writers_reign For a run-of-the-mill 'B' picture with barely an hour to do its work this entry has lots of talent going for it beginning with director Gordon Douglas who went on to shoot several prestigious films not least a handful - Young At Heart, Tony Rome, Robin And The Seven Hoods, The Detective - starring Sinatra whilst many members of the cast, including the eponymous cueball, Esther Howard, Byron Foulger etc racked up over one hundred credits apiece. The plot is mostly ho hum and Tracy's celebrated wrist-watch radio was never mentioned but Douglas keeps the pace moving along and mostly glides past any risible moments so that the 60 minutes pass fairly painlessly and there is a brilliant send-up of Jack Barrymore by Ian Keith who has not only the voice but also the mannerisms of Barrymore down pat.

Corr28 Watched this second entry in the series of mid-1940's Dick Tracy films and while I didn't find it as good as the first one, it still held it's own and was entertaining enough.In this one, Tracy battles imposing criminal Cueball and his band of diamond thieves. Morgan Conway, in his second and final appearance as DT, does an OK job but doesn't have the presence he had in "Dick Tracy Detective". The rest of DT's sidekicks also come off as less energetic then in the first film but still do a decent job. This entry does seem a bit corny though, especially when you look at the names of the other characters and settings in the film. For example, the antique store owner is called Percival Priceless and the diamond store where some of the action takes place is called Sparkles and so on. The real problem though is the lead criminal in the film. Cueball certainly is imposing to look at and he does strangle someone to death but basically the guy is a clumsy ox with a pretty low IQ to match. The gang that works for him doesn't appear to be too frightened of him also judging from the way they talk to him and lecture him. His demise is also a hoot to watch! Still, despite the drawbacks, director Gordon Douglas keeps the pace brisk and jumping right along and again creates a nice film noir look and feel to the movie. We get some nice touches of light and shadow and some pretty interesting camera movement. It feels like more of a filler and is a few notches below the first entry but "Dick Tracy vs. Cueball" still turned out to be an interesting and fun watch.

dougdoepke So where else would viewers see a friendly neighborhood dive called The Dripping Dagger, replete with a gleaming graphic of blood falling from a wicked-looking stabber. Sort of whets the old desire to drop in for a drink and maybe a piece of unelective surgery. Pretty good Tracy tongue-in-cheek. These programmers were always played straight, but the outlandish names tip off the real intent. Tracy's trying to track down a murderous jewel thief whose shaved head resembles that of a new-born. In those days, pure baldies were a rarity unlike today's hairless male fashion. Great cast that includes such visual eccentrics as the sepulchral Milton Parsons and the unfortunate Skelton Knaggs whose cratered face peering through a magnifying lens would frighten Frankenstein. But stealing the show is blowzy old Esther Howard who looks like she's been on a 60 year bender, and acts like a 60-year old Mike Tyson. So when she backs down even the burly strongman Cueball, we believe it. Actually, these entries get their appeal from the parade of human eccentrics that populate them. To me, however, the biggest mystery is why Tracy doesn't spend more time at home with the very uneccentric looking Tess Trueheart (Anne Jeffries) who is enough to turn any man's head, square-jawed cop or not.

zeppo-2 Not the best in the series of short Tracy films from the late forties. The villains provide most of the entertainment in these and Cueball isn't that interesting or fearsome as some of the others. Cueball kills anyone who double-crosses him and why do they all try to trick him out of the money? Because he's a overweight, bald idiot, that's why! Even the other crook's moll can play him for a sap.It's fortunate that the other criminals are as dozy as Cueball or even slow-witted Dick Tracy wouldn't have been able to catch them. It's probably fittingly ironic that Cueball meets his fate due to a dumb accident. If he had any more brains he would have been a moron...Still, an entertaining addition to the series as the other minor characters get a chance to shine in their screen time. 'Filthy' Flora, who shelters crooks for a price is particularly good and even Tracy's under used girlfriend gets in on the action in this one.