Film of the Week: 11

Dick Tracy (1990)

As far back as over a hundred years, comic book strips have been a part of everyday life, most notibly in North America. Of course back in the day it was only found in the dailies (newspapers), then comic books, graphic novels and later even webcomics.

Now we have an endless variety of choice with comics from around the world in countless languages. From the most famous comics Marvel & DC to Japanese Manga or even British comics like Judge Dredd or Beano and so many others, and depending on where you grew up, usually depicts what comics you grew up on.

Say for instance my girlfriend, she grew up in Milan, Italy so she wasn't really all that into Marvel & DC comics (which are mainly huge in North America). She grew up reading manga comics such as Arale Norimaki, Fist of the North Star, Knights of the Zodiac and a few others such as Dylan Dog (an Italian comic based in London) and Tales from the Crypt.

Me on the other hand, my favourites were mainly Marvel and DC comics, mostly Batman, X-Men, The Punisher, The Amazing Spider-Man and even things such as Dr. Strange and Swamp Thing. Later on I even got into graphic novels such as Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, never could get into manga comics.

So why am I bringing up all these comics? Well back in 1894 on November 18th, the very first comic strip "Origin of a New Species" was written in a Sunday newspaper in The New York World. It was written by Richard Outcault who also worked for the famous Thomas Edison as a technical illustrator.

The Yellow Kid comic strip from 1898

Later, Outcault also wrote Hogan's Alley with the famous character The Yellow Kid. After this there were numerous comic strips such as the great Buck Rogers, Tin Tin, The Phantom and the awesome Dick Tracy.

Now Tracy may not be a super hero, nor does he have any super powers, he was just a police detective. But, he was one of the coolest of police detectives and most importantly dealt with some fantastically written criminals such as Flattop Jones, Big Boy, Lips etc. And with the great creativity of Chester Gould, it made it one of the coolest comics on the block.

A comic that was no doubt influenced by the crime of the Prohibition era in the 1920s, where everyone was bought (including the cops). The same went for this comic, only Tracy could never be bought. It was also a serial back in 1937 and a film back in 1945, but it needed an update.

In 1990, Warren Beatty decided to make Dick Tracy into a new major feature film and boy did he succeed. He turned Gould's comic into a film filled with vibrant and exuberant colours and characters, that truly brought Dick Tracy back to life.

Comic strip of Dick Tracy from 1938

It also featured some terrific actors such as Warren Beatty himself as Dick Tracy, Al Pacino as Big Boy and many supporting roles such as Paul Sorvino as Lips, Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles, Dick Van Dyke as Fletcher and James Caan as Spaldoni. And then there's of course Madonna as Breathless Mahoney. Not to mention actor Mike Mazurki who was the villain in the original film who had a giant scar across his face had a cameo in this film.

The direction was fantastic and the world that was created was no short of genius, I was mind blown by this crime world. Warren Beatty may be responsible for some major films such as Bonnie & Clyde, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Reds and Bugsy but Dick Tracy is not a film to forget, it's one of the greatest adaptations of a comic strip ever put on film.

Click here for the trailer