The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
All Tess Trueheart wants is to settle down to a quiet life with her boyfriend, detective Dick Tracy. But there's something pretty rotten going on in town, with someone pretty rotten behind it, and Tracy has his hands full with the likes of villain Big Boy Caprice and with the almost irresistible Breathless Mahoney.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Based off of a comic book created by Chester Ghould. Dick Tracy is one of the toughest and the best police officer for the city. He is currently on the hunt for the biggest crime boss named Big Boy Caprice who recently killed off the former crime boss Lips Manless. Now Big Boy is rallying up all of the criminals in the city who are not only trying to make the city bow to Big Boy's wishes but to eliminate Tracy their only huge competition. However Tracy is facing with a whole lot of issues, as he is trying to not only track down Big Boy, but to keep his girlfriend Tess Trueheart, take care of a nameless orphan and dodge a seductive club dancer Breathless Mahoney and a mysterious gangster named "The Blank". Can Tracy overcome these obstacles and save the city?—John Wiggins
Well-respected officer of the law Dick Tracy faces mobster Big Boy Caprice and mysterious figure The Blank while dealing with love-starved girlfriend Tess Trueheart, taking care of tough orphan The Kid, and dodging advances from seductive Breathless Mahoney.—Anonymous
Hard-boiled detective Dick Tracy is searching for evidence that proves Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice is the city's most dangerous crime boss. He may have found the key to unraveling the crime lord's illegal empire in Breathless Mahoney, an enigmatic barroom singer who has witnessed some of Caprice's crimes firsthand. However, she seems more set on stealing Dick away from his girlfriend, Tess, than helping him solve the case of his career.—Jwelch5742
At an illegal card game, a young street urchin (Charlie Korsmo) witnesses the massacre of a group of mobsters named Shoulders, Stooge, the Rodent, the Brow and Little Face at the hands of Flattop (William Forsythe) and Itchy (Ed O'Ross), two of the hoods on the payroll of Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice (Al Pacino). Big Boy's crime syndicate is aggressively taking over small businesses in the city. Detective Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty) catches the urchin (who calls himself "Kid") in an act of petty theft. After rescuing him from a ruthless host, Tracy temporarily adopts him with the help of his girlfriend, Tess Truehart (Glenne Headly).
Meanwhile, Big Boy coerces club owner Lips Manlis (Paul Sorvino) into signing over the deed to Club Ritz. He then kills Lips with a cement overcoat and steals his girlfriend, the seductive and sultry singer, Breathless Mahoney (Madonna). After Lips is reported missing, Tracy interrogates his three hired guns, Flattop, Itchy, and Mumbles (Dustin Hoffman), then goes to the club to arrest Big Boy for Lips' murder. Breathless is the only witness. Instead of providing testimony, she unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Tracy. Big Boy cannot be indicted, and he is released from jail.
Big Boy's next move is to try to bring other criminals, including Spud Spaldoni (James Caan), Pruneface (R. G. Armstrong), Influence (Henry Silva), Ribs Mocca, Mumbles and Numbers (James Tolkan), together under his leadership. Spaldoni refuses and meets an untimely demise upon exiting (via a car bomb), leaving Dick Tracy, who discovered the meeting and was attempting to spy on it, wondering what is going on. Next day, Big Boy and his henchmen kidnap Tracy and attempt to bribe him; Tracy refuses, prompting the criminals to attempt to kill him by tying him next to a boiler rigged to explode. However, Tracy is saved by Kid.
Tracy tries again to get the testimony from Breathless he needs to put Big Boy away. She agrees to testify only if Tracy agrees to give in to her advances. He resists, despite his growing attraction. Tracy leads a seemingly unsuccessful raid on Club Ritz, but it's actually a diversion so officer "Bug" Bailey (Michael J. Pollard) can enter the building to operate a secretly installed listening device so the police can hear in on Big Boy's criminal activities.
The resultant raids all but wipe out Big Boy's criminal empire. Unfortunately, Big Boy discovers Bug and captures him for a trap planned by Influence and Pruneface to kill Tracy in the warehouse. In the resulting gun battle, a figure with no face (known as "The Blank") steps out of the shadows to save Tracy after he is cornered and kills Pruneface. Influence escapes as Tracy rescues Bug from the same fate given to Lips Manlis, and Big Boy is enraged upon hearing that The Blank foiled the hit.
Meanwhile, Breathless shows up at Tracy's apartment, once again in an attempt to seduce him. Tracy shows he is only human by allowing her to kiss him. Tess witnesses this and leaves town. She eventually has a change of heart, but before she can tell Tracy, she is kidnapped by The Blank, with the help of Big Boy's club piano player, 88 Keys (Mandy Patinkin). Tracy falls victim to another trap. He is drugged by The Blank and framed for the murder of corrupt District Attorney John Fletcher (Dick Van Dyke).
Big Boy is back in business, but he too is framed, in this case for Tess' kidnapping. Sprung from jail by his colleagues on New Year's Eve, Tracy sets out to save his true love with the help of Kid, who now renamed himself as Dick Tracy, Junior. He arrives at a shootout outside Big Boy's club where most of Big Boy's men are gunned down by the police and Tracy himself (only Mumbles and 88 Keys survive to be arrested). Escaping through tunnels to a drawbridge into the city, Big Boy ends up trapped with the bridge up, and attempts to hide in the bridge's mechanical building. He ties Tess to a moving gear that will, in time, crush her, but he is confronted by both the Blank and Tracy. Blank orders Tracy to kill the crime boss, but Tracy hesitates, approaching Blank as if he knows who it is. Blank raises a gun to Tracy and The Kid tackles the gunman.
In the confusion and desperate to escape, Big Boy grabs up his gun and shoots the Blank and then turns the gun on Tracy. Tracy charges Big Boy and sends him falling to his death towards the drawbridge's gears. Junior attempts to free Tess, who is dangerously close to the gears, but Tracy takes over and the couple embrace. They proceed to learn the "Blank"s identity: beneath the faceless figure's mask, Tracy is shocked to find Breathless Mahoney, who tells him of her attempt to control the city and kisses him with her last breath. With the truth brought out, his name is cleared from the murder of Fletcher.
Later, in the middle of a marriage proposal to Tess, Tracy is interrupted by a robbery in progress, and starts to take off with Dick Tracy Jr. Tracy gives Tess a red box containing an engagement ring and she puts it on before they leave.
