Cueball a few thousand dollars and then resell the stolen gems for a fortune, splitting the proceeds three ways.

After meeting with Little—who did not expect Cueball to murder Abbott and tries to back out of the deal—Cueball visits Filthy Flora, madam of the Dripping Dagger Bar. She lets him stay there in a hidden room where he will be safe from police, but she knows he has the diamonds and demands a large payment.

Detectives Dick Tracy and Pat Patton visit Sparkle's establishment to question him. The detectives become suspicious of Little and Clyde. Tracy surreptitiously follows Clyde that evening, and sees her slip a note under the door of Priceless's shop and walk away. After the note disappears under the door, Tracy gains entry and questions Priceless, who claims that Clyde is a customer seeking candlesticks. Unsatisfied, Tracy enlists his friend, the aged thespian Vitamin Flintheart, to visit the shop the next day and observe any suspicious activity. Posing as a customer, Flintheart sees Clyde enter and leave, but is unable to overhear her conversation with Priceless, who learns from her that Little (whose intended role in the scheme was to recut the gems) is an unreliable partner.

Priceless goes to Cueball's room to complete the transaction for the diamonds, not realizing that Tracy and Patton are tailing him. Cueball sees the detectives in the bar and becomes enraged. Suspecting Priceless of treachery, he strangles him. Later, while Cueball is temporarily away, Flora searches his room for the diamonds. She finds and steals them, but Cueball has been watching her through a window. He confronts and strangles her.

Cueball's habit of strangling his victims with a braided leather hatband provides the police with a clue to his identity. Hoping to lure him out of hiding, Tracy allows his girlfriend [[Tess Trueheart]] to meet with Little and Clyde on the pretense of being a wealthy customer seeking diamonds. Before she can meet them she is kidnapped by Cueball, who discovers her identity and is about to strangle her when Tracy arrives on the scene. During the chase that ensues, Cueball runs onto a railroad track, where he gets his foot stuck under the track and is killed by a speeding locomotive.

==Cast==
* [[Morgan Conway]] as Dick Tracy 
* [[Anne Jeffreys]] as Tess Trueheart
* [[Lyle Latell]] as Pat Patton
* [[Rita Corday]] as Mona Clyde
* [[Ian Keith]] as Vitamin Flintheart 
* [[Dick Wessel]] as Harry "Cueball" Lake
* [[Douglas Walton (actor)|Douglas Walton]] as Percival Priceless
* [[Esther Howard]] as Filthy Flora
* [[Joseph Crehan]] as Chief Brandon
* [[Byron Foulger]] as Simon Little
* Jimmy Crane as Junior, Tracy's adopted son 
* [[Milton Parsons]] as Higby, assistant to Priceless
* [[Skelton Knaggs]] as Rudolph, accomplice diamond cutter
* [[Ralph Dunn]] as Policeman (uncredited)

==Reception==
Upon its release, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film "Hot [[action film|action celluloid]] that's bang-up and bang-bang from start to finish."<ref name= "V"/>
In 1978, ''Dick Tracy vs. Cueball'' was listed in the book ''[[The Fifty Worst Films of All Time]]''.<ref name="Medved">{{cite book |last1=Medved |first1=Harry |title=The 50 Worst Films of All Time |date=1978 |publisher=Warner Books |location=New York |isbn=0446312576 |pages=71 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|38478}}
* {{tcmdb title|73092}}
* {{amg movie|13670}}
* {{AFI film|id=24762|title=Dick Tracy vs. Cueball}}
* {{Internet Archive film|DickTracyvsCueball}}

{{Dick Tracy}}
{{Gordon Douglas}}

[[Category:1946 films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gordon Douglas]]
[[Category:Film noir]]
[[Category:Dick Tracy films]]
[[Category:Films about organized crime in the United States]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures films]]
[[Category:1940s police procedural films]]
[[Category:1940s crime films]]
[[Category:American crime films]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]