DICK TRACY - "The Plot To Kill Nato" Unaired TV Pilot (1967)

Tonight I've got a real Weird Wednesday feature for you, the 1967 unaired pilot for a TV show based on the Dick Tracy comics, titled what else, but "Dick Tracy!"

This go round Ray MacDonnell is the Dick in the driving seat!

When this gig failed, Ray settled in at the soap opera "All My Children" for the next 41 years and/or 688 episodes as Joe Martin.

The title of this pilot episode was the uplifting, "The Plot To Kill Nato."

"Dick Tracy" was brought to you by the same people who did "Batman," and it's prety obvious! The only thing that is missing is the "Zap" and "Pow" visual sound effects!

"Batman" regular as King Tut, Victor Buono is the villianess Mr. Memory!

From looking at these credits, you might get the idea this is a cartoon, but it is not!

Jan Shutan was also in "Dracula's Dog," and "The Outer Limits" Episode "The Inheritors Pt. II."

They were obviously planning on a longer run when they made these opening credits, because Tess Trueheart never even shows up in this pilot episode!

Ken Mayer started out in "Space Patrol," and went on to be in what looks like almost every western show that was on in the 60's.

Monroe Arnold was also in shows like "My Favorite Martian," "Bewitched," and "The Munsters."

This would have been Jay Blood's only acting appearance if it had aired, and Bonnie Braids, like Tess Trueheart, was not even in this episode, but after this, she was Jan Brady for many years!

The infamous two way wrist radio and TV.

 

The infamous two way wrist radio and TV realized!

The reason I'm showing you all these cartoon images from the credits is because this "best copy" that you can watch on YouTube is barely watchable, and almost impossible to get any decent stills from!

A big nod of Dick Tracy's chapeau to Mr. KD for telling me this "Dick Tracy" show existed!

Victor Buono makes almost anything worth watching, even this!

AND.....one of the cooler features of the "Dick Tracy" show is that the theme was composed and performed by one of the most popular surf bands of all time, The Ventures!

So here you go kids, it's only a little over 28 minutes long, if nothing else, at least listen to the theme!

CHARLIE CHAN In "The Jade Mask" - 1945

Today, Charlie Chan is brought in to solve a mystery after an eccentric scientist goes missing in his mansion with a hidden lab, secret panels, a suspicious butler and greedy relatives with unusual talents. It boils down to... Where's the body? How can a dead man walk? And, how can a murder be done in full view of detectives and witnesses?

It stars Sidney (22 roles as Charlie Chan) Toler, Mantan (My Hero!) Moreland, Edwin (BLOOD ALLEY) Luke, Hardie (THE MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET) Albright, Frank (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) Reicher, Janet (THE TWONKY) Warren and Cyril (THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE) Delevanti.

The story starts with this bizarre scene of the scientist Harper and his assistant working in their little gas chamber. What they're doing is a mystery at this point, with their gas masks and all...

Well, Harper is paranoid about security so no one except him and the butler, Roth, in the household knows anything about where his secret papers are hidden.

Then it happens, Harper is working in his lab when he gets a dose of poison gas!

Charlie Chan is called in to solve the mystery of the disappearing scientist. Holy crap, there's a pile of misfits to question, and none of them really like each other!

Charlie does some investigating and discovers the dead scientist, he pulls the curtain and viola, the body was still in the lab!.. What the?

Charlie and the sheriff question the butler, who's rather dodgy about the matter.

By far, the strangest person there is Harper's assistant, Walter Meeker. He always stops the show when he speaks up. He accuses Roth of murdering Harper...

In the meantime, Charlie and one of the women find the secret room and vault where Harper hides his papers. When they open the vault, they find a woman there, she's removed and lives through the ordeal.

Charlie grabs the papers and puts them in his pocket for safe keeping...

Mute housemate Michael Strong is played by Lester Dorr, right, who the heck is Lester Dorr? Well, get this, he has an astronomical 495 acting credits!!!!! Anyway, things get super complicated near the end, Michael has a clue for Charlie, but falls dead from a poison dart that nobody knows from where it came. Did I mention that Harper was also making human sized marionettes and puppets, and robots, for the war effort?

Walter comes in and starts with some insane crap and twisted insight about the case.

Charlie, who has all the clues now, has the sheriff grab the assistant and he pulls a mask off of the impersonator for all to see... He then points at one of the women and accuses her of being an accomplice to murder. He also informs her that the maniac also tried to kill HER!

She turns on him. Hey, they're married!! He's a quick change artist and impersonator, she's a puppet master, both trying to get their hands on the papers! So, everything turns out swell, but Birmingham (Mantan) wants to get the Hell away from that house!

As the sheriff is driving back to town, Birmingham catches up and asks him how far into town, then speeds away!.. So, we'll be back on Wednesday with more treats for you, here at The Dungeon!!..

DICK TRACY - "Shaky's Secret Treasure" (1950)

 Some heroes are timeless, and Dick Tracy is one of those kind of characters!

Tonight's smokin' Saturday Night Special is Episode 19 of Season 2 of the 1950 TV show "Dick Tracy!" Dick Tracy is/was so popular, that many songs have been made with just his name for the title, and they are not even all the same song!

From 1961, here's The Chants with "Dick Tracy."

 The title of this episode sounds like something that should have been on the menu at "Shaky's Pizza Parlor!"

  Before this TV series, Ralph Byrd had the role of  Dick Tracy in six movies going back to 1937!
Don't call him Richard!


Here's the 1966 Smash single by The Spotlights!

 Lois (Daughter Of The Jungle) Hall is the hapless woman named Cherry who is seemingly in the wrong place at the wrong time!

 Dabbs Greer is a guy named Shaky who just got out of prison, and his pal played by Richard Reeves is Buck!

Out of his 319 credits, Dabbs was in two of the scariest 50's Sci-Fi classics "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers," and "It! The Terror From Beyond Space." He was also in two of "The Twilight Zone" episodes, and two of "The Outer Limits" episodes! Richard Reeves managed to wrack up 226 credits, and although he only lived to be 54, he was on almost every TV show in the 50's and 60's!

 Shaky and Buck were tearing into some chairs left by a former tenant that had a map in that showed where he stashed a hundred grand before Dick Tracy caught up with him. Buck is a big dummy and let his tongue slip, so they had to try and kill Cherry by closing all the windows and turning the gas on. Luckily, Tracy and Sam got there just in time!

 The map was gone because the chair had been re-upholstered, so Shaky and Buck go visit Mr. Barksdale to find out what he knows about it!

The Skatalites - "Dick Tracy" (1965)

 It's a little mysterious but they manage to figure it out!

 Sam was left back to watch after Cherry, so now they have to try and get a hold of Tracy via the two-way wrist radios that Sam and Dick both have! 

Unfortunately, Tracy was knocked out and left in a closet!

Sam Catchem was played by Joe (Mighty Joe Young) Devlin!

Barksdale, the furniture re-upholsterer caught wind of where the cash was stashed and decides to help himself to the spoils! Barksdale was played by Stephen Carr who was also the dialogue director on 16 of these "Dick Tracy" episodes, and 47 episodes of "The Adventures Of Superman!"

J.J. Cale - "Dick Tracy" (1965)

 Interesting enough, this single and the one by The Spotlights were both produced by Leon Russell!

 Well it turns out that Cherry was not nearly as sweet and innocent as she was pretending to be!

 I love it!

 A cast of six, and that was all that they needed!

 There's no place to begin or end properly with a subject like Dick Tracy. 

This record was from a  Command Performance of a 55-minute musical adaptation of Dick Tracy, that was broadcast on the radio in 1945.

 This was a 6" flexi-disc put out by The Ideal Toy Company in 1961.

 This was a 78 from 1947 featuring one of the major characters from the Dick Tracy comics, Sparkle Plenty!

And this was a single by Ice-T put out in 1990!