Dick Tracy: Warren Beatty reprised the role in two weird TCM specials you probably never saw

Dick Tracy is an iconic film for a generation of us here at JoBlo. Being born in ’81 (I know—I’m old now), I vividly remember what an event it was in the summer of 1990. Many of us saw it as the movie that would carry the torch for Batman, which had come out the year before and become a generation-defining blockbuster. Walk into any toy store that summer and you’d find Dick Tracy merch everywhere: figurines, t-shirts, and of course, bright yellow fedora hats.

That said, the movie was nowhere near the cultural juggernaut that Batman was. While Dick Tracy still made over $100 million, Disney had pumped so much money into it that it spawned the infamous Katzenberg memo—one of the catalysts for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s eventual departure from Disney to co-found DreamWorks. That memo even partly inspired the one Tom Cruise writes in Jerry Maguire, his own “dark night of the soul.”

Because of its underperformance, no sequels followed. But star Warren Beatty had an ownership stake in the character, and eventually Disney handed him back the rights. The catch was that Beatty had to continue producing original Dick Tracy content at certain intervals, or the rights would revert to Tribune Media Services. This led to a long legal battle between Beatty and Tribune.

That’s why, in 2010, at an odd hour on TCM, a bizarre little program aired called Dick Tracy Special. In it, Beatty reprised the role of Tracy in an in-character interview with Leonard Maltin. Shot by none other than DP Emmanuel Lubezki, the special was never really meant for public consumption, which explains why it aired overnight with zero promotion. Of course, people eventually discovered it and it leaked online:

Check it out:

Fast-forward to 2023, when Beatty—then 85 and largely retired since Rules Don’t Apply in 2016—once again donned the fedora for Dick Tracy Zooms In. We’ve already taken a deep dive into this one (read about it here), but it’s basically exactly what it sounds like: Dick Tracy (Beatty) having a Zoom chat with Leonard Maltin, this time joined by Ben Mankiewicz. Eventually, in a meta twist, Beatty appears as himself to spar with his own creation.

Here it is:

The second special is sharper than the first, with Beatty clearly having fun with the meta angle. In it, Tracy complains about how much he hates Beatty’s Dick Tracy movie (dismissing it as a “musical comedy”), only for it to be revealed that all he really wanted was for Beatty to agree to occasionally hang out with him. It ends with Tracy and Beatty having lunch. The conceit behind these specials is that Tracy is quasi-immortal, over 100 years old thanks to a lifetime of clean living.

While neither special was ever really intended for an audience, it’s worth noting that Beatty still looked pretty great as Tracy—even at 85. And it’s easy to see why he’s gone to such lengths to hang on to the character. In an era where every dormant IP is ripe for a reboot, Dick Tracy remains a potentially valuable property. While it’s unlikely Beatty will ever star in another feature film as Tracy, you never really know with him. At the very least, it seems obvious he’s keeping the rights safe for his heirs. Honestly, I wouldn’t even be surprised if one day we see a Dick Tracy: Speaks From Beyond the Grave special pre-recorded to keep the rights intact. Or heck, maybe Beatty will pop up again at ninety-eight.

Have you seen either of these specials? Let us know what you think in the comments!

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