Footsteps in the Dark (film)

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Footsteps in the Dark
Footstepsinthedark.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Lester Cole
John Wexley
Based on
Produced by Hal B. Wallis
Robert Lord
Starring Errol Flynn
Brenda Marshall
Ralph Bellamy
Alan Hale
Cinematography Ernest Haller
Edited by Owen Marks
Music by Friedrich Hollaender
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • March 8, 1941 (1941-03-08)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Footsteps in the Dark is a 1941 American comedy mystery film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall and Ralph Bellamy. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Flynn plays a novelist and amateur detective investigating a murder. It takes its title from the 1935 play Footsteps in the Dark by Ladislas Fodor and also used material from the 1937 play Blondie White by Jeffrey Dell. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

Francis Warren 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 or to anyone but Inspector Mason, who mocks the books, insisting that true crime is much more difficult to solve.

Francis’s latest book is controversial, parodying members of The Thursday Club, using names that thinly disguise real members, which include his wife and her mother. Worse, “F.X. Pettijohn” sent copies of his book to every woman in the club. Indignant, Rita and her mother tell Francis that the club has decided to sue for libel. Privately, Francis advises lawyer Wellington Carruthers that the lawsuit would bring more publicity for the book, urging him to lie to the women and keep postponing any action. When Carruthers deplores deceit, Francis points out that Carruthers has been married four times to his once; Francis counsels that a happy marriage depends on being considerate, keeping things from one’s wife that would make her unhappy.

A man named Leopold Fissue attempts to blackmail Francis to help him turn uncut diamonds into cash; otherwise, he will reveal Warren's secret life to the public. When Fissue is found dead on a yacht, the coroner and police think he died of a heart failure caused by alcoholism. When Francis insists that Fissue was murdered for diamonds, without disclosing prior contact, Mason and Detective “Hoppy” Hopkins challenge Francis to solve the “murder” before the police.

Ticket stubs in Fissue’s jacket pocket lead Francis to burlesque dancer Blondie White, who becomes his prime suspect. Under an assumed identity as “Tex”, Francis romances Blondie for information. Blondie’s dentist, Dr. Davis, however, gives her a solid alibi.

Errol Flynn plays financier/author/amateur sleuth Francis Warren, aka T.X. Pettijohn. Errol Flynn1.jpg
Errol Flynn plays financier/author/amateur sleuth Francis Warren, aka T.X. Pettijohn.
Brenda Marshall plays Rita Warren, unaware of her husband's double life. Brenda Marshall.jpg
Brenda Marshall plays Rita Warren, unaware of her husband’s double life.
Alan Hale plays Inspector Mason, who insists that true crime is much more difficult to solve than detective fiction. A. Hale 1921.jpg
Alan Hale plays Inspector Mason, who insists that true crime is much more difficult to solve than detective fiction.

When Rita catches Francis sneaking home at 2:30 from a “business meeting”, she becomes sure that Francis is having an affair and hires a private detective. The detective finds out that Francis has been seeing Blondie and reveals that Francis has a secret (writing) studio that they believe is for liaisons. Rita goes to see Blondie at her burlesque show.

Meanwhile, Blondie asks “Tex” to retrieve a suitcase from a locker. After Inspector Mason receives a call from the FBI informing him that Fissue was involved with a diamond smuggling ring, Mason orders another autopsy on the body, but the coroner informs him that it has been cremated. Mason and Hoppy begin to suspect that Francis murdered Fissue for the diamonds.

Francis locates the locker and finds diamonds in the suitcase. When Blondie fails to turn up at a rendezvous with “Tex” or at a rehearsal, Francis, Mason, and Hoppy converge on Blondie’s apartment and find her murdered. Meanwhile, Davis arrives claiming he was working in his office in the building but did not hear any gunshots. A creditor who was surveilling Blondie’s apartment saw a woman who lost a heel from her shoe leaving Blondie’s apartment, and a taxi driver says he dropped the woman off on Lake Drive, where Francis lives. At home, Francis finds Rita’s shoe is missing a heel, and Rita admits to finding Blondie’s body before leaving immediately. Initially Rita thinks Francis killed Blondie, while Francis believes Rita killed her. Hoppy arrives with the taxi driver and reveals that Francis is F.X. Pettijohn. Rita and her mother are certain that they will be stricken from the social register.

Hoppy accuses Francis and his wife of killing Blondie and Fissue for the diamonds, but Francis evades arrest and sets off to find the real killer. Francis concludes that Davis, the dentist, is Blondie’s accomplice who provided the poison to kill Fissue while Blondie got Fissue drunk so alcohol would make the poison hard to detect in an autopsy. Davis attempts to kill Francis, but Mason and Hoppy arrive and arrest Francis despite his protests. Taking his opportunity, Davis absconds in his car but then hears on the radio that Francis fell off a roof to his death while escaping from custody. Thinking himself safe, Davis returns to his office, where Francis, Mason, and Hoppy await to apprehend him.

Mason calls Francis to help out on a new murder case, and Rita insists on joining him, without her mother's knowledge.

Cast

Production

Original plays

The material was taken from two plays, Footsteps in the Dark (1935) and Blondie White originally titled Katzenzungen (1937) [4]

Warner Bros bought the rights to Footsteps in the Dark in 1937. [5]

Blondie White was about the adventures of Frank Warren, a writer of detective novels who gets involved in a real-life murder, along with his wife. It made its debut in London in 1937 starring Basil Sydney and Joan Marion. [6] [7] The Scotsman called it "a dexterous and ingenuously contrived little piece." [8] Warner Bros bought the film rights in October, with a view to possibly filming it at their British base at Teddington Studios. (On the same trip Jack L. Warner also bought the rights to The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse and George and Margaret .) [9] [10]

Development

In December 1937 Warners announced they would make Blondie White as Footsteps in the Dark. [11] Frank Cavett was assigned to write the script [12] and Joan Blondell and Claude Rains were mentioned as possible stars. [13] [14]

John Huston and John Wexley were then reported as working on the script. [15]

In late 1938, Edward G. Robinson was announced as star and Anatole Litvak director. [16] Lya Lys was to be the female star and in May 1939 it was announced the film would still go ahead. [17] But it did not happen and by November Norman Reilly Raine was still working on the script. [18]

In July 1940, Lester Cole had taken over as writer and Robinson had to drop out due to a commitment to make The Sea Wolf . [19] Cole says he was hired to rewrite Wexley's script, calling Wexley "a fine playwright and screenwriter" but the story "was hardly his style". [20]

Errol Flynn had just done seven period films in a row and was pestering Warner's for a change of pace so he was cast instead of Robinson. [21] Once Flynn came on board, Olivia de Havilland was announced as his co star. [22] She was replaced by Brenda Marshall. [23] William Keighley was the original director announced. Louella Parsons wrote the film would be "a humorously treated mystery yarn of The Thin Man variety". [24]

Shooting

Filming started in October 1940. [25]

Ralph Bellamy said Flynn was "a darling. Couldn't or wouldn't take himself seriously. And he drank like there was no tomorrow. Had a bum ticker from the malaria he'd picked up in Australia. Also a spot of TB. Tried to enlist but flunked his medical, so he drank some more. Knew he wouldn't live into old age. He really had a ball in Footsteps in the Dark. He was so glad to be out of swashbucklers." [26]

Reception

Box office

The film was one of Flynn's less successful movies at the box office around this time. [27]

Critical

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "A few spots are faintly amusing, thanks to Allen Jenkins as a chauffeur-valet and William Frawley as a thick-headed cop. But most of it is painfully dull and obvious, the pace is incredibly slow and Mr. Flynn, playing the detective, acts like a puzzled schoolboy." [28]

Variety wrote that Flynn did "well enough" but called the script "routine, going in for too much dialog and too many absurdities." [29] Los Angeles Times wrote that "Errol Flynn becomes a modern for a change in a whodunit film and the excursion proves eminently worth-while... an exceptionally clever and amusing exhibit – a little lagging now and then in the action but nothing to bother about in that regard". [30]

Film Daily reported: "Basis for a first-rate mystery meller with plenty of laughs is contained in the plot for this yarn, but the development of the script falls short of the story possibilities. The screenplay lacks any real punch drama and it does not have any hilariously amusing comedy, and it is also slightly incredible at times. On the whole, this picture is moderately entertaining screenfare for the average audience." [31]

Harrison's Reports called the film "fairly good", though the killer's identity was "pretty obvious." [32]

The Wall Street Journal called it "an amusing if not too subtle mystery." [33]

John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that while the burlesque performer added a "bright note", the film was otherwise a "commonplace mystery picture." [34]

Filmink magazine argued Flynn was "not entirely comfortable as a comic actor but it's a very endearing performance, and he has that charisma and charm to compensate for his lack of technique. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t do its star justice." [35]

Proposed sequel

John Wexley and Lester Cole were reported as working on a sequel, Ghosts Don't Leave Footprints. [36] This was to reteam Marshall and Flynn and revolve around spiritualists. [37] However no sequel materialized.

Other versions

The BBC made a TV adaptation of Blondie White called The Strange Case of Blondie White in 1947. [38]

References

  1. ↑ "Edmond Pauker papers". Drs.library.yale.edu. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  2. ↑ Kabatchnik p.325
  3. ↑ Goble p.122
  4. ↑ Churchill, Douglas (19 June 1940). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: WARNERS AND METRO IN STORY ROW OVER 'CALAMITY JANE'--MAURICE EVANS ARRIVING 'SAFARI' IS OPENING TODAY FAIRBANKS JR. AND MISS CARROLL STARRED IN FILM--REVIVALS AT 55TH ST. PLAYHOUSE". The New York Times. p. 27.
  5. ↑ "NEWS OF THE STAGE: 'Wise Tomorrow' Closes After Three Performances--'I'd Rather Be Right' May Open at Alvin". New York Times. 18 Oct 1937. p. 14.
  6. ↑ "Dramatis Personae". The Observer. London (UK). 25 July 1937. p. 11.
  7. ↑ Our Theatre Correspondent (19 Sep 1937). "NEW PLAYS BUT NO THEATRES: LONDON AUTUMN PROBLEM PROSPEROUS SEASON MANY LONG RUNS". The Observer. London (UK). p. 11.{{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  8. ↑ "LONDON THEATRES: "Blondie White"". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland. 14 Oct 1937. p. 12.
  9. ↑ "STUDIO AND SCREEN: Directors Wanted--A Comic Colman--Health and Beauty Films". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). 28 Oct 1937. p. 12.
  10. ↑ "NEWS OF THE STAGE: Chappell Will Offer 'Father Malachy's Miracle'New Broadway School for Actors Is Planned Connelly to Finish Fantasy". New York Times. 28 Oct 1937. p. 28.
  11. ↑ "NEWS OF THE SCREEN: Paramount Buys Deval's 'Soubrette' for Franceska Gaal-Stars Plan New York Holiday Visits Of Local Origin". New York Times. 21 Dec 1937. p. 28.
  12. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (13 Jan 1938). ""THE SEA WOLF" AND "VICTOR HUGO" LINED UP AS MUNI FILM STORIES: Sid Silvers to Glorify Stooge in Screen Play". Los Angeles Times. p. 10.
  13. ↑ "HOLLYWOOD Merry-Go-Round". The Barrier Miner (HOME ed.). Broken Hill, NSW. 6 October 1938. p. 7. Retrieved 26 October 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (12 May 1938). ""Lady Hamilton" to Be Frank Lloyd Feature: Freddie, Judy Teamed Morris, Olivia Cast Houston in "Waltz" Ellison Gets Contract". Los Angeles Times. p. 10.
  15. ↑ "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Louis Hayward to Play Lead in 'Man in the Iron Mask' for United Artists OPENING AT CONTINENTAL ' The Singing Blacksmith,' New Yiddish Picture, Will Begin Engagement Today Casting for "Hotel Imperial" Coast Scripts Of Local Origin". New York Times. 1 Nov 1938. p. 27.
  16. ↑ "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: 'Footsteps in the Dark' to Be Edward G. Robinson's Next Picture at Warners MISS LAMOUR GETS ROLE She and George Raft Will Be Stars in Crime Melodrama, 'Two-Time Loser' Coast Scripts Of Local Origin". New York Times. 18 Nov 1938. p. 25.
  17. ↑ "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Wanger Signs Loretta Young for Lead in 'Whose Wife?' --Tay Garnett to Direct JOLSON FILM HERE TODAY Alice Faye-Tyrone Power Also in Feature at the Roxy-- 'Fixer Dugan' at Rialto James Stewart Gets Role Coast Scripts Of Local Origin Offers 'Mikado' Without Swing Stars in Brooklyn Opening". New York Times. 5 May 1939. p. 32.
  18. ↑ DOUGLAS W CHURCHILL (21 Dec 1939). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Olivia de Havilland Suspended by Warners--Out of 'Married, Pretty and Poor' Cast ACTRESS WANTS VACATION 'Tevya,' Yiddish Film, Opens Today at the Continental-- 'Laugh It Off' at Palace Mary Martin in Benny Film Of Local Origin Premiere to Be a Benefit". New York Times. p. 28.
  19. ↑ "NEWS OF THE SCREEN: Merle Oberon and Melvyn Douglas Will Co-Star-- 'Those Were the Days' Opens Saturday Universal Assigns Directors Of Local Origin". New York Times. 9 July 1940. p. 25.
  20. ↑ Cole, Lester (1981). Hollywood Red : the autobiography of Lester Cole . Ramparts Press. p.  189-190. ISBN   9780878670857.
  21. ↑ "Tony Thomas, Rudy Behlmer * Clifford McCarty, The Films of Errol Flynn, Citadel Press, 1969 p 102".
  22. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K (21 Sep 1940). "Lubitsch, Universal Both Sign Meredith". Los Angeles Times. p. A7.
  23. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (17 Oct 1940). "Buddy Rogers to Lead Band in 'Broadcast': Fitzgerald in 'Sea Wolf' Rogers' Budget Upped Mary Lee in 'Sierra Sue' Bob Crosby Film Looms Dennis Morgan Lead Set". Los Angeles Times. p. A11.
  24. ↑ Louella O. Parsons (Aug 27, 1940). "Close-Ups and Long-Shots Of the Motion Picture Scene". The Washington Post. p. 8.
  25. ↑ "Screen News Here and In Hollywood". New York Times. 26 August 1940. p. 11.
  26. ↑ Bawden, James; Miller, Ron (4 March 2016). Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era. University Press of Kentucky. p. 36. ISBN   9780813167121.
  27. ↑ Glancy, H. Mark. "Warner Bros film grosses, 1921–51." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. March 1995
  28. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (March 15, 1941). "Movie Review – Footsteps in the Dark". The New York Times . Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Footsteps in the Dark". Variety . New York. March 5, 1941. p. 16.
  30. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (27 Feb 1941). "'Footsteps in the Dark' Engaging Mystery-Comedy". Los Angeles Times. p. 12.
  31. ↑ "Reviews of the New Films". Film Daily . New York: 13. March 4, 1941.
  32. ↑ "'Footsteps in the Dark' with Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall and Ralph Bellamy". Harrison's Reports : 39. March 8, 1941.
  33. ↑ "The THEATRE: Mirthful Mystery". Wall Street Journal. New York. 18 Mar 1941. p. 9.
  34. ↑ Mosher, John (March 15, 1941). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker . p. 82.
  35. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (November 17, 2019). "The Films of Errol Flynn: Part 3 The War Years". Filmink.
  36. ↑ "News in Hollywood". The New York Times . 19 Feb 1941. p. 25.
  37. ↑ "TODAY'S FILM NEWS". The News . Adelaide. 9 April 1941. p. 10. Retrieved 26 October 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  38. ↑ The Strange Case of Blondie White at IMDb

Bibliography

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