History Film / DickTracy

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=580iA_bOnvo Back in Business]]'', where the singers at the {{Big Bad}}'s nightclub sing a song about how he's "back in business" after the only man who can stop him has been framed for murder. The scene has a montage of the villains shaking down honest merchants, gleefully murdering police officers, and counting increasingly large piles of money.

** Lips was clearly a gangster, but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did.

** Most of Big Boy’s victims are also in the mob, but fall under this due to the brutality of their executions, especially Lips.

** Tracy, when attacking a hobo who's been abusing the Kid.

* CementShoes: In this case, it's an entire cement ''suit''.

* TheDragon: Flattop and Itchy seem to fill this role for Big Boy. Tracy himself is practically the Dragon of the police.

* HandyCuffs: After being framed for murder, Tracy is being moved from the police holding cell to the county lock-up. His fellow police officers handcuff him in the front, [[LampshadeHanging Tracy comments on the lapse in procedure]]. As it turns out the move was a ruse to allow Tracy the time needed to [[ClearMyName clear his name]].

* LargeHam: Many of the villains have their moments, but Big Boy Caprice in particular takes the cake. Then again, it is Al Pacino.

* TooDumbToLive: The New Years Breakout from Club Ritz was a pretty dumb plan... go out, one by one, into a street fortified with police bearing automatic weapons.

* VillainSong: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=580iA_bOnvo Back in Business]]'', where the singers at the {{Big Bad}}'s nightclub sing a song about how he's "back in business" after the only man who can stop him has been framed for murder. The scene has a montage of the villains shaking down honest merchants, gleefully murdering police officers, and counting increasingly large piles of money.
* TheVoiceless: Played with. Mumbles CAN talk, but since no one can understand him it doesn't matter. He actually intentionally screws with people in this way, at one point giving a full confession to the cops, gleefully certain that they have no idea what he's saying. A later scene makes it clear [[ObfuscatingStupidity he does it on purpose]] and is perfectly capable of speaking coherently if he wants to.

* DisneyVillainDeath: Subverted, as Big Boy is ''pushed'' over a ledge.

* TheCameo: Creator/DustinHoffman, Creator/JamesCaan and Creator/DickVanDyke all have small roles with one or two scenes each. Creator/CatherineOHara is also one of the crime lords who submit to Big Boy, and Creator/KathyBates portrays the stenographer during Mumbles' interrogation.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When Tracy is framed for murder, his coworkers Pat and Sam are assigned to drive him to prison. Due to their belief in Tracy's innocence and awareness that crime is running wild without him, they arrange to make a stop to interrogate a high-ranking mobster on their way to the prison, giving Tracy an opportunity to clear his name.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: D.A. Fletcher only has four scenes and maybe three minutes of screentime, but his corruption is responsible for Big Boy staying out of jail and [[spoiler:Tracy being framed for his murder kicks off the final act.]]

* RedRightHand: ''Every criminal in the city''. All of the gangsters seen in the film are ugly to the point of deformity, and almost each one of them has a gimmick nickname that's tied to their specific brand of ugliness: there's [[https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/dicktracy/images/5/54/319588_1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140507231720 "Flattop"]] Jones, [[https://cache.moviestillsdb.com/sm/7c99e249e68725346bd0255ce7cf4f27/dick-tracy.jpg "Pruneface"]], [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/dicktracy/images/f/f5/Lips_%28Movie%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140416014741 "Lips"]] Manlis, etc.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Itchy and Flattop always appear together throughout the entire move.

* BettyAndVeronica: Tess True heart is Tracy's Betty to Breathless Mahoney as his Veronica.
* BigBadEnsemble: Big Boy and [[spoiler:The Blank.]]

* DeathlyUnmasking: At the end of the film, after The Blank is mortally wounded by gunfire, their mask is removed and they're revealed to actually be B[[spoiler: reathless Mahoney, the woman who's been trying to get Dick Tracy to fall in love with her. She has a few last words with Tracy and then dies.]]

* BluffTheImposter: The villains do this to Tracy.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Itchy and Flattop.

* GoodIsNotNice: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. The most unsavory thing we see Tracy do... is maybe get [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted by the sexiness of]] [[TheVamp Breathless Mahoney]]. He can also act like... well, a [[IncrediblyLamePun dick]] when it comes to interrogating criminals but tends to stray away from violent methods unless it's really necessary.

* DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:Tess]] in the films climax.

* BlatantLies: Pruneface indigently states that he would ''never'' go to an establishment that allows gambling! Of course, gambling is how he makes money, and he's standing in a disguised casino when he makes this statement.

* DamselInDistress:[[Spoiler: Tess]] in the films climax.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Holy crap, for a PG film you have Breathless in a sheer nightdress, wearing barely anything at all bordering on NippleAndDimed. Then there's the fact seemingly every line she throws at Tracy is a DoubleEntendre and doing things like getting on all fours on Tracy's desk.
** Unlike earlier incarnations, this movie knows very well that ''Dick'' Tracy isn't exactly an innocent name anymore, when your movie includes this line: "30 seconds, no more Dick! 30 seconds, no more Dick!", yeah it knows exactly what it's talking about.
** Don't overlook the blatantly obvious dirty joke that Beatty intentionally put in full view for everyone to see: [[spoiler: the location of the faucet on the water-cooler shaped like a polar bear]].

-->'''Breathless Mahoney:''' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Well, I look good both ways]].

* TheReveal: Turns out the Blank is really... wait, who was he again? [[TheUnreveal I forgot...]]