mhignite Dick Tracy vs. Cueball is very easy to watch and enjoy. I tend to agree with other positive reviews seen here so I won't repeat. My one knock on it would be the casting of Morgan Conway in the lead. He is very, very dry, and tends to try to add a little Bogie in his voice. I do have one question I'd like answered though. Can anyone tell me why the cover art on the DVD shows Cueball as a green alien? Very green. Is it because the distributor, Alpha Videos, wanted him to look like an alien, or just some accident at the printer's shop? It's weird, very weird. Thanks to anyone who may know. In the meantime, see you in the funny papers!

classicsoncall The best thing about "Dick Tracy vs. Cueball" is the great cast of characters, all of whom were probably even more interesting than the title villain. I'm thinking of names like Percival Priceless (Douglas Walton), Filthy Flora (Esther Howard), and that strangely wonderful Vitamin Flintheart (Ian Keith). Even that creepy little guy named Rudolph played by Skelton Knaggs, I wish he had more screen time. You really couldn't take your eyes off him the few times he appeared. As for Cueball (Dick Wessel), there wasn't very much of a gimmick to his character - he had a bald head, and he didn't seem particularly frightening most of the time, always second guessing himself about how much he wanted for the stolen diamonds and how he was going to get it.The other cool thing about the picture was all those great period details. Come on now, could there really have been a bar named 'The Dripping Dagger'? With the neon outline of a knife and a simulated drop of blood - you just have to love that touch! With a proprietress to boot - Filthy Flora! You know, I don't doubt there could actually be a character like that for real, but I sure wouldn't want to run into her.I just saw Morgan Conway for the first time a few days ago in "Dick Tracy Detective" where he didn't make much of an impression. I liked him a lot better in this one, maybe because he seemed more in control. But that whole business about the murder weapon hat band was a little weak, Tracy having been set in the right direction by Junior Tracy (Jimmy Crane). Say, I'm curious about something. The ad for the hat band gave an address of Box 520, Desert City. You think the post office would know where to send correspondence? Keep an eye on an early scene when Mona Clyde places a note under the shop door to the Priceless Antiques shop. It appeared that she placed it entirely under the door, but when Tracy comes by to retrieve it, a large portion of the note is visible before it's picked up on the other side.At just over an hour, the film breezes by pretty smoothly, almost too quickly to enjoy the great atmosphere and impressive assortment of filming angles that add to the mystery. Just don't be too hard on the story for it's use of too convenient coincidences to solve the case, and especially that lame ending when Cueball gets his foot caught in the train tracks. Come on, don't you think even you could have gotten free?

MartinHafer For years, one of my favorite books about films has been Harry Medved's "The Fifty Worst Films Ever Made". It is super-intelligently written (he was only 17 at the time it was published) and clever. And as a result, I have tried to see as many of the 50 I could find, though many are so obscure I doubt if I'll ever find them. However, while I love the book, I must admit that a few of the films weren't THAT bad and a couple were even mildly entertaining (such as THAT HAGAN GIRL and DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL).Now I DID see DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL a long time ago and found it was pretty bad. However, decades later, I watched it again with my daughter and we both felt it was a decent film with a few excellent moments. Now this ISN'T a glowing endorsement, but I found I did need to go back to my reviews of other Tracy films I reviewed a few months back and remove any negative references to this film. So, for lovers of B-movies and especially series detective movies, this IS worth a look.So why did I like it on second viewing? Well, it wasn't because of the villain, played by Dick Wessel. His bald wig was at times obvious but the biggest problem was he had the charisma of a wet sock and said very little other than "I oughta kill you" or other such bland threats. A tuna might have made a better villain. However, Morgan Conway's Dick Tracy was a lot better Ralph Byrd (who starred in the next two films). Sure, Conway's face looked pot-marked and he was, to put it charitably, "not handsome"....but he COULD deliver his lines and he had a nice voice. Though he looked nothing like the cartoon character--which is probably why they replaced him with the super-wooden Byrd. I also liked the small role by Vitamin. He was completely annoying and mindless in DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA, but here the same actor was actually given some good lines and wasn't asked to play the character as a complete moron.At only about an hour, it's a tidy and interesting little film. Not great, but not bad at all. And if you like this one, be sure to see the first film (DICK TRACY, DECECTIVE)--it's even better.By the way, look for the slimy little guy with greasy hair and super-thick glasses. Other than Rondo Hatton, he is perhaps the ugliest character actor from 1940s film.

grubstaker58 Dick Tracy vs. Cueball starts at the comic strip level and then zips along with some finely turned performances (mostly by the supporting characters). Dick Tracy comes off a little wooden and bland."Cueball" , looks so perplexed and worried through the whole film that you kinda feel sorry for him , even though he goes around choking people to death .He does give his victims(most of them) the chance to talk it over or play it straight-above board, but they don't .They take him for a big goof.. er cue-ball...and well, they get what's coming to them.The visuals in this film are superior. Kudos go to cinematographer George Diskant and director Gordon Douglas for his interesting camera placements etc...Gotta love "The "Dripping Dagger"sign. If you like that "1940's Hollywood look", this film is worth a look.