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Dick Tracy - The Mole
episodes 1.9, 1.10
USA 1950
produced by P.K. Palmer for Snader Telescriptions/ABC
directed by B. Reeves Eason
starring Ralph Byrd, Joe Devlin, Raymond Hatton, Lois Collier, Will Lee, Dick Elliott, John Harmon, George Offerman jr, Frank Hagney, James Magill, Don Brodie, Jack Clifford, Thurston Hall, Florence Bates, Angela Greene
written by P.K.Palmer, based on the comic strip by Chester Gould
TV-series Dick Tracy, Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd), Dick Tracy (1950's TV-series)
review by Mike Haberfelner
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By means of murder, the Mole (Raymond Hatton) - who resides in the
basement of a restaurant he runs for cover - has gotten his hands on the
best printing plates and now plans to start a counterfeiting outfit.
However, Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) is already hot on his heels, soon shows
up at the restaurant and demands to talk to the manager. Tracy has no idea
though what the Mole looks like, so the Mole lets one of his henchmen
(James Magill) impersonate him - and it was a good idea, too, since the
henchman is soon shot dead by Tracy and his sidekick Sam Catchem (Joe
Devlin). It doesn't take Tracy long though to figure the dead henchman
has not been the Mole himself, so he shows up in his restaurant once more
- only to be drugged, tied up and left at the mercy of the Mole's henchmen
(FRank HAgney, Jack Clifford). But of course, Tracy can not only free
himself and overcome the thugs, he also manages to alarm the police via
morsecode. And in the end, the Mole's henchmen are apprehended, the Mole
though manages to escape ... There might be a third part to
this story somewhere, as it lacks a proper conclusion, but unfortunately,
information on the series as such are at best sketchy. Anyways, even in
its incomplete form, The Mole is a rather well-done early TV crime
drama, cheaply done perhaps, but well scripted, well cast and well acted.
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