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Big Boy Caprice is the main antagonist in Disney/Touchstone's 1990 film Dick Tracy. It is in this film that he is first referred to as Al "Big Boy" Caprice. The movie character is physically very different from the comic strip one.

Personality[]

In the film, Big Boy is the former protegé of crime lord Lips Manlis, whom he eventually murders after rising to power. His criminal empire spreads through the city like cancer, prompting Dick Tracy to make the diminutive gangster's destruction his own personal mission. His moll, Breathless Mahoney, takes a sexual interest in Dick; for his part, Dick is tempted by the smoldering femme fatale, even though he is faithful to longtime girlfriend Tess Trueheart.

By the end of the film, Dick has unraveled Big Boy's empire, with help from a mysterious, faceless vigilante called The Blank. Big Boy kidnaps Tess, and holds her hostage in a tower containing the operating machinery of a drawbridge. Dick corners him and is about to arrest him, when the Blank, whom Dick has learned is none other than Breathless in disguise, emerges from nowhere and tries to kill Big Boy, who shoots and mortally wounds her. Dick takes advantage of the distraction ramming into Big Boy and sending him plummeting to his death in the drawbridge's gears. Dick rescues Tess, who Big Boy had tied to one of the gears, just before she is crushed.

Role in the film[]

Big Boy is first seen standing above a troubled Lips Manlis at the warehouse. He coerces him into signing the deed of the Club Ritz, with Big Boy reminding him "no pals in this business" and he "taught me that."

Dick learns about this after investigating the crime scene and arrests Big Boy, but due to a lack of evidence, is forced to let him go. After being released, he tells the media that it was an act of "police brutality".

Trivia[]

  • Big Boy is loosely based on Prohibition Mobster Al Capone, and even borrows his first name "Al" as his own.
    • Coincidentally, his actor also has his first name being "Al".

Gallery[]


v - e - d
Dick Tracy Logo
Media
Dick Tracy (Soundtrack) I'm BreathlessDick Tracy Special
Disney Parks
Dick Tracy's Crime-Stoppers
Characters
Dick TracyDick Tracy, Jr.Tess Trueheart-TracyBig Boy CapriceLips ManlisBreathless MahoneyBug BaileyNumbersD.A. Fletcher
See Also
ChicagoIllinoisSooner or LaterMore
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