Snowflake Falls was a beautiful, talented young woman who first met Dick Tracy when she was coerced into aiding the criminal Shaky. She had light eyes, and dark hair that she typically wore cut short.
The Shaky Affair[]
Snowflake Falls had been a successful model before meeting Shaky on a blind date. Shaky abducted Snowflake and dosed her several times with a drug which caused memory loss. She was then used as Shaky's pawn in a variation of the "badger game" - a confidence scheme in which she would publicly claim to have been secretly married to a wealthy man, after which Shaky (posing as her relative) would demand money to "annul" the marriage or otherwise result in unfavorable publicity.
An attempt to extort money from a wealthy banker Nat Banks backfired on Shaky when Snowflake accidentally intercepted the wrong car which contained Dick Tracy and Junior Tracy.
Snowflake's memory began to return and she fled from Shaky, eventually helping the police to find him after doping him with his own nerve tonic and breaking his fingers.
During the course of the incident with Shaky, Snowflake met Vitamin Flintheart. Vitamin helped Tracy and Snowflake in their plan to ensnare Shaky by casting Snowflake in a theatrical production of Vitamin's. Vitamin was delighted to discover that Snowflake was a very talented performer.
The plan backfired when Shaky lured Snowflake and Vitamin to a deserted cafe where Shaky kidnapped Snowflake. He beat her brutally and almost succeeded in drowning her in the City bay. She survived and was reunited with Vitamin.
Despite the differences in their ages, Snowflake and Vitamin fell genuinely in love, and the two were married shortly after Shaky disappeared (it would later be discovered that he had died).
Wedded Bliss[]
While on a train going to their honeymoon, Vitamin and Snowflake were confronted by Measles, who was fleeing Dick Tracy. The couple were able to briefly subdue Measles, but he regained consciousness and fled the train without harming either of them.
Shortly thereafter, Vitamin lost a large sum of money at a casino owned by the criminal Influence. Ashamed, Vitamin abandoned Snowflake and returned to the city, where he opened a hamburger stand. After being found and abused by Influence, Vitamin was reunited with Snowflake, who forgave him and told him about a new job opportunity in radio.
Many years later, Vitamin once again encountered his friend Dick Tracy and revealed that Snowflake had died of some unspecified illness. Vitamin had several short-lived romantic encounters afterwards, but he did not have any long-term romantic commitments before getting engaged to Kandikane Lane in 2018.
Appearances In Other Media[]
Radio Series[]
Snowflake was a recurring character in at least one incarnation of the Dick Tracy radio program. The performer is unknown.
Snowflake was depicted as the devoted wife of Vitamin Flintheart, and her husband's close association with Dick Tracy occasionally resulted in the couple being drawn into the cases that Tracy was investigating. Snowflake had a lilting voice (not unlike the character Nell from Dudley Do-Right cartoons).
One of the episodes (entitled "The Firebug Murders" from February 16, 1946) was later re-edited and released as a promotional record in 1972.
Dick Tracy in B Flat[]
Snowflake Falls was a character in the humorous radio program Dick Tracy in B Flat, produced for Armed Forces Radio in 1945. Snowflake was played by actress and singer Judy Garland.
In the program, Snowflake is kidnapped by Flattop (played by Bob Hope) and she sings a brief parody of Garland's signature tune "Over the Rainbow" (here rendered as "Over a Barrel") from the film The Wizard of Oz.
Notes[]
- Tracy and Junior met Snowflake at Lake Geneva. There are several real-life lakes with that name, including one in Wisconsin with an adjoining town of the the same name. This Lake Geneva was a favorite destination of many gangsters, including Al Capone and John Dillinger. It is also where the Little Bohemia Lodge is located, which was a frequent getaway for Dillinger and the site of an infamous 1934 shoot-out between his gang and the FBI.