A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take him to the morgue, where he later revives and escapes. This puzzling incident attracts the interest of Dick Tracy, and when the criminals later use the gas to rob a bank, Tracy realizes that he must devote his entire attention to stopping them.
When a series of daring robberies and murders plague the city, Dick Tracy suspects the involvement of the notorious gangster "Gruesome" Gus Petersen. Gus, along with his henchmen, employs a variety of ingenious and sinister devices to commit his crimes, including a sound-wave weapon. Tracy must race against time and ingenuity to uncover Gus's hideout and bring him to justice before more lives are lost.
While a product of its time and not considered a cinematic masterpiece, "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" is often viewed as an entertaining entry in the popular Dick Tracy serials. Critics at the time and modern viewers often cite its straightforward crime-fighting plot and Boris Karloff's menacing performance as highlights, though some may find the pacing and effects dated.
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Boris Karloff's character, "Gruesome" Gus Petersen, was known for his chillingly calm demeanor and his use of bizarre contraptions, a contrast to the more typically brutish gangsters of other crime films.
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