Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 13, 2014

Love these depictions of Gruesome!

Good morning guys!

Mel should heed Gruesome’s advice!

I think that could be considered a veiled death threat in panel 3. Mel is just as likely as Otis to end up dead.

Vitamin is totally in character. Don’t even look like him and I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t been staying with it.

Luckily, you would know because it’s labelled with a little info-box.

I saw Arsenic and Old Lace on stage years ago. I don’t remember anything about it except the scene depicted here, where the character thought he was Teddy Roosevelt and would storm up the stairs.I need to get a copy of this movie and find the time to watch it. Judging from the comments here from people who have seen it, it sounds like a lot of fun.

I’ll bet there’s going to be an opening for a new janitor there soon. (Drats! There I go gambling!)

super well drawn all three figures !

Morning, Tracyville!Mel needs to pay careful attention to Gruesome’s advice.

The background Music for the Play, the Audience ‘Applause’ is Fine . . .

Those Rushmore Heads, we’ve even seen someone Climb, But as we enter week SIX it’s Clear, there’s Still No CRIME ?

Good morning VistaBill and fans. Gruesome has given Mel excellent advice. Y’all have a blessed day.

Viagra?

My guess is that Otis is going to talk to the MCU.

Dead men tell no tales.

Don’t do the Crime if you can’t do the Time..

Wait for it…

Oooh! I even hear the scary music as Christopher Gruesome Cushing clearly threatens Mel’s life. I have a feeling that the window-box of this production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” is going to fill up very fast! Mel? Otis? Can sweetums Kandikane keep Vitamin Teddy Flintheart’s energy high enough for him to get Detective Tracy onto the case in time to save a few lives?

@tsull2121

You had mentioned that you had never seen the play or movie version of Arsenic and Old Lace.

Arsenic and Old Lace is a mystery-farce (actually a comedy of murders) involving a Movie Critic named Mortimer Brewster. Mortimer’s entire family (with the exception of himself) are criminally insane. His two sweet elderly aunts have a hobby of murdering old men by poisoning them with arsenic-laced home-made wine.

One of Mortimer’s brothers believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt and believes that he is digging the Panama Canal in the basement (his trenches are convenient graves for his aunt’s victims). Teddy is the role being played by Vitamin. The references by other posters to stashing bodies in the window seat is where the old ladies keep the bodies until they are buried by Teddy.

A second brother, Jonathan (being played by Gruesome here) is a homicidal maniac on the run from the law. His associate, Dr. Einstein, is a plastic surgeon who has re-done Jonathan’s face. Unfortunately, he has just seen the movie Frankenstein and Jonathan’s face ends up looking like Boris Karloff (similar to the events in this story arc).

As with many farces, the plot becomes comically complicated Mortimer finds out about his relatives’ murderous behaviors and tries to hide all of this from his fiance and the police and stop the murders without going insane himself.

The play was originally written in the late 1930s (it debuted in 1941) and contains many political references and jokes pertinent to that time period. The dialogue in yesterday’s strip concerning Woodrow Wilson were exact quotes from the script.

Despite the many untimely references, the play, if done correctly, is still quite hilarious today and is periodically revived professionally. Unfortunately, it has been done by so many high schools and community theatres that is has gained the status of “an old chesnut” (kind of like Vitamin, egad) by many in the professional theatrical community due to the number of poor-quality amateur productions over its almost 75 years. However, the plot is so wacky that even the bad productions tend to get laughs from the audience. Teddy shouting “Charge” and running up the stairs (as shown in today’s strip) is a running gag of the show.

yes

Hmm. Looks like Mel—and possibly, Otis—may end up meeting a Gruesome end.

I really get a kick out of older guys saying having a pretty young (but of legal age, of course) woman being with an older guy is creepy……because I have yet to meet an older guy who wouldn’t find a reason why it would somehow be ok in HIS case, lol.

And for anyone unfamiliar with “Arsenic and Old Lace” simply looking up and reading a brief one paragraph summary of it will greatly enhance your reading of this strip at the moment…

I mean, people are always nice enough to explain stuff here eventually, as was the case with “Arsenic….” but why wait in the future – and gripe in the meantime – when you can remove the mystery on your own right off?

I guess Vitamin is feeling his oats ever since this candy cane obsessed girl kissed him! Be careful guys & watch out for Gruesome!

Well since the criminal is still free that is a crime in itself so…

Very true. Going back to a couple of days ago SYDNEY said that “It would seem that there are several – far more pressing cases that require his ATTENTION,” so let’s review what has actually happened so far.

A murderer, who was previously arrested by Dick Tracy, has now escaped from prison, and is on the loose now having had plastic surgery to make him unrecognizable, possibly looking for revenge on Tracy. According to Sydney, this is not something of pressing concern to Dick Tracy, and is beneath the dignity of the MCU to investigate.

I’m not sure if murderers escaping from jail are a low priority item in Trinidad, but in the United States, prison escapes are a criminal offence.

In case you missed some of this, a brief recap of some dialogue (emphasis mine):10/21 Sam to Tracy: “I’ve an update on that old pal of yours that just broke out of the joint.” (Obviously, Tracy has had person contact with Gruesome.)10/27 Gruesome to Dr Einstein, concerning their need for cash: “Doctor, I’m a murderer, not a bank robber.”

Many years too late,I must say that I played “Teddy” in a high school production,B.O.Plenty pith helmet and all.I was the only one who could yell “Charge!” loud enough to be heard in the back row.Also,the author of “Arsenic” never had another hit play.