The late 1980s and early '90s were an important time for comic-book movies. Critical and commercial smashes like Tim Burton's Batman and Who Framed Roger Rabbit proved that colorful, cartoonish worlds could be adapted into live-action blockbusters. Those films laid the groundwork for the big boom in live-action comic book movies in the 2000s. But there's another film that came out during this era that received just as much hype and publicity, yet disappeared from the public consciousness not long after its release: 1990's Dick Tracy, based on one of the most iconic comic-book heroes of the 1930s.
Despite falling through the cracks, Dick Tracy was successful both financially and critically when it was released, earning over $100 million domestically and winning three Oscars out of seven nominations, something unheard of for a comic-book adaptation at the time. Plus, the talent involved in the film include some of the biggest names in entertainment history. Hollywood legend Warren Beatty directed and starred in the film, which also featured fellow acting titans Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, James Caan and Dick Van Dyke. If that wasn't enough, Madonna, at the height of her fame, played Breathless Mahoney and performed original songs for the film written by musical icon Stephen Sondheim.Meanwhile, the score was created by composer Danny Elfman. Given all this, it's shocking Dick Tracy isn't revered as a classic today.
Given its popularity as a comic book, plans for a Dick Tracy movie had been in the works long before Beatty took control of the project. In the '80s, directors like Steven Spielberg, John Landis and Walter Hill were attached to direct, and actors like Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford and Jack Nicholson were considered for the title role. At one point, Landis seemed set to helm but left the project following the infamous on-set accident that happened during filming for his segment of the movie, The Twilight Zone. Furthermore, studios United Artists and Paramount Pictures considered an adaptation before Beatty purchased the movie rights and brought them to Disney, which produced the movie under its Touchstone Pictures label.
Beatty took inspiration from films like The Untouchables and Who Framed Roger Rabbit to do something with Dick Tracy no comic-book movie had tried before: Take the colorful world of the comic-book page and bring it to life onscreen. That meant unlike the future films that utilized CGI backgrounds, Dick Tracy was one of the last mainstream movies to use matte paintings to create background settings. The color scheme for the film's costumes and settings also stood out because the bright reds, greens, yellows and purples reflected the way color was used back in the days of newspaper comic strips.
However, perhaps the most remarkable part of Dick Tracy was the makeup work done by John Caglione Jr. and Doug Drexler, who deservedly won an Oscar for their efforts. The makeup artists used prosthetics to make the actors look exactly like their characters from the comics. The original Dick Tracy comics are remembered for a number of great villains, and Beatty acknowledged this by including all of them in the film.
Despite the box-office success, loaded cast and crew, favorable reviews, Oscar love and a huge marketing push that included toys and a prequel comic series released before the film, Dick Tracy was largely forgotten by the public shortly after the hype faded. There are a number of possible explanations for this, but the most valid could be that Tim Burton's much grittier Batman, which was released a year before, ultimately stole Dick Tracy's thunder.
Between Batman and Dick Tracy, Batman is by far the more interesting character, even though Dick Tracy is by design a straight arrow, one-dimensional hero. Jack Nicholson's interpretation of the Joker in Batman also became instantly iconic while Al Pacino's Big Boy Caprice in Dick Tracy is remembered as an Al Capone knock-off. Pacino, who earned an Oscar nomination for his performance while Nicholson did not, has proclaimed his love for Dick Tracy calling it, "a wonderful, artistic film, even though now it's like it doesn't even exist."
Dick Tracy may not be remembered by audiences today as much as its peers, but the film still deserves its place in history. It's a pioneer of comic-book movies while also being unlike any comic adaptation made even thirty years later.