Footsteps in the Dark

Plot synopsis:
Francis Warren (Errol Flynn) appears to have a normal life handling investments, but secretly he writes lurid detective novels under the pseudonym F.X. Pettijohn. His other career is unknown to wife Rita (Brenda Marshall) or to anyone but Inspector Mason (Alan Hale), who mocks the books, insisting that true crime is much more difficult to solve. A man named Leopold Fissue (Noel Madison) turns up, wanting Francis to help him turn uncut diamonds into cash. Fissue's body is then found murdered on a yacht. The trail leads Francis to burlesque dancer Blondie White (Lee Patrick), who becomes his prime suspect. But her dentist, Dr. Davis (Ralph Bellamy), gives her a solid alibi. Rita becomes sure that Francis is having an affair. Blondie turns up dead, though, after asking Francis to retrieve a satchel from a locker. Rita thinks Francis must have killed Blondie, while her husband believes just the opposite to be true. The diamonds are in the suitcase. Francis concludes that only one man could be behind all this—Davis, the dentist, who promptly tries to kill Francis before the police can figure things out.

Tags: suspenseful, mystery, murder

Review:
a well crafted mystery and a touch of romance and light comedy thrown in for good measure, a hidden gem.
a hidden gem, shows the wide variety of skills errol flynn possessed but was not given credit for until much later.
errol could really act, he had an excellent comedic touch and really makes this well written mystery a lot of fun.
errol was type cast by the studio as a the prototype "super man" and "action hero", which he did better then anyone.
what the studio prevented was errol doing comedy and other roles which he was marvelous at.
A fun and delightful comedy/ murder mystery.
Errol Flynn is a very underrated actor when it comes to comedy.
In Footsteps in the Dark he's very amusing and witty in his role as a person who lives a double life.
In the day he's a insurance investigator, who goes by the name of Francis Warren and to his lovely wife a man who spends late nights at representative meetings.
But in reality by night he's a crime solver/ murder investigator who what he sees he writes into his novels, and his latest book called by the same name of the film has raised eyebrows all over town and everyone is wondering who is this F.X. Pettijohn.
Errol Flynn is absolutely hilarious in this role and Alan Hale, Brenda Marshall, William Frawley, and Ralph Bellamy do a fine job in backing up Errol.
Others include Francis portrayal as a rich Texan named Tex, who Errol Flynn plays with a hick accent and an amusing cowboy walk, which can't be missed.
There is wrong thing though that i don't like about the film, and that is it's lack of crime solving clues and interrogation of suspects.
Still the film is very delightful to watch and funny and I think it's much more entertaining to watch then other the Errol/ Brenda film they did together the year before this, The Sea Hawk.
Probably because it was quite a departure for Flynn and because it was a rather breezy little comedy.
For what this movie tried to be, it did a good job accomplishing it.Flynn has a double life.
Though a rich and socially adept man much of the time, he hides a darker side to his personality--he writes cheap mystery books that poke fun of the very sort of people that he pals around with at the expensive clubs and dinner parties.
When, quite accidentally, he stumbles on a REAL mystery, he feels compelled to prove that he really has the stuff to solve crimes--and nearly gets himself killed in the process!Overall, the film excels due to an excellent case, a breezy and likable script and it's "fun factor"--you just can't help but enjoy the film..
Footsteps in the Dark is the title of a mystery novel that investment banker Errol Flynn wrote under a pseudonym that has become a best seller.
Unfortunately he used as characters some of his wife Brenda Marshall and mother-in-law Lucille Watson's society friends and they'd like to sue the author if they can find him.Errol while trying to see they don't find out what his double life is gets himself involved in another murder of Noel Madison who wanted Flynn to essentially launder the money from some stolen jewels in his banker self.
Flynn spends over 90 minutes struggling to keep his identities secret from those who know him in one guise or the other and solve the mystery at the same time.
The only two who know about his masquerade are his chauffeur Allen Jenkins and his lawyer Grant Mitchell.Flynn had a very good gift for comedy, he had already done The Perfect Specimen and Four's A Crowd and had gotten good reviews.
Footsteps in the Dark was an effort by Warner Brothers to cash in on the popularity and success MGM was enjoying with The Thin Man series.
Flynn and Marshall were good together though there was no further sequels.Best in the film by far is William Frawley as one truly dumb detective that even his superior Alan Hale is frustrated with.
Flynn bounces some great lines off Frawley.It's a different Errol Flynn than normal and not a bad one..
This is my favourite Errol Flynn comedy, OK, he only made four, and they are all worthwhile, but for sheer silly fun, this one is tops.
Flynn was a good actor, far better than he's usually given credit for, and he was especially good at comedy, he could take silly material like this, and make it entertaining and watchable, all the supporting cast are top pros and give great performances.
Don't try to analyse it or even make sense of it, it's a comedy, silly, but fun, with some great dialogue, and everyone seems to be having such a fun time you can't help but be caught up in it too!
Only wish the Warners had given Errol Flynn a lot more comedies, he really was good at it!
Mystery starring Errol Flynn.
"Footsteps in the Dark" is a 1941 film briskly directed by Lloyd Bacon.
It stars Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale, Lee Patrick, Lucille Watson, Ralph Bellamy, Allen Jenkins, William Frawley, and Turhan Bey.Flynn plays an investment broker leading a double life as a mystery writer, the author of a book called "Footsteps in the Dark." Only his chauffeur knows the truth.
When he becomes involved in a real-life murder, his situation starts to create havoc at home.This is a pretty good mystery story, though one can figure it out fairly quickly, and it's enlivened by a wonderful cast.
Flynn is delightful and funny, particularly when he's disguised as a Texas oil man, Tex. The unusual-looking Marshall is his frustrated wife and does a fine job, as does the tart-tongued Lucille Watson as his suspicious mother-in-law.
Hale and Frawley are the bumbling police.All in all, good fun, and a nice departure for Flynn..
Errol Flynn with a Bow Tie. Never realized that Errol Flynn made a comedy in 1941 with Brenda Marshall and a great cast of veteran actors who were all in the top of their acting careers.
This is a very funny film about a rich financial investment banker, Francis Monroe WarrenII (Errol Flynn),"Cry Wolf", who also on the side writes mystery books and keeps it all a complete secret from his family.
Brenda Marshall,(Rita Warren), "Whispering Smith", plays the role of a rather dumb wife who begins to get suspicious of her husbands 3 AM arrivals through their bedroom window almost every night.
Ralph Bellamy, (Dr. R.L.Davis),"Rosemary's Baby plays the role as a dentist and does more than pull teeth painlessly.
Alan Hale along with Allen Jenkins give great supporting roles along with a fast paced comedy that is full of laughs and that bow tie on Errol Flynn did me IN!
Enjoyable comedy mystery with Errol Flynn as a man who, unknown to his wife and mother-in-law, leads a double life as an amateur sleuth and writer of murder mysteries.
Errol Flynn shows how well he can do with comedy in a nice change of pace for him that still plays to his strengths as a charming ladies man.
The great supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins, Ralph Bellamy, Lee Patrick, William Frawley, Roscoe Karns, Grant Mitchell, Lucille Watson, and Alan Hale.
Nice seeing Hale in a slightly different role than usual as the police inspector frustrated by Flynn but relying on his help.
Lovely Brenda Marshall plays Flynn's wife and, like Flynn, proves she can handle comedy quite well.
It doesn't bring to the table anything particularly innovative for either the comedy or mystery genres but it gets the job done as lightweight entertainment.
Errol Flynn leads a double life with delightful results.
It seems lots of people didn't like this film very much but I absolutely loved it.
Flynn plays blue blood investment adviser Francis Monroe Warren II with blue blood clients, a blue blood wife, and a blue blood social life.
All of this blue blood is making Francis feel tired and run down, so he leads a double life to spice things up.
At night and at odd hours during the work day he concocts murder mysteries and covers his absences at home by telling his wife that he was at some board meeting.
Francis' antics begin to catch up with him when he is blackmailed by someone who knows about his double life.Pretty soon Francis is involved in a real murder mystery involving stolen diamonds, a burlesque queen, threatening letters from an anonymous person, and clues that seem to point back to his own wife as a suspect.
On top of everything, his wife and mother-in-law become suspicious of his behavior and have him followed, with the detective drawing all the wrong conclusions.This is a very different kind of role for Flynn, but he brought to it all of the things that made his swashbuckling films such fun.
Excellent comedy showing Errol Flynn's gift for humor.
Errol Flynn shows here that he could excell at comedy as well as swashbuckling.Flynn plays an investment banker moonloghting by writing Mystery stories under a pen name, and in the process making such fun of his Wifes' and his mother in law's society friends that they want to find the author and Sue Him!
When the truth comes out his wife is amused but his mother in law says"How can you be such a TRAITOR to your class !".Naturally Flynn gets involved in solving a REAL murder.This is a very underrated movie as far as I am concerned,with an excellent cast.
Flynn and Brenda Marshall make a well matched team, and it is a pity that it didn't lead to a series of films.I understand that one called Ghosts Don't Leave Footsteps was planned but shelved due to poor box office of this film.Perhaps people just weren't used to Flynn inn this kind of film A great pity because I believe that a series of these films would have developed into serious competition for the Thin Man Series.
One of Errol Flynn's rare forays into comedy; it's passable, but hardly inspired.
Flynn is certainly game, but the film only has one very funny scene: Flynn trying to simulate by voice the 12 strikes of a clock.
Flynn & Co. Make Light Footsteps in the Dark.
Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, and Ralph Bellamy star in this lightweight comedy mystery, which has Flynn as a mystery writer who's writing under a pseudonym, so that he can keep his money-making habit from his society friends and his uppity mother-in-law, Lucile Watson.
The cast is full of recognizable faces, like Alan Hale, Allen Jenkins, Lee Patrick, Roscoe Karns, Grant Mitchell, and William Frawley.
A foolish and somewhat tiresome script about an aspiring novelist who moonlights as a crime-solving detective in his spare time.
Flynn wanted to play something other than swashbuckling roles so the studio gave in.
The wasted cast includes Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy, Alan Hale and Lee Patrick.
Only Ralph Bellamy manages to inject some dry humor into his role as a dentist--but Flynn throughout appears more foolish than funny.
The only thing that keeps this movie from receiving the worst possible rating is that the fine cast all give first-rate performances.
Seeing the stars of The Sea Hawk from just the year before - Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale - try to make this come alive is almost painful.And who thought of trying to pass Lee Patrick, a fine comedian, off as a burlesque queen????
"Zorro" detective style meets the "Thin Man" franchise in this unbelievably bland crime comedy with broad farcical humour that's not funny and a weak murder mystery that's not thrilling.Flynn vehicles are often silly, but seldom boring.
just wanted to make a fast buck!Even Alan Hale looks tired!3 out of 10 idiotic aliases.
By that I mean that the actors are pros, the cinematography is superior, the music is excellent, the opening scene under the credits is neat, the underlying idea is very good - and this mess is like watching someone trying to paint a landscape on a bucking horse.
Errol Flynn's films that are have a contemporary setting didn't seem to be as successful at the box office as his other ones.
Flynn's frequent co-star Alan Hale is a welcome addition but his scenes with Errol aren't their usual because they are antagonists.
Flynn is leading a double life as an author of crime novels and he can't bear to have his wife or mother-in-law find out.
William Frawley is quite good as the slow-witted police officer.
Mystery with light comedy..
That dashing Errol Flynn plays Francis Monroe Warren II, an upper-crust investment counselor that lives a double life away from his high society...rubbing elbows with the police and secretly writing crime novels under a pseudonym.
His recent book Footsteps in the Dark, seems to be ruffling the feathers of the elite; and his own mother hires someone to try and find out who is doing this writing.
His wife(Brenda Marshall)thinks he spends a lot of time at night at stuffy board meetings; while he is actually investigating current crimes and trying to debunk the theories of local police.
In support are: Alan Hale, William Frawley, Roscoe Karns, Lee Patrick and Lucile Watson..
Not exactly a comedy, although very funny.
I liked this movie.Even its beginning is clever.
You assume that Errol Flynn is a cat burglar breaking into a house, but no, he's sneaking in late at night to escape his wife discovering him coming in so late.
In fact, it's nice to see Errol Flynn in a role where in some scenes he could be so silly.There are some other nice performances here, too.
Alan Hale (Sr.) is fine as the detective, and it's always nice to see him in films with Flynn.
And Lee Patrick is fine as the dumb burlesque queen.Highly recommended and a great change of pace for Errol Flynn.
Associate producer: Robert Lord.
Executive producer: Hal B.
U.S. release: 8 March 1941.
96 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A mystery comedy of manners featuring a socialite who writes detective novels (under an assumed name) without the knowledge of his wife and more importantly, his mother-in-law.COMMENT: Errol Flynn made only four comedies in his entire movie career.
Although the comedy is fast and furious, the situations become so believable, the mystery itself turns into a fascinatingly suspenseful exercise.
Also good to see the alluring Brenda Marshall (actually more colorful and picturesque here than in her previous Flynn vehicle, The Sea Hawk), plus the ever-loyal Allen Jenkins.
Co-star Ralph Bellamy, as always, provides some of the movie's principal pleasures.
The script also provides delicious encounters with other appealing players, including Lee Patrick, Alan Hale, William Frawley, Grant Mitchell and sneeringly sinister Turhan Bey (whom we find so much more adept as a slippery villain than a cut-price romantic lead).
Cute Little Mystery/Comedy Packed with Familiar Faces.
In "Footsteps in the Dark" Errol Flynn proves he's more than a swashbuckler (as if his already playing a cowboy had not already proved that).
Anyone who still thinks he's not an actor (a la Alan Swann in "My Favorite Year") and only a movie star should check out this movie, where Flynn heads a fine cast in a slick comedy-mystery.Flynn changes his sword and tights for a nicely tailored suit, playing a broker who, on the side, writes scandalous mysteries.
But he needs to keep his less-staid side hidden from his wife and her relatives, who are up in arms about his last book, which they think pokes fun at them.Like so many crime authors, Flynn's character (under his pen name; as he hides his less savory writing side from his wife, he had to keep his wealthy lifestyle hidden from the cops, with whom he hangs out to pick up hints on police procedure--and, this time around, to prove a death by alcoholism is actually murder.Flynn's wife is played by Brenda Marshall, his lovely costar from "The Sea Hawk." Flynn-movie stalwart Alan Hale Sr. gets a meaty part as the police chief, who is less than ably abetted by a thick-witted policeman (William Frawley).
Also on hand are Ralph Bellamy as a dentist and Sam Spade's secretary Lee Patrick ("The Maltese Falcon") rather inexplicably cast as a sexy singer/dancer (we'd rather have seen Ann Sheridan, especially as they described the singer as having "oomph" .
Other familiar faces include Alan Jenkins, one of those actors who makes movie buffs say, "I've seen him before but can't place him." He gets one of his best roles to date.
Oh, and is that Turhan Bey?--Yes, in an intriguing but ultimately undeveloped role.Is it a great movie?
But it's an inexplicably hidden bagatelle for people who like a bit of fun.
The camera loves Flynn, and that's more than half of movie acting.
Anyone who tires of Flynn playing noble all the time will get a kick out of this one..
Many little things make this just a fair crime comedy.
"Footsteps in the Dark" should be a very good comedy crime film.
Indeed, audiences like that sort of thing – witness the 13-season long TV series, "Murder, She Wrote," that starred Angela Lansbury from 1984 through 1996.
Errol Flynn's Francis Warren has the usual energy of a Flynn character.
Brenda Marshall is fine in her small part as Rita Warren, Flynn's wife.
Alan Hale has a large role as inspector Mason, and he's just too affable and easy going a character.
Errol Flynn does his THIN MAN impression .
Mr. Flynn looks somewhat lost without his sword, and one glance at co-star Brenda Marshall is enough to see why the prop people "kept it real" by placing her and husband DON JUAN in twin beds.
It's too bad Lucile Watson, who plays Flynn's live-in mother-in-law Agatha, wasn't around to take a similar role in TV's BEWITCHED a couple decades later--Ms. Watson makes a far better nag than Agnes Moorehead.