Simon: Hello and welcome to Talking Dick, the Dick Tracy movie podcast. I'm your host, Mr. Simon Creswell, and joining me is a man who thought ⁓ was a type of pasta. Mr. ⁓
James: ⁓ James A Dilling ⁓
Simon: James, how is your E week ago in James? ⁓ lucky. This is racial stereotyping. ⁓ this week we are talking about Vittorio Storaro. ⁓ I've tried so hard to get that name right and I've messed it up. Vittorio Storaro. Yeah? Is that what we're saying? I think that's right. Yeah. Yeah, what a name. ⁓ hence why we're going down the Italian theme route.
James: Having a great time. I think I think that's right. Vittorious Dorraro. Yeah. Exactly, yeah, yeah. I should have done, yeah.
Simon: Should have put a little Italian flag up in the background. are we sure he's born in Italy? I'm not sure. ⁓
James: I no well, I I I think he was. I think he was. I'm gonna I'm gonna put a put a put a punt that he definitely was born in Italy. ⁓ even more cliche. Yeah.
Simon: I think he was born in Rome or from Rome, so ⁓ we'll we'll we'll come to that we'll come to that in a minute. ⁓ before we get into that, ⁓ before we started, James, I sent you a video of so they have these things online where people do AI then and now, don't they? So you have like Onold Schwarzenegger and his younger self and they're like just sort of looking at each other and smiling. And someone had done a Dick Tracy one and I was
James: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Simon: All excited, thinking this is brilliant, cast and crew, you know, Dick Tracy, watched it and it was terrible.
James: Yeah. Yeah, it was bad. It it i it was the epitome of what AI slop is. ⁓ it's like yeah, some of the ones you see look really good, but like the one is ⁓ Flat Top and then William Forsyth. And it starts off like he looks okay as top, and then when he turns, his hair just goes into a big buffon instead. ⁓ He's not even flat top anymore. ⁓ I probably am actually. ⁓ I mean, watch and be prepared to be entertained.
Simon: You're making it sound better than it is. But yeah.
James: But not to be impressed.
Simon: Yeah, and ⁓ Al Pacino just looks even more like Hitler in it as Alpac ⁓ as big boy, doesn't he? It's just just weird. ⁓ so yeah, if you go on YouTube type in then and now Dick Tracy, someone has has gone to minimal effort to produce a video. Right, correspondence. I always like to start with a bit of correspondence, ⁓ and we have had some this week. ⁓
James: He does. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Cool.
Simon: So on our Framing the World set design and art direction, ⁓ Queen Street Entertainment writes, ⁓ love the look of Dick Tracy movie. Everything they did was genius. Brought myself a few of the magnets this week.
James: in 1990 one of the greatest comic book adaptations ever made burst onto the big screen Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy With its star-studded cast, bold colours, unforgettable villains and a tidal wave of merchandise, this film became a short-lived but powerful cultural phenomenon. Now, more than 30 years later, this podcast is here to explore, unpack and dissect this brightly coloured masterpiece, week by week, scene by scene. So pull up a chair at the Southside Warehouse, because there's going to be a big payoff. ⁓ nice. Getting on the ⁓ on the merch there.
Simon: We need to cover those magnets. We keep talking about it. ⁓ Jedi Yoda Bush, ⁓ our good friend, ⁓ commented on the McDonald's one and said, You guys are bad influences. Now I need McDonald's and a new tie.
James: You do yeah. Brilliant. This is what we're trying to do.
Simon: Yeah, a lot of love for my tie, by the way. I I'm I'm always appreciating the love for the tie. ⁓ Haunted Nerds writes on the McDonald's ones, ⁓ Touchstone Pictures was the Disney distribution label that they set up for films that were mature, ⁓ more mature than the films released under the Disney label. In Memory Serves, I think Splash was the first film distributed by Touchstone.
James: Yeah. Mm-hmm. ⁓ wow. It's good do a little bit of trivia there.
Simon: Yeah. Great movie, Splash as well.
James: Yeah, and another thing as well with the touchstone logo I I found, 'cause we did talk about this, but i usually it comes across as like blue and it and then gets to the end and does a flash. But at the beginning of Dick Tracy they decided to just do it in black and white. So it's just it's just a white touchstone logo and a flash. So it's not the blue like everything else. Yeah. Exactly. Go back, watch it again, just for the touchstone logo at the start.
Simon: That's right, yeah. ⁓ never noticed that. That's ⁓ enough for excuse to watch Dick Tracy.
James: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, doing s altering any logo is quite a an odd one because it it's so important to the companies their logos. So manipulating it in any form is quite a risky move.
Simon: ⁓ that's good, that's a great bit of knowledge. I wonder if it varies for other films as well. I wonder if there's any other touchstone films where it slightly alters it. ⁓ Yeah, they did feel like Warner Brothers with ⁓ some of the films, they changed the colour of it, don't they? I feel like Yeah.
James: Yeah, the Harry Potter do the they have they have a kind of theme around it, don't they, with owls flying and stuff like that.
Simon: I feel like the Matrix did soak with it as well. But I I maybe I've just imagined that. In my head it feels like it's different in the Matrix.
James: Thanks for listening. you'd like to get in touch, you can email us at dtmoviepodcast at gmail.com. You'll also find us on X and Instagram at dtmoviepodcast. Or come and join our group, the Dick Tracy Movie Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to check out our YouTube channel for bonus videos and extra content. Yeah. Yeah. But again, something that's done so much now was never done thirty plus years ago. And yet Dick Tracy started it. No we can't, no he can't. I'm gonna say it.
Simon: You did we can't verify that, but we'll we'll take it. We'll take it. ⁓ on the McDonald's one again, ⁓ Chadicus, new new new name I've not come across before. Pretty sure that McDonald's tying game started with their Monopoly game
James: Okay.
Simon: such a huge thing. ⁓ I didn't think the Monopoly game went that far, but it was definitely around the nineties, wasn't it? Monopoly game.
James: No. ⁓ yeah, definitely. Unless it went you know, started earlier in the in the States before we had it.
Simon: Yeah. Yeah, it's quite possible. and one more on our Flat Top Applause Dole short, ⁓ Jedi Yodabush again writes, Flat Top was banned from the Olympics because of this. ⁓ balancing on his head upside down.
James: ⁓ yeah. He'd get straight tens, wouldn't he otherwise?
Simon: Yeah. ⁓ but the the real big comments this week ⁓ come from ⁓ celebrities, James. on Instagram. I s I use the term celebrity loosely, but a guy named Kil Arnes, yeah, and I had to look him up, but ⁓ Kai Arnes is an American artist and graphic designer. ⁓ he owns a
James: ⁓ okay, okay. Yeah. Okay.
Simon: Gallery in Los Angeles, the La La Land Gallery, and seems to do a lot of sort of I guess it looks like kind of Andy Warhol type character. And on our Barbara Streisand short, he commented, Did you happen to see the last album cover from Barbara Bar from Barbara's duets record? You should take a peek at it, let me know what you think. And so I had a look at it, and I believe the one he's referring to is one where she released an album called Walls, just walls, and it's just her like climbing up a wall.
James: Okay. Okay. Right. And this was the shot we were talking about where she went in onto set said Richard about how this room looked amazing and he was like, ⁓ It's a blank wall. ⁓ So so she had a thing for blank walls? ⁓
Simon: Yeah, so I can only assume that this this guy in LA, this ⁓ artist bloke, saw was well no searched Barbara Streisand, saw it and just thought he'd send us that little bit of knowledge. But thank you thank you very much, Kai. ⁓ The final piece of correspondence though is the most exciting on the same short about Barbara Streisen. I don't know why lots of people will comment on this short, but ⁓ Johnny Caglioni has commented
James: Yeah. Brilliant, love it. Yeah, yeah, thank you. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah.
Simon: And he said, It was my honour to have first met and worked with the legendary production designer Richard Silber on Francis Coppola's The Cotton Club. And then on Dick Tracy we became even closer friends. I think of him often. ⁓ and I replied back to him ⁓ you know, just saying how how great their work was on the film, and he responded again He was instrumental in me getting on Warren's radar.
James: ⁓
Simon: having been in charge of Proshetics and Makeup's FX on the Cotton Club, along with Melina Connonero. Canonero, sorry. So he's just ⁓ and then I I said to him, you know, we need to get you on the show and tell some of these stories. and he said, You got it, would love to.
James: Wow. ⁓ wow. Yeah. ⁓ I'd be amazing if we can. I mean, you know, any stories that we can get from him, anything to do with, you know, his time on Dick Tracy and working in the makeup and prosthetics world would just be would be fascinating. Like just that little story there of just like, you know, reminiscing about Richard. You know, we didn't even know who Richard Silbert was until we looked into it and, you know, such a big player in this world and you know and obviously yeah, bringing back memories for for for John there as well. That's amazing.
Simon: Yeah, ⁓ but but weirdly not from that Barbara Streiser video. But I might I guess we mentioned him in passing, but I don't know whether John watched the whole episode, I'm not sure. But ⁓ yeah. Anyway, Mr Caglioni, sir, you are more than welcome. ⁓ we would be honoured to have you on here. ⁓ bring Warren along too.
James: No. Yeah. Absolutely. We could just video call him on
Simon: let's talk. ⁓ Mr Vittorio Storaro. think I got it right. James, have you got an introduction for our topic this week?
James: Yeah. ⁓ Light and Shadow ⁓ Colour and contrast, emotion written not in words but in images. Today we're diving into the world of the true master of cinema, a man who doesn't just shoot films but paints them. Vittorio Storaro, a three-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer whose collaborations with the directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bartolucci helped define some of the most visually iconic films ever made, from Apocalypse Now to The Last Emperor. ⁓ this episode we're going to be focusing focus Focusing on slightly different canvas, a film that pushes colour and style and comic booth aesthetics to its absolute limit. Obviously, Warren Beattie's Dick Tracy. It's a film that stands apart bold primary colours, styling lighting, and a visual language that feels closer to the graphic art than traditional cinema. And at the centre of it is Terraro's redefining what comic book movies could look like decades before it became the norm. So, does one of the greatest cinematographers of all time approach a world of Of flat colours and exaggerated reality. do you translate ink and paper into light and film? Let's in and find out.
Simon: Nice, very nice. Okay, Steraro. So he's still with us, which is amazing. I love the fact when we talk about someone who's still alive, ⁓ which is great. He's born in nineteen forty, ⁓ Italian, and he was into photography I I read from the age of eleven. ⁓ so he was on it. ⁓ and ⁓ in his early years he seems to have spent a lot of time looking at art galleries and and paintings. ⁓ and I I looked into ⁓ some of the sort of like
James: Wow. Okay.
Simon: post-expressionism paintings that he might ⁓ have sort of influenced him on Dick Tracy. And the one I came up with, which I could see Dick Tracy references in, and some people may think this is a log shot, but I I I can see it. Cafe Terrace at Night by our man Vincent Van Gogh or Vincent Van Gogh, as they would say in in his home country. Look at this. This picture here. I mean you can see the street
James: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ yeah.
Simon: The light, the sky, that you could almost see Dick Tracy running down that, couldn't you? ⁓ and we'll share it on the screen properly, but you can just see the way the yellow, the dark, the orange. So so a man whose cinematography journey starts in art, ⁓ which I think is is pretty cool. what did anything you found out about him in his early years?
James: You could. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Yeah, so when I had a look online I I saw that he ⁓ he enrolled at the Italian cinematograph training centre. ⁓ subsequently continued his at the State Cinematography School Centro. so he so when he enrolled so he there when he was eighteen, so he's one the youngest students, ⁓ that was ever there. And then when he was at twenty he got employed as an assistant cameraman. So he got into the f the film business, pretty early, you know, in in his career.
Simon: Yeah, So at twenty he was an assistant cameraman and and was that for you mentioned in your intro, ⁓ Bertalusci. ⁓
James: Yeah. Yeah, I I probably mispronounced that, in that in that trio. Yes, but it was, yeah, Bernardo Bertolucci. And that was his big in to his career. So I think he said it was like in nineteen sixty four, a film called Before the Revolution. and yeah, I mean like obviously I think like sixties Italian you got spaghetti westerns, haven't you? Sergio Leone kind of ⁓ director of that time. So I I ⁓
Simon: We yeah. You've got the you have the Italian like neorealism, which I think is slightly earlier, like the bicycle thieves and stuff like that. And then I guess Bertolucci comes off the back of that. But he obviously one of one of Italy's most famous directors. I I don't think I've seen a Bertolucci film actually. I'm sat here like thinking, ⁓ probably should have watched one. ⁓
James: You go. Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well the one that came up on there, I haven't seen it but I heard of it, was Last Tangame in Paris. Yeah, so that yeah. There you go then you have. I was like, well I recognised it and I thought you've probably seen that one. So yeah, so that's that
Simon: ⁓ is Bertolucci? Yeah. I have seen a Bertolucci film then, yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend Last Tango in Paris. I mean looks nice and it's got a great score, but you know, ⁓ just not not the best performance from Brando.
James: Yeah. Well it'll apparently I don't know how the if the dates kind of line up. ⁓ yeah it probably does, yeah, 'cause when I I was reading went on to do Apocalypse Now with Francis Ford Coppola. ⁓ and ⁓ yeah, but when he got that the offer to do that, he was really, really surprised. Because ⁓ I think it's Gordon Willis, I think I read, who was Coppola's ⁓
Simon: Yeah, yeah. Which obviously is, yeah, amazing. Yeah, yeah.
James: main cinematographers, he's a bit like kind of why why is he why am I getting picked and not and not him? And apparently it was largely because he worked with ⁓ Brando on Last Tango in Paris and Brando adlibbed a lot of his lines and his own movements and everything. And Coppola just thought that that ⁓ Storaro would be better a better fit of a cinematographer to work with Brando for Apocalypse Now. And and that was it. Even though
Simon: Yeah, yeah.
James: From memory, Brandon's not in an enormous amount of the film. It's only like the the back end of it from my memory.
Simon: Yeah, I just think is the scene throughout or or maybe he's not seen throughout. Two is there's so many cuts of Apocalypse now, I can never remember which is in which cut. ⁓
James: Yeah. But then who knows, there may have been way more intended footage of Brando and it all got cut down. But it's pretty crazy that that's that's apparently that's how he got it. Was was because of his photography that he did of Brando for Lost Hango in Paris.
Simon: Yeah. So I mean let's just get this for a second. The cinematographer of Dick Tracy is known for making classic Italian films with Bertolucci and then Apocalypse Now, Last Hangout Paris, and some other ones here, The Last Emperor, ⁓ Ladyhawk, Ishtar, Bulworth, Reds, and most importantly, Captain Eo the Michael The Michael Jackson ride from
James: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes. Is that what it ⁓ my god From Disney That thing no way the ⁓ my god Wow Surely that surely that was just for a payday No way
Simon: Yeah. Yeah. He he shot it, yeah. Well, according to IMDb, I'm not I I assume they're not making it up, but ⁓ Well no, maybe. But that I I read up on that ride. I just went down a bit of a rabbit hole. It was there for like, I don't know, fifteen, twenty years. And then it then it went in like the early two thousands and then when Jackson died, they brought it back for five years. So it was actually as as recently as like ten, fifteen years ago, you could have gone to see that that weird it was like a cinorama, wasn't it? And you just
James: Gods. Yeah. ⁓ my god. still could have seen it. Yeah it was. Yeah I I do remember going yeah it was like yeah big yeah kind of like curved screen 3D glasses an original kind of thirty five millimeter 3D as well. So ⁓ the original partwood
Simon: So the the man who shot Apocalypse Dow and did the cinematography also did Captain Eo. That's the power of Michael Jackson at the time, you know. You know. ⁓ so ⁓ moving swiftly on, ⁓ I have a quote here. He said,
James: Yeah. Well that is, that is, that is very true.
Simon: All great films are a resolution of a conflict between darkness and light which I thought was quite nice. ⁓ and I don't know about you, James, but I consulted our our book The Classic
James: Hmm. Okay, I like that. ⁓ yes. Yeah, the Dick Tracy Bible. There it is. ⁓
Simon: Hallelujah. ⁓ and there's lots in there, lots of information. Is there anything you want to share from the book ⁓ about our man Storaro
James: on on the colour side of things ⁓ he goes into into detail if you were mute the film ⁓ and just be able to watch it by colour alone. You should be able to determine ⁓ who who, kind of really who's good, who's bad, if you're in danger, if you're in ⁓ a safe place, and saying Tracy's ⁓ being like yellow, And then the kid you s first see him he's kind of come he's been lit by the sunrise and how the those colours ⁓ mix together you a feeling and it's really is, like when you go into it, it's ⁓ the effort that that was that was taken
Simon: Yeah, yeah. Well it says here in the book, on the sunny side of the street, the kid watched it all happen with an emotional blush of red. Mix his rosy colour with Tracy's yellow, and you find yourself baking in the warm orange of Tess true heart. Flat top prune face and mumbles are indigo keyed grotesques who only come out at night. And a creature lighted by the colour of blood and the light of the moon is breathless. You know, so I mean it's just so deep, isn't it?
James: Yeah.
Simon: but he puts a shot in here of just Tracy just walking down the street and it's just it's beautiful. It's just the yellow on the street. ⁓ and I think what he's trying to say is every time Tracy comes into a scene the yellow kind of floods it and when Big Boy comes in a scene it's blues. I can picture Big Boy in the club and it's very blue, isn't it, on New Year's Eve. ⁓
James: Yeah. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. But when you say that picture as well, it was like how obviously they must have like damped the road down ⁓ and then shone yellow light onto it so the whole road reflects that light. they do it ⁓ again. There's a there was another good picture in there. When ⁓ Breathless is like turning at Ritz Club ⁓ and they've done the same thing where then shone a pink light until a pink light is reflecting ⁓ off the ground. ⁓ as i as arriving. ⁓ But it but it's like it's subtle because I was like it it wouldn't it doesn't necessarily feel like that when you're watching it, ⁓ but these you know, very stark colours. there's like every part of the image is taken up ⁓
Simon: Yeah, yeah.
James: you with either darks of shadows or those vibrant colours and like you know leading you in a direction of like where to focus your attention towards.
Simon: Yeah. And he he says a lot about the black as well. He says black to me as especially in this movie is like a major character because when D tri Dick Tracy's fighting against the black of night, it represents a very dramatic element. So the colours in the foreground and the black is creeping in always from the sides. A bit like a Vincent van Gogh painting.
James: Mm. Yeah. Yes, yeah. ⁓ y yes. And they've got one to hand. ⁓ There was another like picture with the shadows. when Tracy is ⁓ you know when he's lying down in ⁓ the jail cell. And there's yeah, and you've got like the silhouette of the going through, but it's also got like a diagonal line.
Simon: Yeah.
James: Is it like saying how a Tracy's divides a composition of light and shadow? I guess maybe trying to say that he's still in the light, but but the shadow is so close ⁓ and and he be enveloped by it, implying that ⁓ he could be prison for a long time, is not get out. It's like it's ⁓ it's like a like a movie ⁓ of like and you know, creatures coming out of the shadows. ⁓ Yeah ⁓
Simon: Yeah, yeah. We're starting to sound like lecturers in ⁓ in fine art. ⁓ we haven't. But again, I mean this book is full of great quotes. I shall give you another one. Storaro's cinematography is a symphony of contrasting hues, a counterpoint of light and darkness, and a rhythmic variation of silhouettes and polished portraits. I mean I this is just poetry, isn't it? It's just poetry. ⁓
James: I know yeah. I haven't got a clue what we're talking about. Come on, please. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: I read that he invented ⁓ a camera ⁓ for this. Did you read that in your in your notes?
James: Y I you know what I I read there was a couple of things that he invented. There was something there was two things. One was there was Univision. Is that what you I think kinda know what it what it is. ⁓ So ⁓
Simon: Yep. Well i it says here it's a thirty five minute four thirty five millimeter form map based on film stock with free perforation that provides an aspect ratio of two to one, ⁓ which Stor Storaro feels is a good compromise between the two three five one and the one eight five one. Have we lost anyone there?
James: Yeah. Yeah. So I I I I I do yeah Because in thirty-five so in in the in the days of thirty-five millimeter, which still does exist, so you have for every frame of image there is four perforations. So if you had a 185 image, it's inside four perforations. So he's only using three, so he's made it ⁓ narrower. So he's using less stock, so you would actually save a quarter on stock because you're only using ⁓ your one perf less. and and then for you're using a smaller frame size and it and the ratio is then different.
Simon: Explain, James.
James: I think he said the reason he wanted to do that was to have his n a good middle ground between TV and film. Obviously TV back then was all four by three square, you know, CRT TVs.
Simon: Well how we would have seen this, isn't it? Most of us would have seen it.
James: Yeah. But but this is what's crazy is that two to one is now what everyone nicknames the Netflix ratio. So so many t films you watch on Netflix, when you put them on your T V there'll be a little bit of a black bar at the top and the bottom. So it doesn't feel the full screen, it's two to one because they've decided we don't want it if it feels full screen, that everyone thinks ⁓ that's TV. If you letterbox it that feels very, very filmic when you've got big black bars at the top and the bottom. So let's find this little kind of middle ground, which is TV but Also feeling filmic and it's like that kind of that's exactly what Steraro was doing all that time ago. He was he was looking for that middle ground but way ahead of of his time really.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. And just doing that on the side while he's sort of making Dick Tracy. I mean, is there anyone in this film that wasn't a genius in their field?
James: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ absolutely absolutely incredible. I mean there's nothing as I I had to kind of do a little bit of looking up. It was is what does a director of photography actually do? Like what is what is their job in the filmmaking process? That's it the d at the DOP. And so I I kind of put tried to put some little kind of bullet points together
Simon: The DOP.
James: so much of their actual work is largely done before filming. ⁓ So they'd meet up the director and ⁓ yeah, eventually with set costume designers like Milena and Richard, ⁓ and to come up how the film will be actually ⁓ presented. It's it does I think it says in in the book as well that ⁓ Warren ⁓ and ⁓ didn't speak much during filming ⁓ because they'd already worked exactly what it is they wanted. To do and how they were going to present it, and so just where we just kind of get on and do it. so obviously I would have met up with Warren to get an idea of how the actual film was going to be represented on screen. so then they're kind then his responsibilities would have been picking what cameras they were going to use, what the lenses that they were going to use in the cameras, what the type of film stock that ⁓ was going to be used. the massive one is obviously lights and all the lighting, and then obviously for this film. lots lots of colour lighting which was don't think quite as widely used back then. doing all like your focus so when you're building a shot, deciding what is in focus, what's out of focus to divert the ⁓ audience's onto things. so much that he is is having to ⁓ As well as ⁓ when actually filming ⁓ might be advising the cameraman how to ⁓ but a of the time
Simon: Mm-hmm.
James: It's quite common for DOPs just to just get on the camera and actually shoot it themselves. yeah, and and one of the things for Dick Tracy, there was there's there's not a lot of panning shots, there's not if if any ⁓ like hand yeah, exactly, yeah. And now now you really I'm like, of course, yeah, of course it was.
Simon: Yeah, 'cause they want they ha they know their vision and how it should look. It's it's all static, I think, I read. The camera never moves. I I was thinking the only time I could think of it moving, and I'm sure I'm wrong, is in the boiler room when it about to blow up, you know, and Tracy's tied to the chair. I thought the camera was sort of zooming into the the f you know, the furnace or boiler wherever it is. ⁓ but I may
James: Yeah. I think that could be the way it was edited. I think it the way it's edited makes it feel like you're going in and out. Be like yeah, you look at the gas valve it's going up, you go back to Tracy's trying to undo the rope and then you cut back to the kid and he's breaking the window. Yeah.
Simon: Just quick shots. Yeah. Yeah, because you go mid shot, close up, like, you know, whatever extreme close up, you you you're getting that flow but without but keeping it static. I yeah, I mean again, another reason to watch the film. But no, I I I think that was really interesting as well. He's trying to keep it like the comic strip as well. He's trying to keep the the look ⁓ static shots in colour, using the same colour palettes as this comic strip would have used, you know, in a in a particular frame. I mean the detail, the detail.
James: Yeah. Yep. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm. Yeah, exactly. Ama amazing, amazing effort. you're saying about other things ⁓ he created ⁓ is I've read as that he this thing called the ENR process. ⁓
Simon: Okay.
James: But basically i it was Technicolor in Rome. So kind of w where obviously where he was born. he developed it in the eighties. ⁓ And I think you used it on reds at first. And it was a basically a way of of developing enabled you to increase the black level and make the contrast greater. in the the developing process of the film you would it would go through the developing bath an extra time and you ⁓ we would get silver onto the actual film to kind of increase the contrast. ⁓ So no and think he did that for ⁓ Dick Tracy,
Simon: I was just trying to find out what it means. ⁓ I still can't find what ENR means. Can't find a an ex explanation of the acronym. Nope. If you know, let us know. ⁓ just says print process. ⁓ but
James: Yeah. Yeah, I guess when I looked it just said this it was just this print process. But other films that used it, so ⁓ used it ⁓ and you think, yeah, Seven is really contrasty, really, really punchy. ⁓ Saving Ryan, so Spielberg did it well for that. ⁓ And also Spielberg did it for War the Worlds in two thousand and five. ⁓
Simon: ⁓ okay. Yeah, yeah. ⁓ wow. Okay.
James: yeah, so again it's it's these are all I mean I don't think that many movies now only the big directors get to shoot on thirty-five now. Most films are all shot digitally. so all these all these tactics, it was a totally organic process and a chemical process. ⁓ you know, before you had ones and zeros and digits, you had to you you were you know like a like a scientist like Heisenberg of thirty-five millimeter
Simon: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's why in a hundred years from now Dick Tracy's still gonna look so good. ⁓ so just moving slightly on, ⁓ our man John Caglioni gets mentioned as well in the book. ⁓ so it said for prosphetics designer John Caglioni, Storaro built a special mirror with different coloured lighting, white, orange, blue, very warm light, very cold light. This enabled Caglioni to test his prosphetics under a a kaleidoscope of effects and
James: Yeah. ⁓ yeah?
Simon: Plan the necessary adjust adjustments before actually filming. Close collaboration and a meticulous eye for detail resulted in a spectacular rogue gallery in Dick Tracy. The bad guys really look horrific. So he's matching the makeup of their faces to the lighting. So I mean the he designed a mirror, a special mirror.
James: Wow. God. So yeah, to to project light in of different colours in places to to highlight out their prosthetics.
Simon: So let's just get you walking to Dick Tracy's set one day, your Barbara Streisand, for example. You've got Mileno there with her fabrics that she's imported from across the world to match the colour. You've got Caglioni working there with a special mirror trying to match the makeup over several hours. You've got our man Silbert, you know, building the sets and painting them in a separate way. You've got steraro there, you know, getting the lighting right for the shots, Warren Beattie getting ready to film.
James: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: I mean, this is insane. And then the shot might be, I know, the rodent sat there at a table playing cards.
James: Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, the yeah the the the level of effort and detail and and time taken is ⁓ yeah, I I absolutely love it. Yeah. And it's yeah, yeah. I I d I don't think I mean we may find at some point there is a corner cut somewhere, but we haven't found it yet.
Simon: Love it. Cannot love it enough. ⁓ I know, no y no no one has maybe they cut the corner on like the best boy or something.
James: Yeah. ⁓ another thing I was thinking on colours before we carry on was so breathless. And I we need to go back and check this, but does she only ever wear black or
Simon: ⁓
James: or white. They're the only colours she wears. And obviously you include the blank in ⁓ as well. So i Ian, you meant kinda is that like something you could kind of figure out? Because nobody else dressed all in dresses in black. So there's like a connecting part there to see breathless and
Simon: Yeah. Well the only one Belips dresses in black and white, doesn't he? I I in my head. But he even he has a tint of red. Yeah, yeah. ⁓ no, I think you're right about her.
James: Yeah. But that's because he's in his tuxedo in the club, isn't it? But But yeah, but breathless, yeah. Do does does she yeah, does she wear another an outfit that isn't black or white? I don't think ⁓ so it and is it that thing of y again, it's where you start reading and thinking about it so much now that like, you know, the if black and white, you know, it's good, it's bad, And it and for her, she is in that conundrum of like, ⁓ is she gonna go be Tracy to be good, is she gonna go to big boy and be bad?
Simon: Yeah, she's down the centre, isn't she? Yeah.
James: Yeah, she yeah, she is like so binary. She can either go to the extreme good or extreme bad, and that's the only that's the only direction she can go in.
Simon: Yeah. Good good point. That's that's actually left me thinking now. I'm trying to rack my brain to think of any more shots of her. back here yet.
James: Yeah. Yeah I'm sure someone's gonna get back and go, yeah she wore some pink scarf in the ri one of the Ritz club scenes. I'll be like, ⁓ damn it. Yeah.
Simon: Yeah, that seemed where she's cooking at home in a in a pinny. So, Storaro won some Academy Awards, didn't he, as well, ⁓ for his ⁓ cinematography. Won for Reds, was that right?
James: Yes. he did, yes, ⁓ obviously at two years to he won it for Apocalypse Now ⁓ as well. ⁓ Yeah. ⁓ And ⁓ then last he won it for was yeah, The Last Emperor, ⁓ which ⁓ we did mention. I seen Last Emperor, it's a good film. Who who directed that?
Simon: ⁓ of course, yeah.
James: Bernardo ⁓ Bertolucci. So there you go. I have seen one of his films then. I've s I have seen The Last Emperor. ⁓
Simon: You have, it was Bertolucci. What was the Scorsese film then that sounds almost like that? ⁓ Cundun. Cundun looks like a very similar cover.
James: okay. That was I was thinking the last temptation of Christ Yeah
Simon: Yeah, similar year. Yeah, so I've seen Last Tango in Paris and you've seen The Last Emperor, but none of us have seen his early classic black and white films.
James: Yeah, there we go. W we Yeah. No Yeah. We've we've got we've got him covered with those two. That that that's all we need. Yeah.
Simon: we skip the conformist. So he talks about Warren Beatty in the book and he says, ⁓ for Warren, everything is in connection to the character. He's facing the scene from the inside, from the character's point of view. And I like that as a piece of direction, the character has a color, has a purpose. Well, just like you were saying about Madonna, it's all focused on the character in Dick Tracy.
James: Mm. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: And you think of other films from the time period, it's all about the story or the sets or the locations. But this film is very character driven. The fact you can name 10 characters straight away, watching it once, you could probably name 10 characters. ⁓
James: Mm. Yeah, yeah. Yep, that's it. Yeah. And and you can and you can explain what they look like and and you remember it so clearly because of how vivid they are.
Simon: Mm.
James: Isn't it as well? You're right, it's quite rare to have characters done so vividly. And again, it it's just just like a a comic book, isn't it? It's the whole idea is that they're meant to be standout characters that you remember, and hence their yeah, their faces being, you know, so warped with prosthetics so it stands out. And it's I think it was that thing as well, saying that how it was it's meant to be like they are the the worst, the most evil things that are around. So it's like and then pushing that to the extreme, making them really grotesque and really horrible. It's like it's like things of your nightmares. And that is what they are meant to be.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. And the color of the, like you said earlier, the indigos or whatever, emphasizing that, aren't they? When I watched Bullworth recently, which we'll get to Warren Beatty at some point, but I noticed in that a lot of the scenes suddenly had this weird green tint, because he was the cinematographer on that.
James: Hm, yeah. Mm-hmm. ⁓ huh.
Simon: And it seemed, and I was trying to work out as I was watching it, I was thinking it was relating to the bad guys or when someone was making a poor decision, they had this like green lighting. But yeah, it was interesting. He's got me thinking when I watch his films now, what he's trying to do with the colours. And I will be watching his films because they all look really good.
James: Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause it's such Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I I guess it's that thing, isn't it? Like any good craftsman or artist or professional, you're ⁓ you know, picking up on it obviously. It it's all the subtleties, it's all meant to subconsciously make you think something or feel something. and that's the best way. Which in in a sad way it maybe doesn't get the appreciation it deserves 'cause it's not it's not shouting at you and telling you. You're you're subconsciously picking it up and it's it's moving and telling the story as it goes.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. He was nominated for Dick Tracy, which we've discussed on our awards episode, but he was beaten by... Was it Dancers with Wolves?
James: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I think it was. Yeah, that beat most films, didn't it, that year?
Simon: think it was. He won for The Last Emperor, which we've said. He won for Reds. He won for Apocalypse Now. I think he's one of the few people to have won three times for cinematography, isn't he? He's one of the...
James: Yeah. I think he is, yeah. Th and there's also as early he won an award. I don't if you've read ⁓ there's like it's like the the what the top cinema ⁓ photography award. And I think he it's only one other non American to ever win that award. him and one other one other guy. So yeah, he's
Simon: He won the BAFTA for The Sheltering Sky, ⁓ nominated for BAFTAs for all the films we've mentioned. Outstanding achievement in cinematography and theatrical releases. ASC Award, American Society of Cinematography, that was it for Dick Tracy. ⁓ A Silver Condor Award. I mean, he's not short of awards looking at this and nominated and still working. ⁓
James: Mm. Hey, how cool?
Simon: You know, still working hard and making stuff. His last film for anyone that's interested, the last thing he seems to worked on was Coupe de Charts in 2023. And it looks like he worked on some Woody Allen films as well in the 2010s. So he's still out there, still working. know, 80 odd years old. The last quote from the book here.
James: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: He just says about Dick Tracy and he says, course the Dick Tracy movie is not exactly a transfer of the Dick Tracy cartoon because they're two different art forms. Our picture is inspired by the comic strip, but it has to be something original, something different. It has to be a movie. We spent a lot of energy in the design and doing the film. We think it's really an original piece of work. Storaro, so do we.
James: Yeah. Yep. Got off out.
Simon: ⁓ Anything else you want to add James about, know,
James: such new territory that this was going into at time ⁓ and know, with comic book films the norm now and all this hyper stuff ⁓ and ⁓ doing it back then and doing it such an analogue manner ⁓ so difficult but but pulled it off so well. ⁓ every week, ⁓ you know, I get a more amazed Dick Tracy and movie making process. what I've been I enjoy doing these ⁓ these episodes and ⁓ about how the film is made. And it i the appreciation level just just going up and ⁓
Simon: Can you think of a modern comic book film where it looks as good as Dick Tracy? that I'm just trying to think We mentioned Sin City before, we'll take that off the table. But other than those two, is there another film that looks as good as these? Like in like the Marvel Universe?
James: Mm. Yeah. ⁓ yeah, yeah, I mean the only other one that I was thinking about was like was like Viva Vendetta. Like yeah, but I think that leans a little bit more t to the to realism than comic. And I and the comic is quite real anyway, but that's quite dark. I haven't seen it in quite a few years. Like it's it feels a little stylity, not too dissimilar to Dick Tracy Moore, it's just a lot feels at night time. But but still it's like not it's still not on that same level that that that Dick Tracy is.
Simon: Yeah, I mean, know, Batman Returns is a good looking film as well, but that's down to sets, a lot of that. I'm not sure that's necessary about lighting, but ⁓ it probably is. But I don't remember the Penguin always being shone with like blue lights, you know. ⁓
James: Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It it too, it's in a crazy way. I feel like Kubrick could have been a kind of person to have done something like this. And like I because all of his films are stylistically so different from one another. And I feel that he could have done Dick Tracy and I think he would have done it a bit like this. I mean I kind of he would have pushed the boat out really, really far. I mean it wouldn't I don't think it would be, you know, as as kid friendly. so
Simon: you He just would have slotted in a signal in the rain, know, beat down in the middle of it, yeah.
James: Yeah Yeah, exactly. But but again he didn't do it, did he? But it's that it's crazy to think I can only think of people who might have done something like him. Like like this, like Warren, but but no one I can th I can think has any is he's done anything close.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. there's an episode of what if Kubrick had made Dick Tracy. Yeah, that's a deep dive episode for the future. We start doing what ifs. Okay, well I think we've covered him and I hope he keeps making films and keeps working. And if he's out there and he's listening to this and he speaks English, he's welcome on the show. In fact, he's welcome. If he speaks Italian, we'll learn it just to get him on here.
James: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, please do. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. We'll pretend we understand and just nod our way through.
Simon: Okay, so that brings us James to, as we get to the end of the episode, purchase of the week. Have we made any Dick Tracy purchases? I haven't this week, which is a shock, I know, because every week I tend to be buying something. Have you?
James: ⁓ wow. Okay. Now that is Yeah. I I have made a purchase this week. it's an upgrade purchase, this one. So I ⁓ my copy, I have two copies of ⁓ Dick Tracy. ⁓ I have a VHS that I got ⁓ in like ninety-one or whenever it came out. ⁓ I've got a which I believe you got me in probably the early two thousands. ⁓ but I was like, so I need to go up from VHS to DVD. ⁓ So I've I've moved up in the world and gone. ⁓
Simon: Yes.
James: my Blu-ray. So I've I've got a a proper ten eighty p blu-ray of ⁓ Dick Tracy. Yep, there is there is
Simon: Thanks. hacked with features.
James: There's nothing. There they're there there isn't anything. No, nothing on there. ⁓ and we can just keep our fingers crossed for when the UHD version comes out and we get a four K version. and yeah. And then and then it'll probably get yeah, might get some features then. You never know, you never know. Hmm.
Simon: You time. Well, your Blu-ray, mine's in a steelbook box, obviously, but yours will be the same. You've got the same disc, surely. I can't imagine there'd be any difference.
James: Yes. Yeah, yeah. I I th I'm sure I'm sure it'll be exact it'll be the same version, yeah, I think so. You've just got a much fancier box than than I have. ⁓
Simon: Yeah, that's right. Good, I'm glad you finally got a copy of that. That's good. It was killing me that you were watching it on DVD. was like, no, we've got to sort this out, you know.
James: Yeah. I know. I know. So I actually yeah, I've got to I've got to watch it 'cause I've I have never watched an H D version of Vic Tracy. So
Simon: I might watch mine this week as well just to appreciate all that cinematography.
James: I th I th ⁓ y yeah, yeah, well there we go. What what better excuse do you need? yeah, that that is that is it for this week. So ⁓ I've got my eye on something else and I think I will be getting. So next week I'm I almost certainly will have another purchase.
Simon: Any more purchases? was it just that? And I'll let you in on secret, there's something coming from America that's coming our way. So we shall reveal on a future episode. It's Warren Beatty in a suitcase. Got someone to kidnap him. Okay, that has been it for Talking Dick, the Dick Tracy Movie Podcast. We'll be back next week. ⁓ Until then.
James: Okay, lovely, like it. He's here Yep. See you next time. Yes. Kick talk a dick. Cheers.
Simon: Keep talking dick. Yeah.
James: ⁓ James A Dilling ⁓
Simon: James, how is your E week ago in James? ⁓ lucky. This is racial stereotyping. ⁓ this week we are talking about Vittorio Storaro. ⁓ I've tried so hard to get that name right and I've messed it up. Vittorio Storaro. Yeah? Is that what we're saying? I think that's right. Yeah. Yeah, what a name. ⁓ hence why we're going down the Italian theme route.
James: Having a great time. I think I think that's right. Vittorious Dorraro. Yeah. Exactly, yeah, yeah. I should have done, yeah.
Simon: Should have put a little Italian flag up in the background. are we sure he's born in Italy? I'm not sure. ⁓
James: I no well, I I I think he was. I think he was. I'm gonna I'm gonna put a put a put a punt that he definitely was born in Italy. ⁓ even more cliche. Yeah.
Simon: I think he was born in Rome or from Rome, so ⁓ we'll we'll we'll come to that we'll come to that in a minute. ⁓ before we get into that, ⁓ before we started, James, I sent you a video of so they have these things online where people do AI then and now, don't they? So you have like Onold Schwarzenegger and his younger self and they're like just sort of looking at each other and smiling. And someone had done a Dick Tracy one and I was
James: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Simon: All excited, thinking this is brilliant, cast and crew, you know, Dick Tracy, watched it and it was terrible.
James: Yeah. Yeah, it was bad. It it i it was the epitome of what AI slop is. ⁓ it's like yeah, some of the ones you see look really good, but like the one is ⁓ Flat Top and then William Forsyth. And it starts off like he looks okay as top, and then when he turns, his hair just goes into a big buffon instead. ⁓ He's not even flat top anymore. ⁓ I probably am actually. ⁓ I mean, watch and be prepared to be entertained.
Simon: You're making it sound better than it is. But yeah.
James: But not to be impressed.
Simon: Yeah, and ⁓ Al Pacino just looks even more like Hitler in it as Alpac ⁓ as big boy, doesn't he? It's just just weird. ⁓ so yeah, if you go on YouTube type in then and now Dick Tracy, someone has has gone to minimal effort to produce a video. Right, correspondence. I always like to start with a bit of correspondence, ⁓ and we have had some this week. ⁓
James: He does. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Cool.
Simon: So on our Framing the World set design and art direction, ⁓ Queen Street Entertainment writes, ⁓ love the look of Dick Tracy movie. Everything they did was genius. Brought myself a few of the magnets this week.
James: in 1990 one of the greatest comic book adaptations ever made burst onto the big screen Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy With its star-studded cast, bold colours, unforgettable villains and a tidal wave of merchandise, this film became a short-lived but powerful cultural phenomenon. Now, more than 30 years later, this podcast is here to explore, unpack and dissect this brightly coloured masterpiece, week by week, scene by scene. So pull up a chair at the Southside Warehouse, because there's going to be a big payoff. ⁓ nice. Getting on the ⁓ on the merch there.
Simon: We need to cover those magnets. We keep talking about it. ⁓ Jedi Yoda Bush, ⁓ our good friend, ⁓ commented on the McDonald's one and said, You guys are bad influences. Now I need McDonald's and a new tie.
James: You do yeah. Brilliant. This is what we're trying to do.
Simon: Yeah, a lot of love for my tie, by the way. I I'm I'm always appreciating the love for the tie. ⁓ Haunted Nerds writes on the McDonald's ones, ⁓ Touchstone Pictures was the Disney distribution label that they set up for films that were mature, ⁓ more mature than the films released under the Disney label. In Memory Serves, I think Splash was the first film distributed by Touchstone.
James: Yeah. Mm-hmm. ⁓ wow. It's good do a little bit of trivia there.
Simon: Yeah. Great movie, Splash as well.
James: Yeah, and another thing as well with the touchstone logo I I found, 'cause we did talk about this, but i usually it comes across as like blue and it and then gets to the end and does a flash. But at the beginning of Dick Tracy they decided to just do it in black and white. So it's just it's just a white touchstone logo and a flash. So it's not the blue like everything else. Yeah. Exactly. Go back, watch it again, just for the touchstone logo at the start.
Simon: That's right, yeah. ⁓ never noticed that. That's ⁓ enough for excuse to watch Dick Tracy.
James: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, doing s altering any logo is quite a an odd one because it it's so important to the companies their logos. So manipulating it in any form is quite a risky move.
Simon: ⁓ that's good, that's a great bit of knowledge. I wonder if it varies for other films as well. I wonder if there's any other touchstone films where it slightly alters it. ⁓ Yeah, they did feel like Warner Brothers with ⁓ some of the films, they changed the colour of it, don't they? I feel like Yeah.
James: Yeah, the Harry Potter do the they have they have a kind of theme around it, don't they, with owls flying and stuff like that.
Simon: I feel like the Matrix did soak with it as well. But I I maybe I've just imagined that. In my head it feels like it's different in the Matrix.
James: Thanks for listening. you'd like to get in touch, you can email us at dtmoviepodcast at gmail.com. You'll also find us on X and Instagram at dtmoviepodcast. Or come and join our group, the Dick Tracy Movie Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to check out our YouTube channel for bonus videos and extra content. Yeah. Yeah. But again, something that's done so much now was never done thirty plus years ago. And yet Dick Tracy started it. No we can't, no he can't. I'm gonna say it.
Simon: You did we can't verify that, but we'll we'll take it. We'll take it. ⁓ on the McDonald's one again, ⁓ Chadicus, new new new name I've not come across before. Pretty sure that McDonald's tying game started with their Monopoly game
James: Okay.
Simon: such a huge thing. ⁓ I didn't think the Monopoly game went that far, but it was definitely around the nineties, wasn't it? Monopoly game.
James: No. ⁓ yeah, definitely. Unless it went you know, started earlier in the in the States before we had it.
Simon: Yeah. Yeah, it's quite possible. and one more on our Flat Top Applause Dole short, ⁓ Jedi Yodabush again writes, Flat Top was banned from the Olympics because of this. ⁓ balancing on his head upside down.
James: ⁓ yeah. He'd get straight tens, wouldn't he otherwise?
Simon: Yeah. ⁓ but the the real big comments this week ⁓ come from ⁓ celebrities, James. on Instagram. I s I use the term celebrity loosely, but a guy named Kil Arnes, yeah, and I had to look him up, but ⁓ Kai Arnes is an American artist and graphic designer. ⁓ he owns a
James: ⁓ okay, okay. Yeah. Okay.
Simon: Gallery in Los Angeles, the La La Land Gallery, and seems to do a lot of sort of I guess it looks like kind of Andy Warhol type character. And on our Barbara Streisand short, he commented, Did you happen to see the last album cover from Barbara Bar from Barbara's duets record? You should take a peek at it, let me know what you think. And so I had a look at it, and I believe the one he's referring to is one where she released an album called Walls, just walls, and it's just her like climbing up a wall.
James: Okay. Okay. Right. And this was the shot we were talking about where she went in onto set said Richard about how this room looked amazing and he was like, ⁓ It's a blank wall. ⁓ So so she had a thing for blank walls? ⁓
Simon: Yeah, so I can only assume that this this guy in LA, this ⁓ artist bloke, saw was well no searched Barbara Streisand, saw it and just thought he'd send us that little bit of knowledge. But thank you thank you very much, Kai. ⁓ The final piece of correspondence though is the most exciting on the same short about Barbara Streisen. I don't know why lots of people will comment on this short, but ⁓ Johnny Caglioni has commented
James: Yeah. Brilliant, love it. Yeah, yeah, thank you. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah.
Simon: And he said, It was my honour to have first met and worked with the legendary production designer Richard Silber on Francis Coppola's The Cotton Club. And then on Dick Tracy we became even closer friends. I think of him often. ⁓ and I replied back to him ⁓ you know, just saying how how great their work was on the film, and he responded again He was instrumental in me getting on Warren's radar.
James: ⁓
Simon: having been in charge of Proshetics and Makeup's FX on the Cotton Club, along with Melina Connonero. Canonero, sorry. So he's just ⁓ and then I I said to him, you know, we need to get you on the show and tell some of these stories. and he said, You got it, would love to.
James: Wow. ⁓ wow. Yeah. ⁓ I'd be amazing if we can. I mean, you know, any stories that we can get from him, anything to do with, you know, his time on Dick Tracy and working in the makeup and prosthetics world would just be would be fascinating. Like just that little story there of just like, you know, reminiscing about Richard. You know, we didn't even know who Richard Silbert was until we looked into it and, you know, such a big player in this world and you know and obviously yeah, bringing back memories for for for John there as well. That's amazing.
Simon: Yeah, ⁓ but but weirdly not from that Barbara Streiser video. But I might I guess we mentioned him in passing, but I don't know whether John watched the whole episode, I'm not sure. But ⁓ yeah. Anyway, Mr Caglioni, sir, you are more than welcome. ⁓ we would be honoured to have you on here. ⁓ bring Warren along too.
James: No. Yeah. Absolutely. We could just video call him on
Simon: let's talk. ⁓ Mr Vittorio Storaro. think I got it right. James, have you got an introduction for our topic this week?
James: Yeah. ⁓ Light and Shadow ⁓ Colour and contrast, emotion written not in words but in images. Today we're diving into the world of the true master of cinema, a man who doesn't just shoot films but paints them. Vittorio Storaro, a three-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer whose collaborations with the directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bartolucci helped define some of the most visually iconic films ever made, from Apocalypse Now to The Last Emperor. ⁓ this episode we're going to be focusing focus Focusing on slightly different canvas, a film that pushes colour and style and comic booth aesthetics to its absolute limit. Obviously, Warren Beattie's Dick Tracy. It's a film that stands apart bold primary colours, styling lighting, and a visual language that feels closer to the graphic art than traditional cinema. And at the centre of it is Terraro's redefining what comic book movies could look like decades before it became the norm. So, does one of the greatest cinematographers of all time approach a world of Of flat colours and exaggerated reality. do you translate ink and paper into light and film? Let's in and find out.
Simon: Nice, very nice. Okay, Steraro. So he's still with us, which is amazing. I love the fact when we talk about someone who's still alive, ⁓ which is great. He's born in nineteen forty, ⁓ Italian, and he was into photography I I read from the age of eleven. ⁓ so he was on it. ⁓ and ⁓ in his early years he seems to have spent a lot of time looking at art galleries and and paintings. ⁓ and I I looked into ⁓ some of the sort of like
James: Wow. Okay.
Simon: post-expressionism paintings that he might ⁓ have sort of influenced him on Dick Tracy. And the one I came up with, which I could see Dick Tracy references in, and some people may think this is a log shot, but I I I can see it. Cafe Terrace at Night by our man Vincent Van Gogh or Vincent Van Gogh, as they would say in in his home country. Look at this. This picture here. I mean you can see the street
James: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ yeah.
Simon: The light, the sky, that you could almost see Dick Tracy running down that, couldn't you? ⁓ and we'll share it on the screen properly, but you can just see the way the yellow, the dark, the orange. So so a man whose cinematography journey starts in art, ⁓ which I think is is pretty cool. what did anything you found out about him in his early years?
James: You could. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Yeah, so when I had a look online I I saw that he ⁓ he enrolled at the Italian cinematograph training centre. ⁓ subsequently continued his at the State Cinematography School Centro. so he so when he enrolled so he there when he was eighteen, so he's one the youngest students, ⁓ that was ever there. And then when he was at twenty he got employed as an assistant cameraman. So he got into the f the film business, pretty early, you know, in in his career.
Simon: Yeah, So at twenty he was an assistant cameraman and and was that for you mentioned in your intro, ⁓ Bertalusci. ⁓
James: Yeah. Yeah, I I probably mispronounced that, in that in that trio. Yes, but it was, yeah, Bernardo Bertolucci. And that was his big in to his career. So I think he said it was like in nineteen sixty four, a film called Before the Revolution. and yeah, I mean like obviously I think like sixties Italian you got spaghetti westerns, haven't you? Sergio Leone kind of ⁓ director of that time. So I I ⁓
Simon: We yeah. You've got the you have the Italian like neorealism, which I think is slightly earlier, like the bicycle thieves and stuff like that. And then I guess Bertolucci comes off the back of that. But he obviously one of one of Italy's most famous directors. I I don't think I've seen a Bertolucci film actually. I'm sat here like thinking, ⁓ probably should have watched one. ⁓
James: You go. Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well the one that came up on there, I haven't seen it but I heard of it, was Last Tangame in Paris. Yeah, so that yeah. There you go then you have. I was like, well I recognised it and I thought you've probably seen that one. So yeah, so that's that
Simon: ⁓ is Bertolucci? Yeah. I have seen a Bertolucci film then, yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend Last Tango in Paris. I mean looks nice and it's got a great score, but you know, ⁓ just not not the best performance from Brando.
James: Yeah. Well it'll apparently I don't know how the if the dates kind of line up. ⁓ yeah it probably does, yeah, 'cause when I I was reading went on to do Apocalypse Now with Francis Ford Coppola. ⁓ and ⁓ yeah, but when he got that the offer to do that, he was really, really surprised. Because ⁓ I think it's Gordon Willis, I think I read, who was Coppola's ⁓
Simon: Yeah, yeah. Which obviously is, yeah, amazing. Yeah, yeah.
James: main cinematographers, he's a bit like kind of why why is he why am I getting picked and not and not him? And apparently it was largely because he worked with ⁓ Brando on Last Tango in Paris and Brando adlibbed a lot of his lines and his own movements and everything. And Coppola just thought that that ⁓ Storaro would be better a better fit of a cinematographer to work with Brando for Apocalypse Now. And and that was it. Even though
Simon: Yeah, yeah.
James: From memory, Brandon's not in an enormous amount of the film. It's only like the the back end of it from my memory.
Simon: Yeah, I just think is the scene throughout or or maybe he's not seen throughout. Two is there's so many cuts of Apocalypse now, I can never remember which is in which cut. ⁓
James: Yeah. But then who knows, there may have been way more intended footage of Brando and it all got cut down. But it's pretty crazy that that's that's apparently that's how he got it. Was was because of his photography that he did of Brando for Lost Hango in Paris.
Simon: Yeah. So I mean let's just get this for a second. The cinematographer of Dick Tracy is known for making classic Italian films with Bertolucci and then Apocalypse Now, Last Hangout Paris, and some other ones here, The Last Emperor, ⁓ Ladyhawk, Ishtar, Bulworth, Reds, and most importantly, Captain Eo the Michael The Michael Jackson ride from
James: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes. Is that what it ⁓ my god From Disney That thing no way the ⁓ my god Wow Surely that surely that was just for a payday No way
Simon: Yeah. Yeah. He he shot it, yeah. Well, according to IMDb, I'm not I I assume they're not making it up, but ⁓ Well no, maybe. But that I I read up on that ride. I just went down a bit of a rabbit hole. It was there for like, I don't know, fifteen, twenty years. And then it then it went in like the early two thousands and then when Jackson died, they brought it back for five years. So it was actually as as recently as like ten, fifteen years ago, you could have gone to see that that weird it was like a cinorama, wasn't it? And you just
James: Gods. Yeah. ⁓ my god. still could have seen it. Yeah it was. Yeah I I do remember going yeah it was like yeah big yeah kind of like curved screen 3D glasses an original kind of thirty five millimeter 3D as well. So ⁓ the original partwood
Simon: So the the man who shot Apocalypse Dow and did the cinematography also did Captain Eo. That's the power of Michael Jackson at the time, you know. You know. ⁓ so ⁓ moving swiftly on, ⁓ I have a quote here. He said,
James: Yeah. Well that is, that is, that is very true.
Simon: All great films are a resolution of a conflict between darkness and light which I thought was quite nice. ⁓ and I don't know about you, James, but I consulted our our book The Classic
James: Hmm. Okay, I like that. ⁓ yes. Yeah, the Dick Tracy Bible. There it is. ⁓
Simon: Hallelujah. ⁓ and there's lots in there, lots of information. Is there anything you want to share from the book ⁓ about our man Storaro
James: on on the colour side of things ⁓ he goes into into detail if you were mute the film ⁓ and just be able to watch it by colour alone. You should be able to determine ⁓ who who, kind of really who's good, who's bad, if you're in danger, if you're in ⁓ a safe place, and saying Tracy's ⁓ being like yellow, And then the kid you s first see him he's kind of come he's been lit by the sunrise and how the those colours ⁓ mix together you a feeling and it's really is, like when you go into it, it's ⁓ the effort that that was that was taken
Simon: Yeah, yeah. Well it says here in the book, on the sunny side of the street, the kid watched it all happen with an emotional blush of red. Mix his rosy colour with Tracy's yellow, and you find yourself baking in the warm orange of Tess true heart. Flat top prune face and mumbles are indigo keyed grotesques who only come out at night. And a creature lighted by the colour of blood and the light of the moon is breathless. You know, so I mean it's just so deep, isn't it?
James: Yeah.
Simon: but he puts a shot in here of just Tracy just walking down the street and it's just it's beautiful. It's just the yellow on the street. ⁓ and I think what he's trying to say is every time Tracy comes into a scene the yellow kind of floods it and when Big Boy comes in a scene it's blues. I can picture Big Boy in the club and it's very blue, isn't it, on New Year's Eve. ⁓
James: Yeah. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. But when you say that picture as well, it was like how obviously they must have like damped the road down ⁓ and then shone yellow light onto it so the whole road reflects that light. they do it ⁓ again. There's a there was another good picture in there. When ⁓ Breathless is like turning at Ritz Club ⁓ and they've done the same thing where then shone a pink light until a pink light is reflecting ⁓ off the ground. ⁓ as i as arriving. ⁓ But it but it's like it's subtle because I was like it it wouldn't it doesn't necessarily feel like that when you're watching it, ⁓ but these you know, very stark colours. there's like every part of the image is taken up ⁓
Simon: Yeah, yeah.
James: you with either darks of shadows or those vibrant colours and like you know leading you in a direction of like where to focus your attention towards.
Simon: Yeah. And he he says a lot about the black as well. He says black to me as especially in this movie is like a major character because when D tri Dick Tracy's fighting against the black of night, it represents a very dramatic element. So the colours in the foreground and the black is creeping in always from the sides. A bit like a Vincent van Gogh painting.
James: Mm. Yeah. Yes, yeah. ⁓ y yes. And they've got one to hand. ⁓ There was another like picture with the shadows. when Tracy is ⁓ you know when he's lying down in ⁓ the jail cell. And there's yeah, and you've got like the silhouette of the going through, but it's also got like a diagonal line.
Simon: Yeah.
James: Is it like saying how a Tracy's divides a composition of light and shadow? I guess maybe trying to say that he's still in the light, but but the shadow is so close ⁓ and and he be enveloped by it, implying that ⁓ he could be prison for a long time, is not get out. It's like it's ⁓ it's like a like a movie ⁓ of like and you know, creatures coming out of the shadows. ⁓ Yeah ⁓
Simon: Yeah, yeah. We're starting to sound like lecturers in ⁓ in fine art. ⁓ we haven't. But again, I mean this book is full of great quotes. I shall give you another one. Storaro's cinematography is a symphony of contrasting hues, a counterpoint of light and darkness, and a rhythmic variation of silhouettes and polished portraits. I mean I this is just poetry, isn't it? It's just poetry. ⁓
James: I know yeah. I haven't got a clue what we're talking about. Come on, please. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: I read that he invented ⁓ a camera ⁓ for this. Did you read that in your in your notes?
James: Y I you know what I I read there was a couple of things that he invented. There was something there was two things. One was there was Univision. Is that what you I think kinda know what it what it is. ⁓ So ⁓
Simon: Yep. Well i it says here it's a thirty five minute four thirty five millimeter form map based on film stock with free perforation that provides an aspect ratio of two to one, ⁓ which Stor Storaro feels is a good compromise between the two three five one and the one eight five one. Have we lost anyone there?
James: Yeah. Yeah. So I I I I I do yeah Because in thirty-five so in in the in the days of thirty-five millimeter, which still does exist, so you have for every frame of image there is four perforations. So if you had a 185 image, it's inside four perforations. So he's only using three, so he's made it ⁓ narrower. So he's using less stock, so you would actually save a quarter on stock because you're only using ⁓ your one perf less. and and then for you're using a smaller frame size and it and the ratio is then different.
Simon: Explain, James.
James: I think he said the reason he wanted to do that was to have his n a good middle ground between TV and film. Obviously TV back then was all four by three square, you know, CRT TVs.
Simon: Well how we would have seen this, isn't it? Most of us would have seen it.
James: Yeah. But but this is what's crazy is that two to one is now what everyone nicknames the Netflix ratio. So so many t films you watch on Netflix, when you put them on your T V there'll be a little bit of a black bar at the top and the bottom. So it doesn't feel the full screen, it's two to one because they've decided we don't want it if it feels full screen, that everyone thinks ⁓ that's TV. If you letterbox it that feels very, very filmic when you've got big black bars at the top and the bottom. So let's find this little kind of middle ground, which is TV but Also feeling filmic and it's like that kind of that's exactly what Steraro was doing all that time ago. He was he was looking for that middle ground but way ahead of of his time really.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. And just doing that on the side while he's sort of making Dick Tracy. I mean, is there anyone in this film that wasn't a genius in their field?
James: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ absolutely absolutely incredible. I mean there's nothing as I I had to kind of do a little bit of looking up. It was is what does a director of photography actually do? Like what is what is their job in the filmmaking process? That's it the d at the DOP. And so I I kind of put tried to put some little kind of bullet points together
Simon: The DOP.
James: so much of their actual work is largely done before filming. ⁓ So they'd meet up the director and ⁓ yeah, eventually with set costume designers like Milena and Richard, ⁓ and to come up how the film will be actually ⁓ presented. It's it does I think it says in in the book as well that ⁓ Warren ⁓ and ⁓ didn't speak much during filming ⁓ because they'd already worked exactly what it is they wanted. To do and how they were going to present it, and so just where we just kind of get on and do it. so obviously I would have met up with Warren to get an idea of how the actual film was going to be represented on screen. so then they're kind then his responsibilities would have been picking what cameras they were going to use, what the lenses that they were going to use in the cameras, what the type of film stock that ⁓ was going to be used. the massive one is obviously lights and all the lighting, and then obviously for this film. lots lots of colour lighting which was don't think quite as widely used back then. doing all like your focus so when you're building a shot, deciding what is in focus, what's out of focus to divert the ⁓ audience's onto things. so much that he is is having to ⁓ As well as ⁓ when actually filming ⁓ might be advising the cameraman how to ⁓ but a of the time
Simon: Mm-hmm.
James: It's quite common for DOPs just to just get on the camera and actually shoot it themselves. yeah, and and one of the things for Dick Tracy, there was there's there's not a lot of panning shots, there's not if if any ⁓ like hand yeah, exactly, yeah. And now now you really I'm like, of course, yeah, of course it was.
Simon: Yeah, 'cause they want they ha they know their vision and how it should look. It's it's all static, I think, I read. The camera never moves. I I was thinking the only time I could think of it moving, and I'm sure I'm wrong, is in the boiler room when it about to blow up, you know, and Tracy's tied to the chair. I thought the camera was sort of zooming into the the f you know, the furnace or boiler wherever it is. ⁓ but I may
James: Yeah. I think that could be the way it was edited. I think it the way it's edited makes it feel like you're going in and out. Be like yeah, you look at the gas valve it's going up, you go back to Tracy's trying to undo the rope and then you cut back to the kid and he's breaking the window. Yeah.
Simon: Just quick shots. Yeah. Yeah, because you go mid shot, close up, like, you know, whatever extreme close up, you you you're getting that flow but without but keeping it static. I yeah, I mean again, another reason to watch the film. But no, I I I think that was really interesting as well. He's trying to keep it like the comic strip as well. He's trying to keep the the look ⁓ static shots in colour, using the same colour palettes as this comic strip would have used, you know, in a in a particular frame. I mean the detail, the detail.
James: Yeah. Yep. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm. Yeah, exactly. Ama amazing, amazing effort. you're saying about other things ⁓ he created ⁓ is I've read as that he this thing called the ENR process. ⁓
Simon: Okay.
James: But basically i it was Technicolor in Rome. So kind of w where obviously where he was born. he developed it in the eighties. ⁓ And I think you used it on reds at first. And it was a basically a way of of developing enabled you to increase the black level and make the contrast greater. in the the developing process of the film you would it would go through the developing bath an extra time and you ⁓ we would get silver onto the actual film to kind of increase the contrast. ⁓ So no and think he did that for ⁓ Dick Tracy,
Simon: I was just trying to find out what it means. ⁓ I still can't find what ENR means. Can't find a an ex explanation of the acronym. Nope. If you know, let us know. ⁓ just says print process. ⁓ but
James: Yeah. Yeah, I guess when I looked it just said this it was just this print process. But other films that used it, so ⁓ used it ⁓ and you think, yeah, Seven is really contrasty, really, really punchy. ⁓ Saving Ryan, so Spielberg did it well for that. ⁓ And also Spielberg did it for War the Worlds in two thousand and five. ⁓
Simon: ⁓ okay. Yeah, yeah. ⁓ wow. Okay.
James: yeah, so again it's it's these are all I mean I don't think that many movies now only the big directors get to shoot on thirty-five now. Most films are all shot digitally. so all these all these tactics, it was a totally organic process and a chemical process. ⁓ you know, before you had ones and zeros and digits, you had to you you were you know like a like a scientist like Heisenberg of thirty-five millimeter
Simon: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's why in a hundred years from now Dick Tracy's still gonna look so good. ⁓ so just moving slightly on, ⁓ our man John Caglioni gets mentioned as well in the book. ⁓ so it said for prosphetics designer John Caglioni, Storaro built a special mirror with different coloured lighting, white, orange, blue, very warm light, very cold light. This enabled Caglioni to test his prosphetics under a a kaleidoscope of effects and
James: Yeah. ⁓ yeah?
Simon: Plan the necessary adjust adjustments before actually filming. Close collaboration and a meticulous eye for detail resulted in a spectacular rogue gallery in Dick Tracy. The bad guys really look horrific. So he's matching the makeup of their faces to the lighting. So I mean the he designed a mirror, a special mirror.
James: Wow. God. So yeah, to to project light in of different colours in places to to highlight out their prosthetics.
Simon: So let's just get you walking to Dick Tracy's set one day, your Barbara Streisand, for example. You've got Mileno there with her fabrics that she's imported from across the world to match the colour. You've got Caglioni working there with a special mirror trying to match the makeup over several hours. You've got our man Silbert, you know, building the sets and painting them in a separate way. You've got steraro there, you know, getting the lighting right for the shots, Warren Beattie getting ready to film.
James: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: I mean, this is insane. And then the shot might be, I know, the rodent sat there at a table playing cards.
James: Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, the yeah the the the level of effort and detail and and time taken is ⁓ yeah, I I absolutely love it. Yeah. And it's yeah, yeah. I I d I don't think I mean we may find at some point there is a corner cut somewhere, but we haven't found it yet.
Simon: Love it. Cannot love it enough. ⁓ I know, no y no no one has maybe they cut the corner on like the best boy or something.
James: Yeah. ⁓ another thing I was thinking on colours before we carry on was so breathless. And I we need to go back and check this, but does she only ever wear black or
Simon: ⁓
James: or white. They're the only colours she wears. And obviously you include the blank in ⁓ as well. So i Ian, you meant kinda is that like something you could kind of figure out? Because nobody else dressed all in dresses in black. So there's like a connecting part there to see breathless and
Simon: Yeah. Well the only one Belips dresses in black and white, doesn't he? I I in my head. But he even he has a tint of red. Yeah, yeah. ⁓ no, I think you're right about her.
James: Yeah. But that's because he's in his tuxedo in the club, isn't it? But But yeah, but breathless, yeah. Do does does she yeah, does she wear another an outfit that isn't black or white? I don't think ⁓ so it and is it that thing of y again, it's where you start reading and thinking about it so much now that like, you know, the if black and white, you know, it's good, it's bad, And it and for her, she is in that conundrum of like, ⁓ is she gonna go be Tracy to be good, is she gonna go to big boy and be bad?
Simon: Yeah, she's down the centre, isn't she? Yeah.
James: Yeah, she yeah, she is like so binary. She can either go to the extreme good or extreme bad, and that's the only that's the only direction she can go in.
Simon: Yeah. Good good point. That's that's actually left me thinking now. I'm trying to rack my brain to think of any more shots of her. back here yet.
James: Yeah. Yeah I'm sure someone's gonna get back and go, yeah she wore some pink scarf in the ri one of the Ritz club scenes. I'll be like, ⁓ damn it. Yeah.
Simon: Yeah, that seemed where she's cooking at home in a in a pinny. So, Storaro won some Academy Awards, didn't he, as well, ⁓ for his ⁓ cinematography. Won for Reds, was that right?
James: Yes. he did, yes, ⁓ obviously at two years to he won it for Apocalypse Now ⁓ as well. ⁓ Yeah. ⁓ And ⁓ then last he won it for was yeah, The Last Emperor, ⁓ which ⁓ we did mention. I seen Last Emperor, it's a good film. Who who directed that?
Simon: ⁓ of course, yeah.
James: Bernardo ⁓ Bertolucci. So there you go. I have seen one of his films then. I've s I have seen The Last Emperor. ⁓
Simon: You have, it was Bertolucci. What was the Scorsese film then that sounds almost like that? ⁓ Cundun. Cundun looks like a very similar cover.
James: okay. That was I was thinking the last temptation of Christ Yeah
Simon: Yeah, similar year. Yeah, so I've seen Last Tango in Paris and you've seen The Last Emperor, but none of us have seen his early classic black and white films.
James: Yeah, there we go. W we Yeah. No Yeah. We've we've got we've got him covered with those two. That that that's all we need. Yeah.
Simon: we skip the conformist. So he talks about Warren Beatty in the book and he says, ⁓ for Warren, everything is in connection to the character. He's facing the scene from the inside, from the character's point of view. And I like that as a piece of direction, the character has a color, has a purpose. Well, just like you were saying about Madonna, it's all focused on the character in Dick Tracy.
James: Mm. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: And you think of other films from the time period, it's all about the story or the sets or the locations. But this film is very character driven. The fact you can name 10 characters straight away, watching it once, you could probably name 10 characters. ⁓
James: Mm. Yeah, yeah. Yep, that's it. Yeah. And and you can and you can explain what they look like and and you remember it so clearly because of how vivid they are.
Simon: Mm.
James: Isn't it as well? You're right, it's quite rare to have characters done so vividly. And again, it it's just just like a a comic book, isn't it? It's the whole idea is that they're meant to be standout characters that you remember, and hence their yeah, their faces being, you know, so warped with prosthetics so it stands out. And it's I think it was that thing as well, saying that how it was it's meant to be like they are the the worst, the most evil things that are around. So it's like and then pushing that to the extreme, making them really grotesque and really horrible. It's like it's like things of your nightmares. And that is what they are meant to be.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. And the color of the, like you said earlier, the indigos or whatever, emphasizing that, aren't they? When I watched Bullworth recently, which we'll get to Warren Beatty at some point, but I noticed in that a lot of the scenes suddenly had this weird green tint, because he was the cinematographer on that.
James: Hm, yeah. Mm-hmm. ⁓ huh.
Simon: And it seemed, and I was trying to work out as I was watching it, I was thinking it was relating to the bad guys or when someone was making a poor decision, they had this like green lighting. But yeah, it was interesting. He's got me thinking when I watch his films now, what he's trying to do with the colours. And I will be watching his films because they all look really good.
James: Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause it's such Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I I guess it's that thing, isn't it? Like any good craftsman or artist or professional, you're ⁓ you know, picking up on it obviously. It it's all the subtleties, it's all meant to subconsciously make you think something or feel something. and that's the best way. Which in in a sad way it maybe doesn't get the appreciation it deserves 'cause it's not it's not shouting at you and telling you. You're you're subconsciously picking it up and it's it's moving and telling the story as it goes.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. He was nominated for Dick Tracy, which we've discussed on our awards episode, but he was beaten by... Was it Dancers with Wolves?
James: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I think it was. Yeah, that beat most films, didn't it, that year?
Simon: think it was. He won for The Last Emperor, which we've said. He won for Reds. He won for Apocalypse Now. I think he's one of the few people to have won three times for cinematography, isn't he? He's one of the...
James: Yeah. I think he is, yeah. Th and there's also as early he won an award. I don't if you've read ⁓ there's like it's like the the what the top cinema ⁓ photography award. And I think he it's only one other non American to ever win that award. him and one other one other guy. So yeah, he's
Simon: He won the BAFTA for The Sheltering Sky, ⁓ nominated for BAFTAs for all the films we've mentioned. Outstanding achievement in cinematography and theatrical releases. ASC Award, American Society of Cinematography, that was it for Dick Tracy. ⁓ A Silver Condor Award. I mean, he's not short of awards looking at this and nominated and still working. ⁓
James: Mm. Hey, how cool?
Simon: You know, still working hard and making stuff. His last film for anyone that's interested, the last thing he seems to worked on was Coupe de Charts in 2023. And it looks like he worked on some Woody Allen films as well in the 2010s. So he's still out there, still working. know, 80 odd years old. The last quote from the book here.
James: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon: He just says about Dick Tracy and he says, course the Dick Tracy movie is not exactly a transfer of the Dick Tracy cartoon because they're two different art forms. Our picture is inspired by the comic strip, but it has to be something original, something different. It has to be a movie. We spent a lot of energy in the design and doing the film. We think it's really an original piece of work. Storaro, so do we.
James: Yeah. Yep. Got off out.
Simon: ⁓ Anything else you want to add James about, know,
James: such new territory that this was going into at time ⁓ and know, with comic book films the norm now and all this hyper stuff ⁓ and ⁓ doing it back then and doing it such an analogue manner ⁓ so difficult but but pulled it off so well. ⁓ every week, ⁓ you know, I get a more amazed Dick Tracy and movie making process. what I've been I enjoy doing these ⁓ these episodes and ⁓ about how the film is made. And it i the appreciation level just just going up and ⁓
Simon: Can you think of a modern comic book film where it looks as good as Dick Tracy? that I'm just trying to think We mentioned Sin City before, we'll take that off the table. But other than those two, is there another film that looks as good as these? Like in like the Marvel Universe?
James: Mm. Yeah. ⁓ yeah, yeah, I mean the only other one that I was thinking about was like was like Viva Vendetta. Like yeah, but I think that leans a little bit more t to the to realism than comic. And I and the comic is quite real anyway, but that's quite dark. I haven't seen it in quite a few years. Like it's it feels a little stylity, not too dissimilar to Dick Tracy Moore, it's just a lot feels at night time. But but still it's like not it's still not on that same level that that that Dick Tracy is.
Simon: Yeah, I mean, know, Batman Returns is a good looking film as well, but that's down to sets, a lot of that. I'm not sure that's necessary about lighting, but ⁓ it probably is. But I don't remember the Penguin always being shone with like blue lights, you know. ⁓
James: Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It it too, it's in a crazy way. I feel like Kubrick could have been a kind of person to have done something like this. And like I because all of his films are stylistically so different from one another. And I feel that he could have done Dick Tracy and I think he would have done it a bit like this. I mean I kind of he would have pushed the boat out really, really far. I mean it wouldn't I don't think it would be, you know, as as kid friendly. so
Simon: you He just would have slotted in a signal in the rain, know, beat down in the middle of it, yeah.
James: Yeah Yeah, exactly. But but again he didn't do it, did he? But it's that it's crazy to think I can only think of people who might have done something like him. Like like this, like Warren, but but no one I can th I can think has any is he's done anything close.
Simon: Yeah, yeah. there's an episode of what if Kubrick had made Dick Tracy. Yeah, that's a deep dive episode for the future. We start doing what ifs. Okay, well I think we've covered him and I hope he keeps making films and keeps working. And if he's out there and he's listening to this and he speaks English, he's welcome on the show. In fact, he's welcome. If he speaks Italian, we'll learn it just to get him on here.
James: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, please do. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. We'll pretend we understand and just nod our way through.
Simon: Okay, so that brings us James to, as we get to the end of the episode, purchase of the week. Have we made any Dick Tracy purchases? I haven't this week, which is a shock, I know, because every week I tend to be buying something. Have you?
James: ⁓ wow. Okay. Now that is Yeah. I I have made a purchase this week. it's an upgrade purchase, this one. So I ⁓ my copy, I have two copies of ⁓ Dick Tracy. ⁓ I have a VHS that I got ⁓ in like ninety-one or whenever it came out. ⁓ I've got a which I believe you got me in probably the early two thousands. ⁓ but I was like, so I need to go up from VHS to DVD. ⁓ So I've I've moved up in the world and gone. ⁓
Simon: Yes.
James: my Blu-ray. So I've I've got a a proper ten eighty p blu-ray of ⁓ Dick Tracy. Yep, there is there is
Simon: Thanks. hacked with features.
James: There's nothing. There they're there there isn't anything. No, nothing on there. ⁓ and we can just keep our fingers crossed for when the UHD version comes out and we get a four K version. and yeah. And then and then it'll probably get yeah, might get some features then. You never know, you never know. Hmm.
Simon: You time. Well, your Blu-ray, mine's in a steelbook box, obviously, but yours will be the same. You've got the same disc, surely. I can't imagine there'd be any difference.
James: Yes. Yeah, yeah. I I th I'm sure I'm sure it'll be exact it'll be the same version, yeah, I think so. You've just got a much fancier box than than I have. ⁓
Simon: Yeah, that's right. Good, I'm glad you finally got a copy of that. That's good. It was killing me that you were watching it on DVD. was like, no, we've got to sort this out, you know.
James: Yeah. I know. I know. So I actually yeah, I've got to I've got to watch it 'cause I've I have never watched an H D version of Vic Tracy. So
Simon: I might watch mine this week as well just to appreciate all that cinematography.
James: I th I th ⁓ y yeah, yeah, well there we go. What what better excuse do you need? yeah, that that is that is it for this week. So ⁓ I've got my eye on something else and I think I will be getting. So next week I'm I almost certainly will have another purchase.
Simon: Any more purchases? was it just that? And I'll let you in on secret, there's something coming from America that's coming our way. So we shall reveal on a future episode. It's Warren Beatty in a suitcase. Got someone to kidnap him. Okay, that has been it for Talking Dick, the Dick Tracy Movie Podcast. We'll be back next week. ⁓ Until then.
James: Okay, lovely, like it. He's here Yep. See you next time. Yes. Kick talk a dick. Cheers.
Simon: Keep talking dick. Yeah.
