Inside ‘Dick Tracy’

Shel Dorf, editor of the “Dick Tracy” comics/trade books and noted authority on the cartoon cop, snared a visit to the closed set of the now-filming “Dick Tracy.” He gave us a few behind-the-scenes glimpses, such as:

Star/director Warren Beatty is going with his famous face--rather than prosthetics--to approximate the famed Tracy beak and square jaw. Dorf observed Beatty at work in scenes with handcuffed villains (“Tracy spoke in a tough, low-key, controlled voice and the authority was there.”). He said that Beatty, who turned 52 last Thursday, looked “slim, young and terrific.”

Added Dorf: “He didn’t need the nose and the chin to have that aura that is Dick Tracy. He’s captured it with his mannerisms.”

The characters of Pat Patton, Sam Catchem, Itchy and Flattop look just like they do in the comics, thanks to makeup. But, they don’t look “like actors with masks on,” Dorf said, rather “like real people.”

Art director Richard Sylbert has created sets based on the drawings of Chester Gould, creator of the legendary strip--keeping the same primary colors (“walking on the set is like walking into a panel from the strip.”)

Dorf, who has just detailed his VIP visit in the Comics Buyers Guide, also spotted Madonna, who plays Breathless Mahoney. But he didn’t try to meet her: “I more or less just sat on my stool and tried to keep in the background.”