Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) is the third entry in RKO Pictures' Dick Tracy film series. It was directed by John Rawlins, with Ralph Byrd starring as Dick Tracy, reprising the role after Republic Pictures's 1937 Dick Tracy Film Serial and its three sequels.
Dick Tracy is called in to handle a fur theft. The owner of Flawless Furs, Humphreys, has just signed on with the Honesty Insurance Company whose investigator, Cudd, made him change the combination to the vault. The insurance policy —as the head of Honesty, Peter Premium, explains — holds the company liable if the stolen furs haven't been recovered within 24 hours of the theft. The trail leads to Longshot Lily, a would-be fence who is promptly arrested. But when Tracy's snitch, Sightless, is found brutally murdered, the detective realizes that he has more than a simple fur theft on his hands. With the help of master thespian Vitamin Flintheart and ever-present sidekick Pat Patton, Tracy follows a series of clues that leads him to a deserted junkyard and a fateful confrontation with fiendish killer "the Claw".
Tropes:
- Brick Joke: At the start of the film, Tracy is searching The Blinking Skull for a crook called Hatchet Harry when he is called away to investigate the fur robbery. At the end, Tracy is about to take Tess, Pat and Vitamin out to dinner to celebrate the close of the case when Dolan comes in and tells him that Hatchet Harry has just been sighted at the docks. Tracy and Pat take off, leaving Tess and Vitamin twiddling their thumbs.
- Cat Scare: Multiple times the Claw's henchman Sam is startled by one of the Claw's multitude of cats jumps out at him as he is opening a door.
- Concealment Equals Cover: Averted. Tracy shoots at the Claw through the thin wooden paneling he is hiding behind; forcing him to dive for cover.
- Dead Person Impersonation: After Sightless is murdered, Vitamin Flintheart impersonates him and takes his place on his pitch outside The Blinking Skull to keep watch for suspicious characters.
- Down in the Dumps: The final showdown between Tracy and the Claw take place in the junkyard the Claw is using as a hideout.
- Dying Clue: The watchman killed at the fur warehouse manages to scrawl and conceal a note stating that three perpetrators performed the hit against the warehouse. It also mentions that they used a truck with the name "Daisy" on it and part of a license plate. The note has the legitimately awful handwriting of dying man, and Tracy and Patton have to subject the note to forensic analysis to decipher the scrawl.
- Evil Cripple: The Claw was run over by a Coast Guard cutter when he was a bootlegger, and the prop severed his right hand and crippled his leg. He now has a Hook Hand and walks with a shambling limp.
- Extremely Short Timespan: A little over 24 hours. The film starts with the robbery of the fur warehouse. The insurance company has to produce the furs or pay out on the policy within 24 hours, and when Tracy visits Humphreys the next night, Humphreys says the deadline is almost up. No more than two or three elapse from that visit to the climax.
- High-Voltage Death: The Claw dies when his Hook Hand snags on some high voltage wires when he is hiding in an electrical substation waiting to kill Tracy.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Claw suffers a High-Voltage Death when he attempts to stab Tracy with his Hook Hand and his hook gets snared in the high voltage wires of the electrical substation where he is hiding.
- Hook Hand: Steve Miller gets his nickname "the Claw" from the steel prosthetic hook that replaces his right hand.
- The Informant: Fake blind man Sightless sells information to Dick Tracy.
- Inside Job: Tracy realizes that the fur robbery was an inside job when he learns the thieves had the combination to the vault.
- Left for Dead: Sam and Fred find the Claw passed out in the cab of truck: bleeding out from the gunshot woud Pat gave him. Deciding he is as good as dead, they abandon him and plan to sell the loot and split the take only two ways. However, they underestimated the will to live of a man who survived being sliced up by the prop of a Coast Guard cutter.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Vitamin Flintheart experiences this when he realises that his highhanded dismissal of Sightless, and sending him away from Tracy's home, resulted in Sightless being murdered.
- No Honor Among Thieves: When the Claw's henchmen Sam and Fred find him wounded and apparently dying, Sam persuades the reluctant Fred to leave him to die so they can sell the loot and only have to split two ways.
- Obfuscating Disability: Sightless is a street peddler who pretends to be blind to generate sympathy and make more sales. He uses his fake blindness to spy on local criminals and inform to Tracy.
- Pet the Dog: Psycho for Hire The Claw has a soft spot for stray cats: taking them in and caring for them.
- Psycho for Hire: The Claw is an ex-bootlegger and brutal killer, just released from prison, who is hired to act as muscle for the fur robbery. He uses his Hook Hand to kill at the drop of a hat for any pretext.
- Red Right Hand: The Claw has a Hook Hand and a gimpy leg.
- So Much for Stealth:
- Sightless is spying on the Claw, Ryan and Taylor through the window of the Blinking Skull when his sleeve snags on the the spike fence. As he tries to free it, he drops his peddler's trays and all of the wares spill out with a loud clatter, alerting the crooks inside to his presence.
- Later Vitamin is hiding from the Claw in a broom closet, but accidentally kicks over a mop bucket.
- When the Claw is attempting to sneak away from Tracy in the junkyard, he climbs into a derelict railway car, but the step gives way under his foot, revealing his location to Tracy.
- Themed Aliases: The fake names the Claw and his crew use to disguise their truck all flower-based, such as 'Daisy Storage' and 'Rosebud General Delivery': possibly because their hideout is on Primrose Street.
